I have read numerous reviews about Memphis Cafe in Costa Mesa from people on Yelp to Kat at the OC Register, so we finally were able to check it out I’m just going to make this a quick review because I’ve lost my pictures and I’m starting to forget specifics of my meal.
Mrs. DanGarion meant to order a half order of the grilled chicken cobb salad, but ended up ordering the full salad ($10.50). I ordered the buttermilk friend chicken ($17.00). The salad was big, not huge, but definitely enough for any normal human to eat in one sitting. The salad came with a very light cracked pepper & herb dressing which was lightly drizzled on top of the mixture of lettuce, tomato, avocado, egg, croutons, gorgonzola, apple smoked bacon. My wife liked it a lot but wished it had just a little bit more dressing because it was slightly dry. There were so many different flavors that it didn’t need too much dressing but it stills needs a bit of moisture to help it go down. The buttermilk fried chicken was served with collard greens, mashed potatoes, country gravy with andouille sausage. The chicken consisted of a boneless chicken breast along with the drum part of the wing sticking up from it. The chicken was perfectly moist and the breading added extra flavor to it. The collard greens were my first experience and I liked them for the most part, they have a very distinct flavor (they were better than those from Burrell’s BBQ). The mashed potatoes were wonderful with just the right amount of gravy on them to use for the chicken as well. It was a great meal that I wouldn’t probably order again, although I feel I can get a friend chicken of the same caliber elsewhere for slightly less.
When we first walked in we weren’t greeted and it took a minute or two for any of the staff to realize we were waiting to be seated. One of the unfortunate things about places that don’t have a proper hosting area, people that have never been there before tend to get a little frustrated because you don’t know what you are supposed to do, do you seat yourself, or do you wait? We did like the hole in the wall roadhouse feel though. I’m happy it wasn’t too hot though because they don’t appear to have an air conditioner and it took a minute for me to adjust to the temperature. We sat inside, but there appears to also be a large covered outdoor area as well.
I wouldn’t put them on the top of my list, but I’d like to try some more of their dishes, I was very split on my order and almost got the grilled pork porterhouse ($19.50), I’ll have to save that for my next visit. I did hear they have a great happy hour.
My rating would be a 4 for the food and 2 for the experience when we entered, fortunately our waitress was really cool and on the ball with our orders and keeping out drinks running, which gives them back up to a solid 3 rating (don’t question my math!).
Visit 8/9/08 for Dinner
[xrr rating=3/5]
Memphis
2920 Bristol Street
Costa Mesa, CA, 92626
(714) 432-7685
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