Wearing medieval warrior gear and wielding longswords, members of Memphis Armored Fight Club thrash and clash with panache.

Memphis will get an eighth location of the popular fast-food chain. Plus, Margarita’s is coming to Lakeland Commons, and Marco’s Pizza is also planning an Arlington site.

The bar at 605 N. Second St. will also serve smoothie bowls, freshly pressed juices, salads and wraps, as well as offering a grab-and-go section. 

“We’re burning some calories before we replace them at Thanksgiving,” one runner said ahead of the 4-mile race.

The producers planning a May music festival in Tom Lee Park announced they are planning a barbecue contest there the same month — and at the same time as Memphis in May’s barbecue contest at Liberty Park.

PURE Academy’s new campus will have 10 times the school’s current capacity. Also, a building at the corner of Kirby Parkway and Winchester Road will be “activated” with some new tenants.

“‘Sheet Cake’ feels like an invitation to me,” owner Lauren Kennedy said about the gallery’s name. “It’s an inelegant yet consistent, comforting experience. Come on in and have a slice of something sweet.” 

With the holiday season nearly in full gear, there are plenty of events and lights in Memphis to enjoy. Here’s a list — don’t forget to check it twice!

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What’s open on Thanksgiving in Memphis, where to order a turkey

Owners of the historic building unwittingly created an uproar by starting to paint the brick. But they’re fine with a plan to restore the original facade at the future Tekila Modern Mexican restaurant site.

The flyer features deals and discounts from 14 local businesses, including ARCHd, Boshi Botanicals, Everbloom Design, Shop Mucho and Mbabazi House of Style. 

“There’s something that’s got to be done so no other mother has to feel this pain,” said Angela Kirkendoll, whose son Myra died this week. 

Plus, longtime favorite New Asia has new ownership, and a Chipotle location is headed to Millington.

It is one of the city’s largest Black-led developments in a predominantly Black neighborhood, said The Works president Roshun Austin, who will oversee the project.

Another north-south route through Shelby Farms Park has been a priority for local leaders for more than two decades, but the proposal for a new Shelby Farms Parkway has now been abandoned.

North Mississippi’s Crawfish Haven specializes in to-go Cajun food, from etouffee to catfish to boudin.

When I saw the story from Rhodes, I flashed back to a strange footnote in my own collegiate history: “the naked floor,” a dorm dedicated to, well, free expression. 

Related story: 

BDSM lecture causes Rhodes uproar

The Downtown Memphis Commission and the Downtown Mobility Authority plan to host a kick off event at the end of the month to start exterior work. 

Alanis Morissette, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Kane Brown, Lainey Wilson, Lana Del Rey, Post Malone and The War And Treaty will each pay tribute to Elvis Presley in a holiday special filmed inside Graceland.

The slaying on Tennessee Street is the latest in city’s march toward another possible record year of homicides.

The Rhodes College chaplain invited a dominatrix to lead a discussion, but college administrators canceled it.

The Memphis rapper made a grand entrance at her former middle school, emerging through the stage curtains to perform her song “Tomorrow,” to the roar of the student body.

Twenty-three years ago when she was 11, Nuha Abuduhair almost moved from Memphis to Gaza. Today, she runs her own business here. But not a moment passes without her thinking of loved ones in Gaza.

The children’s book highlights a variety of Shelby County landmarks from more than 300 submissions from community volunteers. 

Starting December 2023, MSCS will jump-start its $3 million program, “Discovering Memphis,” designed to allow students to travel outside school grounds to explore different places across the city.

The decade-long struggle over a patch of grass in Overton Park has reflected a changing city and served as a kind of proxy battle for larger civic questions.