This third installment of our four-part Summer Avenue food tour runs from Waring to Mendenhall roads and includes a small stretch that might be the culinary heart of the street. 

In one third-of-a-mile span on the north side of Summer, you’ll find Ethiopian, Yemeni, Colombian and two Mexican restaurants, small Mexican and Middle Eastern grocers, what might be considered “the classic” Memphis butcher shop and a long-standing bakery whose evolution is perhaps an analogy for the entire street. And pancakes. 

Taste of Summer: The definitive guide to Memphis’ best street for foodies

This is not designed as a walking tour — who are we kidding; this is Memphis — but for much of this part of Summer, it could be. 

So, before going back to Waring for this week’s journey, let’s start there, in the heart of it.

East of the Red Sea, on the north side of Summer

There was an early question about whether Queen of Sheba (4792 Summer Ave., 901-207-4174) could be loved because it took over the space long occupied by the very popular Edo, which closed in 2015 after sputtering briefly under new ownership. 

When Queen of Sheba first opened in 2016, they served olive oil at the table in red-top Kikkoman soy sauce bottles, but did it matter? It did not. The food mattered, and it’s always been good.

Hefdhallah Al-Ghadry (his friends call him “Half Dollar”) had a similar restaurant in Detroit but came south for the weather as much as anything. 

“It was cold; it was awful,” he said on a recent day with a Memphis heat index in excess of 100 degrees. “This is so much better here.”

He’s originally from the middle region of Yemen and, like many, learned to cook from his mother.

“It was my mother or my grandmother cooking,” he said. “At home, the women cooked.”

But he took to it, found he was good at it, and does it the old way, which means he doesn’t cut corners.

Taste of Summer: Turn back time at Nagasaki, enjoy breakfast at Bryant’s

The lamb haneeth, which the Queen of Sheba menu proclaims is their most popular dish and which we both quite liked, is flavored with warm and fragrant spices: Cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, garlic. “Haneeth” means it’s a rice dish; the lamb is where most of that flavor is concentrated.

“No shortcuts,” Al-Ghadry said. “Mostly, we cook the whole lamb, and, of course, people can get the whole lamb if that’s what they want.”

Chicken haneeth is as intense and as pleasurable as the lamb and perhaps even more so if your palate wants something a bit lighter.

The bread, rashoush, is preposterously good. It’s a flatbread, stretched by hand in a similar manner to pizza dough, then slid in a hot tandoor oven for a few minutes.

It comes to the table finger-blisteringly hot, with bits of crisp crust, tender steam pockets inside, and ready for dipping in hummus, baba ghanoush or our favorite, labnah, a strained and thick yogurt that’s swirled on a plate, drizzled with olive oil and at your pleasure, topped with salt, pepper or perhaps another spice that appeals to you (lemony sumac is a treat).

The small Summer Avenue spot has found a following; in August, Al-Ghadry will open a larger, second location on Germantown Parkway, and he plans to add more items to an already large menu.

He doesn’t serve wine for religious reasons, and while his food almost pleads for a pairing, you can content yourself with the hot tea, available just inside the front door, or if you just have to, take your wine and hide it.

“We don’t really care if someone wants it,” he said. “We just don’t want you to tell us.”

Down the street

Contrary to popular belief, there’s more than one doughnut shop in town. Admittedly, the plain glazed at Howard’s Donuts (4348 Summer Ave., 901-683-2985) isn’t the same airy wonder as at East Memphis’ ubiquitous Gibson’s, but the apple fritter isn’t far off and Howard’s has a similar bare-bones but welcoming neighborhood vibe. (Literally, on a recent visit, the chalkboard in the corner proclaimed “Welcome to Howard.”)

In a nod to the changing summer weather, you can now get Thai iced tea with your doughnuts. Or, if you want, savory, some pig-in-a-blanket-style kolaches. 

This stretch of Summer includes the second location of Central BBQ (4375 Summer Ave., 901-767-4672), which first gave this ever-growing local chain some serious elbow room after its cozy original Midtown debut. Chances are you know about the menu. Regulars all have their favorites. For Jennifer, that’s barbecue nachos on Central’s housemade potato chips. For Chris, that’s the dry-spiced smoked wings.

‘Brand-new’ Central BBQ headed for original location

Central and South American food is growing on Summer, and particularly on this stretch, where Cevicheria and Grill Chilemon (4509 Summer Ave., 769-230-4140) was recently opened by Ruby Sanchez, who is the BFF of Yuri Restrepo, owner of nearby businesses El Sabor Latino and the coming El Pollo Latino. This mother-daughter-run spot opened early this year, but lunch business is already brisk. Sanchez is from Colombia, but her restaurant is more regional. 

Meals begin with chips and salsa: chips fried fresh, salsa prepared in-house. Grilled meats and seafood are available on platters, served with a melange of sides such as tostones, plantains, French fries and slaw. Pescado frito is a whole fried tilapia and is an excellent choice — surprisingly large, very tender and flaky. 

New Eats: Chilemon is fishy in the best possible way

Elwood’s Shack (4523 Summer Ave., 901-761-9898) is known for its fish tacos, its barbecue and owner Tim Bednarski’s readiness to show up whenever food is needed for a good cause. But here’s something you might not know: Unless we’re missing it, and we don’t think we are, Elwood’s is the only place to get non-chain pizza on Summer. (RIP, Pat’s Pizza.) For a short time, a year, maybe two, Elwood’s Shack was a pizza restaurant and the pizza ovens remain today. They’re used to cooking many things, including good pizza. Put it on your list.

Recipe Exchange: Elwood’s Shells Shrimp & Grits

Oh, Mortimer’s (590 N. Perkins Road), you Cheers of a bar, everybody knows you.

Mortimer’s has been open close to 40 years, and not much has changed on the menu. It still includes favorites from predecessors the Knickerbocker and Little Tea Shop, including the Lacey Special, the Knickerbocker shrimp salad and the old-fashioned frozen fruit. Both restaurants were owned by Vernon Bell, father of Mortimer’s owner Sara Stewart, who was also a co-founder of the golf tournament that grew to be the FedEx St. Jude Championship; there’s a private room full of memorabilia at the restaurant.

Stewart’s brother was Chris Bell of the band Big Star, and you’ll find the Big Star room in his honor just on the other side of the bar from the golf room. In-between, you’ll find long-time bartender Mark Esterman and a collection of regulars.

The Memphis 10: Rolling Stone’s top Memphis albums, and the ones they missed

Van Duren plays on Thursday nights, oysters on the half shell are still on special on select nights, there’s a daily lunch special during the week, and you can get fresh-cut onion rings to go with your Oysters Rockefeller. 

Our “heart of the street” stretch begins at El Sabor Latino (665 Avon Road, 901-207-1818). Here, Yuri Restropo runs a full-on Colombian restaurant, offering numerous chicken, fish or meat dishes with sides of rice and beans and plantains, as well as a picado, a mixed meat platter with plantains, yucca and sauces served with it.

Kay Bakery (667 Avon Road, 901-767-0780) is the oldest business in this series, opening its doors in 1932 (though not in this location), according to Misael Bautista, who bought the bakery with his brother in the mid-1990s. The favorites are still there, and they have the old Kay recipes, but the brothers slowly started adding Mexican pastries to the Kay lineup and today run a bakery that’s a sweet old Memphis and new Memphis mashup. 

The old, full-service bakery case still houses chocolate drops, shortbread and spritz cookies, plus gingerbread men and Mexican wedding cookies. But a tall line of glass-front cabinets line the other walls, full of conchas, orejas, small cakes, doughnuts, turnovers and besos. It’s panaderia style; you grab a tray and pick what you want, then pay at the counter.

New Eats: Horn of Africa brings Ethiopia to Summer corridor

Horn of Africa (693 Avon Road, 901-440-8589) opened quickly pre-COVID and remained a mystery to us until early this year when it was spotted during a visit to Kay Bakery. To be fair, it’s tucked at the end of the strip center and has a small sign. But you know where it is now, so find your way there and enjoy a lovely meal full of spice, heat and hospitality.

Owner Samira Ahmad’s menu includes traditional Ethiopian favorites such as foul (also sometimes spelled ful or fuul and pronounced fool), a smooth and creamy bowl of mashed fava beans that can be a dip, an appetizer, or a carb under a couple of fried eggs. Sambusas, small savory pastries filled with beef or lentils, come with a fiery dipping sauce.

A favorite is the vegetable platter, which brings a variety that could include greens, cabbage and lentils and peas seasoned with berbere, an Ethiopian spice blend that combines warm and fragrant spices such as coriander, cumin, cinnamon, dried chiles, ginger and more. The berbere, made by Ahmad and a little different from every kitchen, is also used in abundance in dishes such as the chicken stew called doro wat. 

The food is delicious and will be appreciated by anyone who likes intensely flavored dishes. Vegetable plates and some meat dishes are presented atop a spongy bread called injera. It’s a bit sour, and it’s fair to say you might not love it the first time you try it. So, OK, don’t force it. But you’ll like the food, you’ll go back, and eventually, you’ll find that you love the injera soaked with the juices and oils from the food.

Food Fight: Los Comales vs. Los Picosos

Just across Avon, you’ll find Los Comales (4774 Summer Ave., 901-683-9530), located in a small strip mall. This restaurant has been around at least 15 years, and while it’s owned by the same family that owns other Los Comales locations, here it’s owned by a different brother. There are no margaritas — just beer — but the food is a bit better. All the basics are there — tacos, tortas and other street food — plus entrees such as carne asada, carnitas and enchiladas. And there’s that green sauce everyone loves, the one that looks welcoming and creamy but that delivers a powerful punch instead of cooling relief. 

Charlie’s Meat Market (4790 Summer Ave, 901-683-1192), just behind Los Comales in a set-back strip, has been the go-to East Memphis butcher shop for decades, whether to get a big porterhouse or a box of pre-made burger patties ready for the grill.

Charles Hogan opened the shop in its current location in 1971, and today, it’s run by his son, Chuck Hogan. Over the years, a little of this and that have been added: Hardwood charcoal, big potatoes ready for baking and a line of local and regional products that change from time to time.

Sharing the strip with Charlie’s and Queen of Sheba is Jerusalem Market (4794 Summer Avenue, 901-767-6960). Not only is it one of the best-stocked little markets in town for Middle Eastern food, but it contains a restaurant side that continues to operate, though with a limited menu and hours. What to eat? Whatever they have. The baked chicken and rice pilaf with a fresh salad of cucumber and tomato was a recent lunch special and more than enough for two people for $10.99; add an order of six falafel for $2.99. It was top-notch.

Ismal Odetallh opened the store 15 years ago and has a butcher shop stocked with halal meats in the back of the store. It was being replenished with whole goats and lambs on a recent visit, loaded in a large shopping cart from the truck out front and wheeled in through the front door. Odetallh supplies his own restaurant, as well as many others around town (including Queen of Sheba) and sells to the public. The packed aisles of the store have all manner of interesting things for your home pantry, from pickles to honey to olive oil, cookies, cookware and much more. Don’t miss: Fresh pita from the bakery, and mammoul cookies, which are rich shortbread filled with date paste, a very grownup and fancified Fig Newton.

Chipotle an unexpected addition to Summer Ave.

If Summer Avenue has a signature Mexican restaurant, it might be La Guadalupana (4818 Summer Ave., 901-685-6857), a long-standing favorite that in recent years has doubled its dining room to become Summer’s biggest-capacity Mexican option.

This expansion doesn’t seem to have sacrificed any quality. La Guadalupana does well on all the basics, offering what may be our favorite enchiladas (chicken especially, roja or verde) and chilaquiles (asada with verde) in town. We have a hard time going beyond those favorites, but the daily soups and weekend pozole seem popular, and we’ve feasted on goat tacos and on a platter of codorniz frita — fried Cornish hen in salsa verde — a time or two. 

Without The Pancake Shop (4838 Summer Ave., 901-767-0206), where would we have had breakfast for dinner for so many years? Forget the 365-day, 24-hour operation; COVID has put an end to those hours. But this Summer Avenue stalwart is doing the best it can and, under new ownership, extended hours are the hope.

Hunter Myers, who has a corporate restaurant resume that reaches back to TGI Fridays on Overton Square, bought the restaurant March 1 and has made a few changes for the better, including upping the meat-and-three game to include catfish on Fridays. And while you can always get a patty melt or a club sandwich, the Pancake Shop is really about brekkie. The Everyday Special comes with two eggs, bacon or sausage, hash browns or grits, and biscuits or pancakes. No matter what else you choose, pick the pancakes.

Staffing has made hours iffy right now. You’re safe for breakfast but call ahead in case you’re going for dinner.

$10 Deal: The Pancake Shop

Just east of the Pancake Shop is the Mexican market Casa Perez #1 (4880 Summer Ave., 901-683-0505), and just so you know, there are three others and #2 is further east on Summer. Here you’ll find a meat counter that has to be among the city’s underrated grocery-store gems, a small but well-stocked fresh produce section and some of the best home cooking in town. 

There’s a nice kitchen in the back of the store where for years, you’d find tamales, chicharones and sometimes even a serving of carnitas, packed up to go. But for the past several years, there’s been a small cafeteria line where you can get a choice of four or five entrees for lunch or until the food is gone. All of it is good.

If you see pork in salsa verde, get it. If you see scrambled eggs with peppers and nopales, get that, too, then mix the two entrees for a real treat. There’s a sign with the daily specials, but it’s written in Spanish, and the staff doesn’t speak much English, so point if you need to. All meals are packed to go, but there are tables in the store so you can sit and eat.

And don’t miss

El Triunfo (694 Waring Road) and Pupuseria Anitas (658 Stratford Road, Suite 102, 901-428-9618) offer Honduran and Salvadoran fare, respectively, in small storefronts just north of Summer along this stretch. 

Another Mexican-food point of interest is the well-trafficked Taqueria Express #5 (4590 Summer Ave.), stationed right next to the Superman Market on the northeast corner of Perkins and Summer. It’s now the second Taqueria Express on the street, with a bigger, standalone outpost a little further east. More on that next week. And Fruitmania (670 Waring Road) offers ice cream, paletas and other Mexican sweet treats. 

Tucked together in the cozy corner of the strip mall at Summer and Berclair Road, well off the street, are Arsh Bilques (4514 Summer Ave., 901-552-5296), where you’ll find Middle-Eastern staples such as hummus, baba ghanoush, gyros and more, and Tokyo Grill (4514 Summer Ave., 901-682-8028), with sushi, hibachi-style meals and more.

Flames Grill (698 Waring Road) is a second location of a Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurant chain — kabobs, gyros, falafel, etc. — that you can also find on Highland Street in the University District.

Next week, we’ll conclude the Summer Avenue series by heading east from Mendenhall to Stage Road, where Mexican restaurants multiply, you can grab a bite between racks of 8-ball, and we’ll tell you about an under-the-radar way to get your Saturdays started.