The former Tamp & Tap site at 122 Gayoso Ave. could be the first beneficiary of a new initiative by the Downtown Memphis Commission.

Called Table Ready, the initiative is designed to fill empty restaurant sites Downtown by allowing restaurant owners to test sites with the DMC covering some of the rent and utility costs for a year. 

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Launched in late April, the initiative currently only lists the former Tamp & Tap site.

“Right now we only have one property owner who we’re working with to fill their particular space,” said Brian Mykulyn, DMC planning manager. “But we are looking to expand the program in the future.”

The Tamp & Tap site has been vacant since it closed in 2024.

Mykulyn said the DMC previously spoke with the building owner, 109 South Second Partnership, about difficulties filling the cafe space. He said the Table Ready initiative offers a partial solution to not only that site but also other vacant properties Downtown.

“The idea is that at the end of this term, we find a great tenant, they move into the space, they spend a year there, and they’re killing it and they want to continue operating in that space,” he said. “This is a bridge between them taking that first step and entering into the Downtown market and then deciding that they want to be longer term and taking over the lease on their own.”

The DMC has picked about three applicants to present to the building owner to decide on the final business. Mykulyn expects the decision to come sometime in June or July. 

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He said at least 12 businesses applied for the space. 

“I know from experience whenever we do our pop-up programs, there’s a really big desire for restaurant businesses who are always interested in coming Downtown,” Mykulyn said. “We haven’t, up until now, had a really good way to partner with them for the short-term activations.”

The initiative is similar to DMC’s 2016 Open on Main strategy, which placed local retailers and small businesses in vacant storefronts Downtown. 

The Table Ready initiative requires restaurateurs to submit original concepts, experience, a credible plan, a strategy for staffing and equipment and a marketing plan. 

Husband-and-wife duo Leslye Clear and Kim Clear, who own K&L Food Truck and Fine Catering, dreamt about a brick-and-mortar location for some time and applied immediately to the proposal. 

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They applied to Table Ready in hopes of expanding their business and bringing more hospitality to Downtown. 

“One of the reasons why we wanted to get Downtown was because there’s so much bad stuff they’re talking about Memphis,” Leslye Clear said. “We just know it takes hidden gems sometimes to bring the good out.”

Leslye Clear works in law enforcement, and Kim Clear worked as the catering director at Rhodes College. They both work on the food truck daily. 

After touring the former Tamp & Tap site, Kim Clear immediately envisioned a breakfast and lunch spot with a grab-and-go center, an event area, customers enjoying breakfast sandwiches and students working with a cup of coffee in hand.

“It’d be a safe space,” Kim Clear said. “We see so much potential in that space.”

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The partners started their food truck journey in 2019 and have catered for numerous functions. They said the Gayoso Avenue space would allow them to hold catering events and invite those in need to enjoy a hot meal.

“We’re going to all these other venues, why can’t they come to us?” Leslye Clear said. “Right now, if we get that brick-and-mortar space, we can make a lot of stuff happen there.” 

Once the building owner chooses a business to fill the space, Mykulyn said the timeline for opening a restaurant is unclear, but he expects the business to begin operations about a month after a final decision.