Behind glass panels, booths take on the look of little salon stations, and the whole room plays with the cheerful kitsch of a 1960s beauty shop. This is a Memphis restaurant that gives diners plenty to look at before the first plate lands on the table.
The setting is warm rather than museum-stiff: vintage-minded, a little playful, and built for a neighborhood meal that can stretch from a casual brunch into a longer dinner. In Cooper-Young, the restaurant fits neatly into an afternoon or evening spent in one of the city’s livelier dining areas.
The dining room is compact, and its close-set tables can make busy periods feel animated. That is especially true on Sunday mornings, when the room has the energy of a popular neighborhood gathering place rather than a hushed special-occasion dining room.
A Dining Room With Salon Personality
The beauty-shop idea is more than a passing decorative note. Glass walls divide booths, reinforcing the sense that each table occupies its own small, stylized space. The result is quirky without asking diners to treat the room as a theme-park set.
A distinctive chair known as the Priscilla chair has also appeared among the restaurant’s memorable furnishings. Details like that give the room the pleasantly unpredictable quality of a good vintage find.
Indoor tables are joined by bar seating and an outdoor patio or terrace. In warm weather, the patio has used table fans to take the edge off a Tennessee summer brunch.
A Menu That Likes a Plot Twist
The food does not settle for standard versions of familiar restaurant dishes. The menu moves between small bites and full entrées, with fruits, vegetables, sauces and contrasting textures often doing as much work as the main protein.
That format gives a table two useful paths. You can order a few plates to pass around, then follow them with individual entrées, or settle in with one substantial dish and let the rest of the group do the sampling.
Among the smaller dishes that have appeared are tempura shrimp, cucumber salad and monkey bread. Wings served with watermelon make a particularly memorable pairing: sweet fruit alongside savory wings and sauce is not the usual bar-food routine, which is precisely the point.
Sunday Brunch Has Range
Sunday brunch is the meal that brings many people through the door, and the choices cover both the comforting and the more adventurous ends of the morning table. Shrimp and grits, chicken and waffles, several Benedict variations, chilaquiles, pancakes, steak and eggs, and the cleverly named “It Hash to Be” hash have all been on the brunch lineup.
The Benedict selection goes beyond a single default option, with bacon eggs Benedict and eggs Florentine Benedict among the choices. That makes brunch easier for a mixed table, where one person wants a classic egg dish and another is looking for a vegetarian-leaning plate.
Chicken and waffles have been served with sweet chili sauce, adding a little brightness and heat to the familiar sweet-savory combination. The accompanying sausage gravy has drawn attention for being creamy and well balanced, with sausage flavor present without taking over the plate.
For a gentler brunch order, the pancakes have been notably light and fluffy. A BLT variation with arugula, avocado and fried green tomato takes another dependable favorite in a more Southern, more dressed-up direction.
Portions at brunch are filling, so this is a meal with enough substance to carry an unhurried afternoon. A curated playlist adds to the upbeat room without changing the basic pleasure of the occasion: coffee, eggs, sauces, a full table, and an excuse not to rush.
Busy, But Still Sociable
Brunch can be especially busy, and reservations are commonly used for Sunday service. The volume rises in the compact room when tables fill, though the atmosphere remains suited to conversation rather than a quick in-and-out meal.
Groups fit naturally into the menu format. A party can split starters before everyone chooses an entrée, and the setting has accommodated both brunch groups and dinner tables lingering over a longer meal.
The restaurant’s service style helps with a menu that offers plenty to consider. Staff are comfortable answering questions, explaining dishes, and helping diners identify vegetarian options or possible modifications for gluten-free needs.
Dinner Beyond the Brunch Crowd
Dinner has its own reason to linger. Lamb, ribeye, grouper, steak, and a dish called Peach and Pork have all appeared among the more substantial offerings, giving the evening menu a broader sweep than a simple cocktail-and-snacks stop.
The lamb has been served as a bowl-like entrée with an elaborate arrangement of sides, the sort of plate that rewards a few minutes of looking before digging in. Presentation matters here, but the meal is not merely decorative; sauces and accompaniments are central to the way the dishes are built.
Some dinner portions can run modest, particularly for diners with bigger appetites. The small-plate side of the menu offers an easy way to make a meal feel more generous without committing everyone at the table to the same appetizer.
A Drink and Something Sweet
A Beautinni cocktail is one of the named drinks that has turned up at dinner, a fitting choice in a room with beauty-parlor flair. The bar seating offers another place to settle in when a full table is not the goal.
Dessert can go in several directions. Chocolate meringue pie has a fudgy chocolate base and a notably rich character, while gelato provides a lighter finish after a full dinner.
There are chocolate shakes, too, with a selection broader than a single plain-chocolate option. It is a nicely unpretentious closing note for a restaurant that can serve polished entrées without giving up its sense of fun.
Getting Into the Meal
Parking arrangements around the restaurant have included a paid lot immediately outside, free parking across the street, and street parking. Availability can vary with the time and bustle of the neighborhood.
The strongest strategy here is not to arrive with a rigid idea of one must-order dish. Browse the small plates, notice the more unexpected pairings, and leave room for the brunch or dinner selection that sounds most unlike the version you make at home.