1. Equestria
City: Germantown, TN
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (901) 869-2663
Address: 3165 Forest Hill–Irene Road
Description: Locals love the decor of this equestrian-theme restaurant, with its beautiful wood finishes, subtle lighting, and other touches, creating an elegant yet casual atmosphere. As far as the food goes, the restaurant once served mainly steaks but now has a diverse menu that includes such dishes as veal osso buco, grilled swordfish with caramelized butternut squash, and crab cakes with chrimp and dill butter. There’s also a sizable wine list. Open for dinner Monday through Saturday; Sunday for private bookings only.
2. The Germantown Commissary
City: Germantown, TN
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (901) 754-5540
Address: 2290 South Germantown Road
Description: This rustic barbecue shack, steeped with hickory smoke and situated near the railroad tracks, certainly looks the part. It has operated for more than 20 years and has many regular customers and fans. The Commissary serves up excellent ribs (sort of in between wet and dry), barbecue shrimp, and sandwiches as well as variations on the traditional such as barbecue nachos. Beer is available. Don’t forget the homemade lemon, coconut, and chocolate pies, that is, if you have any room left. Open every day for lunch and dinner; reservations for groups of 12 or more only.
3. Yiayia’S Eurocafe
City: Germantown, TN
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (901) 756-4004
Address: 7615 West Farmington Boulevard
Description: This trendy eatery, with its lodgelike warm wood and stone interior, offers a menu of what it calls “homestyle Mediterranean” cuisine, including such dishes as crab risotto cakes, wood-roasted salmon salad, oak-fired pizzas, and whole oven-roasted fish. There’s also an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet on Sunday, where you can sample some of everything. Open for lunch and dinner every day. YiaYia’s bar is also an alluring nightspot for area yuppies, especially on Wednesday and Friday nights, both for happy hour and later.
4. Mister B’S
City: Germantown, TN
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (901) 751-5262
Address: 6655 Poplar Avenue
Description: Tucked away in the Carrefour shopping center, this New Orleans–style seafood kitchen is well liked by Memphis suburbanites, who come here for fried oysters, shrimp Creole, and po’boys as well as for steaks. That’s the dinner menu; for lunch Mister B’s serves hearty plate lunches featuring country-fried steak, meat loaf, and the like. Even though the address is Poplar Avenue, to find Mister B’s, drive to the back of the shopping center, where you’ll find it just west of Borders bookstore. Open for lunch Monday through Friday and for dinner Monday through Saturday.
5. Bol Á Pasta
City: Germantown, TN
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (901) 757-5609
Address: 3160 Village Shops Drive
Description: This family-friendly restaurant, another one operated by the Grisanti family, serves all kinds of pasta as well as other specialties such as steaks, shrimp scampi, and seafood entrees. Parents and kids alike are at home at these casual restaurants, decorated with colorful original murals. Open every day for lunch and dinner.