A pandemic can make us cover our faces, close down bars and cancel sporting events, but it can’t keep restaurants from opening. Karen Carrier plowed right through it and opened Hazel’s Lucky Dice Delicatessen, turning her trio of Cooper-Young restaurants to a quartet on Monday.

Southall Café in East Memphis opened its doors for breakfast and lunch (there’s a great chicken sandwich) and will eventually, post-vaccine, serve dinner.

Back in Cooper-Young, Ben Smith shows you can do COVID your way. When he reopened Tsunami, he added seated under a twinkle-lighted canopy and served diners there and on his existing patio until last week. The food, unsurprisingly, is as good as it’s always been.

Chris Herrington takes us down Summer Avenue to visit taco trucks, and it’s a short trip worth taking. There’s even Mexican pizza to be found for those missing their Taco Bell favorite.

To the bars: Will they reopen soon? Jane Roberts’ report from Tuesday’s Health Department briefing provides hope that a little loosening might be coming our way. — Jennifer Biggs

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A Summer Avenue taco truck scene has bloomed through the summer, with at least eight regular trucks around the wider neighborhood and several others that seem to pop up more infrequently. If you live near Summer or Macon avenues between Highland and White Station, there’s a good chance you can walk to a taco truck. 

Hazel’s Lucky Dice Delicatessen, Karen Carrier’s restaurant named after her mother, opened Monday in her Cooper-Young corral.  By Jennifer Biggs

Tsunami continues to serve the best Chilean sea bass in town, but any fish that comes from Ben Smith’s kitchen is going to make you happy, even if it’s trimmings in a taco. By Jennifer Biggs

“It’s likely that all restaurants will be held to the same requirements as it relates to safety measures and how you operate,” said Dr. Bruce Randolph, Shelby County Health Department health officer. By Jane Roberts

Southall Café is open and serving breakfast and lunch in the heart of East Memphis; the chicken sandwich is top-notch. By Jennifer Biggs

He previously opened a Chick-fil-A franchise in Jackson, Tennessee. By Elle Perry

Basma and Tony Lucchesi will take over the space occupied by Raffe’s Deli, which was opened and owned by her parents for many years. By Jennifer Biggs

Molly’s La Casita has been around for almost half a century, but COVID has hit it just as hard as newer restaurants. On the bright side, "it could be worse." By Jennifer Biggs

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