The wait is over. The Four Way Restaurant will begin offering its full menu — just a bit tweaked — for takeout beginning Friday, July 17th.

That’s the restaurant’s famous soul food, including fried catfish, spaghetti, fried chicken, yams, and greens.

“My definition of ‘soul food’ is just delicious home cooking made with love that feeds your soul,” says owner Patrice Bates Thompson. “Makes you happy, happy, happy.”

The iconic restaurant has been serving a limited menu for the past several months, but now Thompson is ready to offer just about all the restaurant’s other items.

Fried catfish is their top seller, she says. “And the turkey and dressing and fried chicken run next, behind that.”

As for the menu, she says, “We’re going to kind of tweak it just a smidgen. Create specials on certain days.”

Pork chops were an every-Wednesday special, but, Thompson says, “I’m going to move pork chops to Sundays ’cause I know people really like them and they sell really well.”

Customers also will be able to get the restaurant’s popular neck bones, as well as their vegetables. “The only thing we use from a can are the pickled beets. Otherwise, we make everything in our kitchen. Our cabbage, yams, greens — they’re all fresh.”

The restaurant now will offer its regular menu items for call-in and walk-ups between 11 a.m and 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and every first and third Sundays. “We’re working on developing and online ordering service soon, which will provide contactless service.”

She’s not ready for in-house dining, Thompson says. They plan on opening “when the numbers have leveled off or dropped significantly. So, my thought is, when everything’s leveled off and we feel like it’s safe. I just don’t think it’s safe right now.”

Thompson is part of the Bates lineage that has owned the restaurant since 2002. Her parents, the late Willie Earl Bates and the late Jo Ellen Bates, bought the restaurant, which originally was opened in 1946 by Clint and Irene Cleaves. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is among the notables who have dined at The Four Way.

A native Memphian, Thompson was raised on her mother’s cooking. Her mother, who grew up in Haywood County, “learned to cook from her mother.”

And, Thompson says, “Things we have to go to the store to buy today my grandparents had in their backyard. Greens, cabbage, peppers. I could get chitterlings all year round if I wanted to.”

Thompson began cooking when she was in the fifth grade. “For some reason I learned how to fix spaghetti, which is actually the recipe we use today. Over the years I’ve kind of tweaked it to make it my own. And lasagna, too. One of my dishes I perfected early on before I went to high school. I’d periodically cook for my family. I learned how to fix spaghetti, lasagna, chili, and cakes. I did a lot of baking. So, those are things my mom would let me play around with and I perfected.”

Her spaghetti is extremely popular at The Four Way. “A lot of people don’t put a lot of meat in their spaghetti, but our sauce if very hefty when it comes to meat. It truly is a meat sauce. We use ground beef and plenty of fresh seasonings and dry seasonings that just brings flavor out. A lot of people put sugar in their spaghetti. I don’t do that. But it just has a powerful seasoning.”

Thompson, who was in middle school at the time, only visited The Four Way twice before her father bought the restaurant. She went on to Hamilton High School and then Xavier University in New Orleans, where she graduated with a degree in management information systems. “You would manage software progress on the computer. I had been in management since I graduated, but I was always managing people and departments. Not software.”

She remembers when her dad bought The Four Way. He “didn’t know how to cook at all. My daddy was not a cook. He was a business man. He was an entrepreneur. And my mom was a business education teacher for the Memphis City Schools for 42 years.”

• Jo Ellen and Willie Earl Bates at The Four Way Restaurant

Her father “purchased the building with the goal in mind of having a business in the neighborhood he grew up in, LeMoyne Gardens. His hope, mine, my children and husband, we pray other businesses will come back to that community and be a part of that community to revitalize the community.”

Her father bought the building with a friend, Thompson says. “He didn’t know what he was going to do with it, initially. My husband, who has over 33 years of restaurant and food industry experience, convinced by dad to reopen The Four Way because of the history.”

 Thompson met her husband, Jerry Thompson, at Xavier.

Her father “just kept the name of the original restaurant. People still refer to it as the ‘Four Way Grill,’ but for legal reasons my parents dropped the ‘Grill’ and just went with ‘The Four Way Restaurant.’”

At one point before her father bought the restaurant, other businesses were in the same building. “On that corner where we are the restaurant was there, a shoe shop was there, a pool hall. There were other businesses.”

But, she says, “All of them closed” before her dad bought the building. Her dad gutted the building and expanded the restaurant.

They didn’t have a lot of the restaurant’s original recipes when they opened, Thompson says. “I think we lucked up and found a couple of them, but most of the recipes we have are our family recipes.”

The restaurant was an instant success, much to her dad’s surprise. “It was also a shocker for him. He probably didn’t expect it would take off that quick. So, we were kind of bum rushed and we had some hard times ’cause it wasn’t as good as it needed to be. Some people were discouraged. But we regained the customers, some that we lost.

“I remember the day we opened there were people everywhere. We didn’t have enough employees to service everybody. We had some faithful people that stayed and waited and supported. ’Cause my dad grew up in Memphis. They knew him and they came to support him.”

Some customers “helped serve the first day. And I would say the first week. It was crazy. Maniac crazy. We were in over our heads. We were not ready. “

But “over the years with trial and error and just learning to organize” and with her husband’s experience, they’ve “gotten a whole lot better. We’ve done a tremendous turnaround.”

Thompson, who graduated from Xavier in 1989, worked at The Four Way from the time her dad bought it. “I worked part time. I was office manager at Metropolitan Baptist Church. I could walk from my church in five minutes in the next block and work at The Four Way.”

She did whatever she needed to do. “I’d work in the kitchen. I’d work the register. If I had to serve, I’d serve. To be honest, I still do that. Sometimes you’re short handed. You never know when your employees are going to come in and have a chip on their shoulder and not do what they’re supposed to do. I just fill in where I need to. You might come in next week and see me on the line.”

Her mother worked at The Four Way “until my dad passed. It was just me and my brother, Roman Bates. We lost my brother in 2013. We were all devastated by it, but my parents went through major depression. And I don’t think my mom ever kind of got out of that.”

• Roman Bates, Jo Ellen Bates, Patrice Bates Thompson, and Willie Earl Bates.

Her mother took over the restaurant on paper, but, Thompson says, “I was doing all the work. She didn’t really do a whole lot of the physical work after my dad died. She was doing most of the paper work at home. And she would come up a couple of days.”

• Patrice Bates Thompson and her mother, Jo Ellen Bates.

Thompson and her husband have two children. “JoElle Thompson — she was named after my mom — just graduated from Hampton University. A biology major. And our son gradated from the United States Naval Academy in 2018. Jerry R. Thompson.”

The Four Way Restaurant is a part of all of them, Thompson says. “Ultimately, my goal is to work another 12 to 15 years and try to hold it down. JoElle works with us full time. Her ultimate goal is to get her master’s in public health. I want her to reach her dreams and goals, but, ultimately, the restaurant is going to be passed down to them. I feel in my heart they may run the restaurant.”

And, Thompson says, “We’ll see. We definitely plan on keeping the restaurant in the family. My children will inherit what I inherited.”

The Four Way Restaurant is at 998 Mississippi Boulevard; (901) 507-1519 and (901) 305- 4488.

• Jerry and Patrice Bates Thompson with their children Jerry Rashaan Thompson and JoElle Simone Thompson.

• Brad McCarley closed his establishments, including City Block Salumeria, at Puck Food Hall.

Chef/butcher and owner Brad McCarley has closed all his businesses at Puck Food Hall on South Main. He closed City Block Salumeria, Venga, and Doughjo July 8th.

“We are officially closed,” McCarley says. “I’ve got a few irons in the fire, but not exactly sure how that’s all going to pan out. I worked with a lot of different restaurants in the past, making meats for them. So, I’ll probably continue doing that.”

As for why he's shutting down, McCarley says, “Pretty much it was just revenues. In March, they were cut by 75 percent. And it just kept going down. So, it’s just not being able to pay the bills.”

He and Spencer Coplan, who closed his Wok’n in Memphis restaurant the same day, “came to this decision,” McCarley says.

“I grew up here and then I moved out west for about 20 years. I lived in Tucson, Arizona, and Jackson, Wyoming, and Salt Lake City. But, yeah, I came back about five years ago. I worked as the head butcher at Porcellino’s  (Craft Butcher) and then I was at the Curb Market when they reopened in Crosstown. And I opened City Block.

“I also managed the entire [Puck] hall through remodel, rebrand, and through the last year.”

McCarley plans to stay in Memphis. “I have no plans to leave. It’s my home town. I love how everyone has been so supportive of us, but it’s just this pandemic has just taken the wind out of my sails a little bit.

“The plan is to keep City Block viable and reopen it when people feel better about going out.”

Wok’n in Memphis has left the building. The restaurant in Puck Food Hall that features chef/owner Spencer Coplan’s take on Chinese food ceased operation Thursday, July 8th.

“We are closed,” Coplan says. “It was a multitude of factors. One being health reasons. It just feels like with the rising COVID cases and stuff, taking precaution for myself and my family and my staff is always number one.

“Also, I don’t feel like now is a good time to try and invite guests back into the building due to the rising number of cases. People are scared and such. I don’t want to be a reason people go out.”

And, he says, “There aren’t that many people coming out. The amount of traffic Downtown is nonexistent. No tourism, no social events really going on Downtown, so people don’t go out to eat as much. No foot traffic.”

Coplan, who began Wok’n in Memphis, as a pop-up restaurant, opened in 2018 in Puck Food Hall.

Meanwhile, Coplan’s new Wok’n in Pickle Co. online grocery store will open July 25th. He will sell his own specialty provisions and products using local ingredients. These will include Coplan’s kimchi pickles, flavored oils, and aged soy sauce. The products will be available online at wok-in-memphis.square.site.

“We’ll be all online. And we are in the midst of doing a non-contact delivery for the grocery items and probably set up some shipping, also.”

As for reopening Wok’n in Memphis at a later date, Coplan says, “I’d love to resurrect it someday.”

But, he says, “This pandemic doesn’t just end overnight. So, I think waiting until a more appropriate time to open back up and in another location, yes, it’s something I’d like to definitely do at some point. I don’t know when.”

Patrons can enter the front doors on N. 2nd Street, grab a menu, and follow the long dragon mural down the hallway to the register. Meanwhile, ServiceMaster employees can enter STIX through a side door without leaving the office.

The interior underwent a complete redesign, with owner Wayne Yeh overseeing the installation of lounge seating, traditional tables, and a floor-to-ceiling moss wall emblazoned with the STIX logo.

“Our Downtown location is situated in a beautiful, newly renovated space that I know locals and tourists alike are going to enjoy visiting,” says Yeh. “Whether you’re looking for a unique meal like a sushi burrito or you want to take a more traditional route and go with a cup of Egg Drop Soup with a sushi roll, we have something delicious to offer.”

Unlike the Collierville location, the 2,600-square-foot space offers counter service only. The menu contains traditional items like hibachi, sushi, and crispy spring rolls, but Yeh also plans for STIX to offer daily specials like steamed Asian buns, or Memphis-centric sushi burritos (take your pick between the Bluff City Burrito or Riverside Roll). The restaurant also serves select local and domestic beer. For now, STIX will only serve a limited menu for takeout. Orders can be placed ahead of time online, or at a digital kiosk inside the restaurant.

STIX Restaurant

150 Peabody Pl.

12-8p.m., Monday-Saturday.

www.stixonline.com

Tattoos and chicken wraps are among the “menu” items at The Rook x Raven Tattoo Creative. Customers who want to get inked or pierced can grab a bite to eat or drink at The Rook x Raven Coffee x Kitchen.

“That’s something I came up with,” says the tattoo shop’s owner Ian Brown. “Because in all the years I’ve been tattooing, tattoo artists probably eat just very, very bad. I wanted to provide us with something to keep the blood flowing, the mind sharp — low-calorie super foods that keep us going.”

They offer coffee, including cappuccino and lattes. “We also drink a lot of coffee. I figured I’d add all that together. We also have smoothies.”

Brown, who added the kitchen two years ago, says they make wraps, salads, and bowls in chicken, fish, or veggies. The menu “varies from time to time,” he says.

He wants to serve healthy food, Brown says. “We’ve gotten so used to eating things that aren’t real. We don’t know what real food tastes like anymore. I was just trying to get us back in the swing of foods that have nutrients in them, that are fresh. I don’t compromise on the quality.”

And, he says, “We don’t do anything frozen.”

Except the smoothies, of course.

Brown practices what he preaches. “I grew up with a grandmother who was real big on fresh vegetables and making sure there was plenty of fruit in the house. She was health conscious and conscious about what we consumed. I learned a lot from her.”

He converted part of the tattoo shop into a kitchen, he says. “I actually gutted what used to be a station and turned it into the kitchen.”

Customers can’t eat chicken bowls or other Rook x Raven cuisine while they’re getting inked. “You’re not going to eat while you’re getting tattoos. But it’s not uncommon for someone to come in for an appointment and grab something to eat, grab coffee, and then get a tattoo. You can have drinks back there. And we give you time to eat. 

“I’m weird about somebody sitting there eating while I’m tattooing. I’d just rather not have a whole lot of movement and stuff going on. An occasional sip of a drink is okay, but I try to keep everybody focused on what’s going on. We can take a break and they can just eat and we can get back to work.”

Born in Michigan, Brown grew up in Memphis. Tattooing was all he wanted to do when he was at Germantown High School. “I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember being able to pick up something and draw with it. I was always the go-to person to get somebody to draw something.”

He didn’t start drawing professionally until he graduated. “I’d gotten an apprenticeship,” Brown says. “I was at community college and got the opportunity to apprentice. Pretty much that day I gave up community college and pursued that. I remember my mom giving me a hard time about that decision. I think I made the best choice. I’m happy.”

His first shop was a partnership in Touch of Ink in East Memphis. He then became sole owner of The Skull & Rose, which was on South Second next to Paula & Raiford’s Disco. “We used to throw big art shows and smaller concerts.”

He opened Rook x Raven in 2016 while he still owned The Skull x Rose. He eventually gave up the Downtown shop and concentrated on his Cordova shop. 

Brown named it “Rook x Raven” because a rook is the opposite of a raven, he says. It just has a white beak. “So, I was thinking in my mind like a yin and yang kind of a thing.”

Among his tattoo designs are detailed drawings of Mohammad Ali and Elvis. “I’ve done so many Mohammad Ali’s. When we were Downtown we did so much Elvis, man, it was ridiculous.”

Brown used to alternate between cooking and tattooing, but now his wife, Tay, is “pretty much taking care of it.”

Tay learned to cook from her grandmother. “I was always in there with her, helping her,” she says.

Asked what are their most popular menu items, Tay says, “I would say the chicken bowl and the salmon wrap.”

The chicken bowl is “baked chicken, wild rice, sautéed bell peppers, onions, and black beans. And I put a little avocado in it.”

The salmon wrap is “spinach mixed with basil. And it has bell peppers and salmon, of course. And I make some spicy mayo. So, it’s a mixture of mayo, sriracha, and a little oil.”

The Rook & Raven Tattoo Creative is at 2821 North Houston Levee Road, Suite 106, in Cordova: (901) 570-3161

Ronnie Grisanti’s Restaurant at one time was known as Ronnie Grisanti & Son Restaurant.

It’s a “sons” thing again. Alex Grisanti recently joined his brother, Judd Grisanti, in the kitchen at Ronnie Grisanti’s Restaurant in Regalia. Their brother, Dino Grisanti, is one of the owners.

Alex, who will continue to operate his 9-Dough-1 food truck, is glad to be back.

“My dad’s name is on the building,” Alex says. “I want to keep that Grisanti quality going that Memphis is used to, and give our customers what they expect out of us Grisantis.”

Judd, who opened Ronnie Grisanti’s Restaurant, in September, 2018, says, “The restaurant was never mine. The restaurant was never about me. The restaurant was never about Alex. It’s about our heritage. It’s about our family. We’re brothers. And it’s great to be back in the kitchen again, cooking alongside each other like we did for 27 years.”

The Grisanti brothers cooked at the Ronnie Grisanti’s restaurant when it was at 2855 Poplar at Humes. Dino, who also is in the car dealership business, worked in the kitchen at one time. Alex was chef/owner of the old Elfo’s restaurant in Germantown.

Judd and Dino asked him to come back, Alex says. He says he told them, “When I wasn’t on my truck, when my truck’s not working during the holiday season when we’re not so busy, that I would come help him and make all the pastries and stuff like that.”

“That’s what kind of got me back there,” says Alex, who now will be doing all types of chef duties in the kitchen.

And, he says, “When Judd’s not there, at least there’s a Grisanti in the building. Like me and dad, Judd, down on Poplar. Just like the old days.”

His food truck - or bus - business is doing “phenomenal,” he says. People still are going crazy over his crawfish pizza and other pizzas.

“This is coming up on our third year with the food truck. I worked nine shifts in the food truck last week. Our business has tripled. Because we’re feeding hospitals and their nurses and big companies where people have to go to work. Like right now, we’re at Campbell Clinic feeding all the doctors and nurses here.”

And, he says, “We built a new truck this winter and it’s doing great.”

It’s actually a “cargo, transport bus,” he says. “I got a bus five or six months ago and it took me all winter to build it. But it’s out and done.”

Judd and Dino aren’t the only ones happy to have their brother in the kitchen again. “I think my dad and my mom would be happy about us being in the kitchen again,” Judd says. “I know he’s smiling.”

Ronnie Grisanti's Restaurant is at 6150 Poplar Avenue, No. 122, in Regalia; (901) 850-0191