John S.
Yelp
The Liquor Store has been near the top of my Memphis restaurant bucket list for months. Given its popularity and smaller size, I knew our wait might be long, so I wasn't surprised when the hostess told us it would be an hour. But thankfully, it turned out to only be about 20 minutes.
We started with an order of the biscuit beignets, which was hands down the highlight of the meal. While they're made of fried biscuit dough, from a texture and consistency standpoint, they seemed more like sweet hushpuppies (which I love). They aren't the easiest to eat since the coating is so dense and crispy, so proceed with caution if using a fork and knife so that your beignet isn't launched across the table. But the inside of each beignet was soft, fluffy and warm. I easily could've eaten an entire order myself.
For my entree, after much deliberation, I ordered the Pancake Stack -- two massive pancakes served with two eggs and a breakfast meat, which I substituted for a biscuit (which was also massive). The pancakes tasted like they were griddled in bacon fat, the flavor of which overpowered any flavor the pancake had. As someone who admittedly doesn't like bacon, it rendered the pancakes almost inedible. I struggled to finish half of one. I've eaten pancakes all over the country and have never had one taste like bacon grease -- maybe the griddle needed cleaning?
The biscuit was good (again, massive) with a slightly crusty outer shell but soft and fluffy on the inside. The scrambled eggs were fairly standard -- they were fine.
I loved the interior of the restaurant which was decorated for the holiday season. The service was decent but rather slow. This definitely isn't a place for a quick lunch.
Overall, aside from the biscuit beignets, I wasn't blown away by my food. A lot of the other items on the menu sounded delicious, but if they're cooked on the same griddle as the pancakes, I worry that they too might be overpowered by the taste of bacon fat. I won't rush back anytime soon, but I would certainly be willing to give The Liquor Store another shot, no pun intended.