Barksdale Restaurant

237 South Cooper, Memphis, TN - (901) 722-2193

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Posted By Michael Stern on 4/11/2009 10:44:00 PM

Memphians flock to the Barksdale Restaurant Saturday mornings for big weekend breakfasts built around omelets with the works. The rest of the week, the café opens every day at 6:30, but the crowds arrive mid-day. That is when you can eat a hearty and low-priced plate lunch of pork chops (every Monday), country-fried steak (Wednesday and Thursday), or catfish (Friday). The meat is sided by a trio of well-cooked vegetables and just-made cornbread, followed by lemon ice box pie, banana pudding, or peach cobbler. You can’t go wrong.

Barksdale breakfast is what we like best, six days a week. It is a southern paradigm of aromatic country ham that is resilient but easy to slice, served with a side dish of red-eye gravy to spoon onto grits. All breakfasts are accompanied by excellent biscuits, hot from the oven. If red-eye is not your dish, peppery milk gravy is also available, and it is superb.

The wood-paneled wall of the Barksdale Restaurant is lined with signed pictures of fans who have 8x10 glossies to send, including musicians, local celebrities, and a few Elvis impersonators. Each inscribes the photo with a sentiment. One handsome face we didn’t recognize wrote, Thanks for the gravy fix!

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

ham and red-eye gravy	Omelet and Home Fries
Biscuits

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"Country ham is a breakfast meat with character, and Barksdale serves some of the best!"
Cliff Strutz

"Light airy biscuits, straight from the oven; you couldn't ask for a better way to start your day."
Cliff Strutz

"On the plate: grits, over-easy eggs, and a slice of country ham. In the background are biscuits and to the right, this side of the coffee, is red-eye gravy."
Michael Stern

"A perfectly cooked sausage, bacon, and cheese omelet sided by hash browns with cheese and onions."
Gregg Pill

"The well-worn booths serve as a reminder that Barksdale is no Johnny-come-lately to the Memphis dining scene."
Cliff Strutz

"Expect to be treated well by the staff here at Barksdale."
Cliff Strutz

"A true Memphis cafe, where the locals eat. But in this case, it was a traveler from afar who left his knapsack and two puppy companions outside while he went in for a meal."
Michael Stern

"During a recent visit, we were too busy enjoying breakfast of ham, grits and gravy to take pictures before we ate. But on the way out we shot this one to show what the place looks like."
Michael Stern