Worst Places to Eat in Memphis, Tennessee

I have recently been enjoying doing a series called the Best of for Associated Content about the best places to eat shop and live in Memphis and the Mid-South. However, I would be remiss if I did not spend equal time giving you a heads up on places to avoid visiting, whether you are looking to go out for a nice dinner or looking for a new outfit for yourself or your spouse.

My wife and I enjoy buffets at Chinese restaurants. With their abundant offerings and normally low-fat courses you can usually trust a Chinese restaurant to be a safe place to eat if you see one. However, twice I have been to restaurants in Memphis that need their license revoked because the food at their buffets was beyond nasty. In fact, on both occasions I lost my appetite and decided to go home.

The Palace King restaurant about a block north of Elvis Presley's Graceland Mansion is one such place. You would think with its proximity to Graceland they would have some splendid fare. Boy was I in for a huge letdown when I sat down to eat. Usually, when you find a Chinese restaurant in a highly urban area you would think the food would be outstanding and that is what I believed but there was nothing that I tasted that did not make me believe it was cooked in Beijing, flown to Memphis, stored in a freezer when it got here, unthawed and put in a microwave ready to serve. It was just that bad. How do you mess up sweet and sour chicken? I learned at Palace King. Terrible!

I had a similar experience when I visited Asian Palace on Covington Pike in the Raleigh section of the city. Covington Pike is the longest stretch of car dealerships in the country and at its beginning sits an Asian restaurant in a former Ryan's steakhouse building. Ryan's should have stayed. When you walk into the restaurant you are greeted by a rather large fish tank that has an eel the size of a python inside of it. I should have known then but I went ahead and went to the buffet to eat. That eel was the indicator because they had food that was just uneatable and detestable. How bad does a place have to be to say that they messed fresh fruit up and fried chicken too? I warn you, leave Asian Palace on Covington Pike to the dogs.

There is a McDonalds restaurant on Third Street in the Westwood section of Memphis that deserves to be shut down if for nothing else than poor management and training. If you talk to anyone that has visited that one McDonalds restaurant they will tell you that when you pull up to place your order in the drive-thru the first thing you hear is not 'hello, welcome to McDonalds how may I help you'. Nope! You hear what they do not have in stock for you to order that day. Last week a woman stopped by the fast food joint and was told they were out of and all they had to drink was Coke, Diet Coke and Sprite. So the woman placed her order and added a Sprite. Well, when she pulled up to get her order they were pouring her Sprite from a 2-liter bottle. And this, in front of her like there was nothing wrong with them doing it. Unimaginable!

The last place any sensible human being should avoid eating at is Café Ole in Midtown. Universally, they have the worst service and food in Midtown Memphis and that is saying a lot. Most people that live in Midtown or spend money in Midtown are extremely forgiving people. So for many to have had a bad experience at Café Ole says how truly bad the place is and receives the pleasure of being called the one place in Memphis you should avoid going to for a dinner out.

All dining experiences are isolated and completely the responsibility of that particular location and staff. If food is not good at one McDonalds that does not mean I do not enjoy a Big Mac at the McDonalds on Union Avenue. At the same time, if I have had several bad experiences at a chain then I just avoid the chain altogether.

Do yourself a favor and talk to your friends. Where they avoid should be a sign that you should stay away too.