Welcome back to Table Talk, where Daily Memphian food and dining editor Jennifer Biggs and her colleagues send the latest food news (along with a dash of this and that) directly to your inbox every Wednesday.

I can’t tell you how many people have mentioned to me over the past month that Holiday Deli & Ham Co. may be in trouble. The local foodie rumor mill has been — this is not an exaggeration — abuzz. 

Recently, we learned that there’s some truth to the rumor. As first reported by Memphis Business Journal, the restaurant’s parent company — Holiday Ham Holdings LLC — filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Tennessee on July 7. 

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Repeated attempts by The Daily Memphian to reach the owners of the business have not been returned. But the company, which also includes Pimentos Burgers, Bar & Grill, has between 50 and 99 creditors, according to court documents. And both its estimated assets and liabilities are estimated to be between $1 million and $10 million. 

According to a Holiday Deli & Ham employee, the Germantown and East Memphis locations are remaining open but the East Memphis Pimentos and the Midtown location of Holiday Ham will be closing (though, as of press time, Pimentos was decidedly open). The Collierville Pimentos location closed earlier this year.

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In other restaurant news, Crosstown Concourse’s Farm Burger is taking a bit of a break. The restaurant will be closed for renovations and upgrades and should reopen within a few weeks. 

Macon the dog (in a 2022 file photo) gets to hang out with his owner Jeff Fick and other humans at Brookhaven Pub. “Everybody knows this is a dog friendly place,” Fick said. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Today is also National Hot Dog Day, emphasis on the hot — it’s 86 degrees as I write this. So, I’m going to take a loose interpretation of this “holiday.”

While I am on the record as not loving bars where dogs — the canine version — roam freely, I do understand wanting to bring your best friend to the bar with you. Dogs and humans are both pack animals, and who wants to leave their pack at home? 

All that is to say: I’ll turn your attention to this story, written by Jordan Arellano last year, about places where you can patio with your pups. 

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The Crazy Coop’s exotic wings include mango habanero. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

A trend emerged this week, as three restaurants turned their focus to the to-go sector. In East Memphis, Huey’s is grabbing the opportunity for a to-go kitchen after one of the neighboring bays in its shopping center became available. Red Koi Japanese Cuisine, which has a location in East Memphis and one in Bartlett, is opening up an express location near the University of Memphis. 

And The Crazy Coop, which offers unique flavors of wings, has already opened two locations — and the second is also an express concept, on Ridgeway Road. 

“We are expecting a huge difference in our speed, efficiency and quality,” said Huey’s president Ashley Robilio of their new to-go kitchen. “We suspect that our restaurant service will greatly improve also.”

We’ve also got new locations of known restaurants opening. The Peach Cobbler Factory opened its second Memphis-area location at 5101 Sanderlin Ave., and the restaurant group expects to open at least 17 locations in Tennessee. 

At East Liquor Store — the more east version of The Liquor Store — the menu includes all the classics we know and love. But the new owners have also added new menu items due to that space’s larger kitchen. 

Frequent power outages have prompted the Captain D's in Oakhaven to seek solar energy. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Lastly, the local owners of Captain D’s are continuing their quest to install solar panels next to their Oakhaven location to power the restaurant. Apparently, power outages have cost them at least $500,000 in sales over the past seven months — and like many of us — they are looking for electric alternatives. 

I feel like there’s something a little funny about a fast-food fish place turning to solar energy — you’ve got jokes, right? — but there’s nothing funny about climate change turning Italy into a “giant pizza oven.” 

So I guess we’ll all do what we can to beat the heat. 

Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back next week. 

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