Welcome back to Table Talk, where Daily Memphian writers and editors send the latest food news — along with a dash of this and that — directly to your inbox every Wednesday.

My Grizzlies-coverage colleague Drew Hill and I taste-tested a new gimmick on our Grizzlies podcast this week. In tribute to Memphis dining habits, we offered not “hot takes” on the coming basketball season, but instead some “hot (wing) takes,” dividing the heat level of our opinions into “Honey Gold,” “Regular Hot” and “Suicide.”

If anything, this conceit makes more sense in Table Talk, so I’m stealing my own idea this week.

Here are some hot (wing) takes on some of our recent dining stories:

The Story: Christin Yates writes about the increased use of auto-gratuities on restaurant checks, a practice becoming more common around the country. 

“Regular Hot” Take: This is a complicated issue, with every point suggesting a counterpoint. I’ve definitely started checking the check, so to speak, at restaurants to see if the gratuity is already included, and clarity is key here. It shouldn’t be a mystery to the consumer. But I’m ultimately in favor of the practice.

The most persuasive of the points and counterpoints, to me, is the issue of some patrons declining to leave tips or leaving paltry tips even for good service. Restaurant employees depend on tips and backstopping bad tippers seems worth all the side effects. I’d support all restaurants paying a “living wage” and simply incorporating that cost into pricing, but unless that’s a uniform practice, I think it would negatively impact the businesses doing so, whose sticker prices would be higher even if the final costs to consumers aren’t. I’m usually tipping 20%, and if you want to save me the math, I’m all for it. Just let me know it’s happening.

The Story: Joshua Carlucci was there on opening day for Cafe India, a new restaurant on Hacks Cross that’s a Memphis location of a restaurant based out of Franklin, Tennessee. He filled his plate at the buffet and broke it down for us.

“Honey Gold” Take: One personal instinct is to enthusiastically welcome new restaurants, especially those that aren’t just of the burgers/pizza/tacos variety. Another is to demur a bit at the arrival of a chain when it’s duplicating things we already have at fully local restaurants. Tiebreaker here: That buffet looks bigger than most, and the menu looks bigger still, with full chaat, Indo-Chinese, dosa and wrap sections. Moving Cafe India way up my “need to check it out” list. 

The Story: A Collierville couple is planning to open a “brewpub” with house beers, gourmet hot dogs and spaces for kids to play. A little more restaurant (think Boscos Restaurant & Brewing Co.) than the brewery/taproom combo (think Wiseacre Brewing Co.) that’s been multiplying around the area in the past decade.

“Regular Hot” Take: This sounds like a good idea and best of luck to them, but my main takeaway from the story is about Collierville law requiring 50% of restaurant revenue to come from food in order to allow beer sales. This would seem to prevent the taproom concept, which tends to be more beer-forward and usually relies on trucks to provide food at peak times. I think the evidence is pretty strong that those kinds of businesses are, indeed, pretty family-friendly and have done more good than harm where they’ve sprouted. These regulations don’t seem to have really kept up with the times. 

The Story: Christin drops in on Alex’s Tavern, a longtime beer-and-burgers oasis located on Jackson Avenue, amid the boundary waters of Midtown and North Memphis.

“Suicide” Take: True confession time. Even though I live about a mile-and-a-half from Alex’s, I’ve only been there a few times and only during the day, even though it’s a classic Memphis nightspot. Even those visits are enough to second any recommendation of the burgers, wings and ribs. And the vibes. I have no good excuse for not going there more other than I’m not out late much. My back-in-the-day hangs were more likely to be the P&H, Lamplighter, Kudzu’s and the original Hi-Tone on Poplar Avenue. Alex’s would have fit right in. Not sure why it didn’t. This is what they call a “me” problem. 

The Story: Josh talks to Hi-Tone owner Brian McCabe about the annual Memphis Grilled Cheese Festival, which is going down Sunday, Nov. 5, outside of his Cleveland Street club. McCabe’s personal pro tip is to sprinkle “everything” bagel seasoning onto the bread before it hits the griddle. Categories include “Most Ridiculous” and among the “all walks of life” who compete, per McCabe, is “a bunch of divorced dads.” Free idea: I think the team behind “This is Spinal Tap” and “Best in Show” might want to consider scripting a mockumentary set at a Grilled Cheese Festival.

“Regular Hot” Take: McCabe uses butter, no mayonnaise for his own grilled cheeses, but the team that usually wins does a mix of both on the outside. Butter vs. mayo is the Great Grilled Cheese Debate. I’ve always been a butter guy and while I’m pro-mayonnaise in moderation, spreading it on the outside of a sandwich has always seemed a little gross. But my wife has taken over grilled cheese duties in our house and she uses mayo and … well, hers are better than mine. So I’m now grudgingly pro-mayo for grilled cheese, as long as someone else is making them. 

Because I can’t muster even Honey Gold takes on all things (and because this newsletter is long enough already), some more food stories this week, in case you missed them:

Beth Sullivan has news on a Chick-Fil-A (finally?) coming to Horn Lake and a new sandwich-and-salad shop in Hernando.

Sophia Surrett reports on Fable, a long-gestating fine-dining restaurant coming to South Main, which has changed chefs since it was first hinted at last year. She also reports on the closing of Doc’s Liquor Store in Germantown.

And Josh dives into some Dim Sum King. Lucky him.

Thanks for reading. If you don’t have hot takes this week, I hope you at least have some hot wings.