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Welcome to About Town, where we take a deeper dive into one neighborhood each week while also highlighting the latest news, developments and back stories from Memphis’ neighborhoods. This week’s focus: Cooper-Young.
If there’s anything we can take away from this past week, it’s that although Cooper-Young has its stable businesses and celebrations, the neighborhood is constantly evolving.
Some of the changes are due to the pandemic, as seen with the return of the community association’s Cooper-Young Porchfest, originally started last year as a response to COVID-19 safety measures. Many of the restaurants in the area have been there for years, but there have been a few ongoing changes in tenantship, such as in the spots where Margaritas and Parish Grocery exist today.
Most recently, the owners of Sweet Grass announced that the neighborhood bistro would close after Easter due to an increase in rent. It’s possible the restaurant could reopen elsewhere in the future, but the priority for Chef Ryan Trimm is opening another Sunrise in East Memphis.
Jennifer Biggs, The Daily Memphian’s food editor, said some of her all-time favorite dishes from the eatery include the deep dish sour cream apple pie, dirty bird sandwich, and the corn dogs. The latter will continue to be a weekly Wednesday special until the restaurant’s closure. And some of the restaurant’s discontinued dishes, such as the shrimp and grits and the duck with Henry Bain sauce, may be revived before the restaurant closes.
“Sweet Grass was different,” Biggs said. “It came in with low country flavors instead of the typical New Orleans-type flavors that we’re used to finding in restaurants around here.”
Not all change is bad, however. A short distance south of Sweet Grass, Bain Barbecue & Bakery opened in its new spot, the former home of Stone Soup Café.
And more changes are still to come, with a new brewery and taproom planned near Celtic Crossing.
“It’s an unusual neighborhood for Memphis, because it’s so walkable,” Biggs said. “There aren’t many neighborhoods like that.”
More from About Town:
 The Peanut Shoppe’s new location is at 121 South Main St. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
The Peanut Shoppe ready to open new location, remains Downtown
“This business depends on the walking traffic,” said owner Rida AbuZaineh. “It’s like walking on the beach, where there is ice cream.”
 Hook Point Brewing Co. founder Mike Sadler (left) and head brewer Jay Marchmon (right) plan to open a tap room on Brookhaven Circle in East Memphis. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian)
Hook Point to open tap room on Brookhaven Circle
The East Memphis dining area will get its first brewery and taproom when Hook Point Brewing Co. opens there this summer.
Cooper-Young Porchfest returns, offering music from metal to bluegrass
The porch festival returns in Cooper-Young, offering an unconventional way to enjoy a wide range of music, including metal, bluegrass, Americana and country.
After 11 years, Rizzo’s is closing at the end of the month
Rizzo’s is the second popular restaurant in the past week to announce it’s closing; recovery from COVID is taking a toll.
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