Zoo Rendezvous is my favorite Memphis event. I look forward to it every year. All you can eat from hundreds of local Memphis restaurants and all you can drink from local bars. If you do not eat yourself sick, then you are doing something wrong. The point of the whole night is to eat so much that you cannot physically walk to your car. Let me tell you, I succeeded.
The Memphis Zoo describes this event as “Shake, Rattle & Roar! Memphis’ biggest party of the year is getting even bigger! Experience the excitement of four bands, a sports bar and Memphis’ finest restaurants and bars, all at the wildest venue in town.”
ALL of my local favorites were there, and some I even made it around to twice. For those who are curious, here is a list of everyone who had a booth:
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| Amerigo Athens Distributing Company Automatic Slim’s Bardog Tavern Bayou Bar and Grill B.B. King’s Blues Club Bluefin Bonefish Grill Bon Ton Boscos Squared Budweiser of Memphis Cafè Palladio Cafè Society Catering For U CFY Catering Charlie Vergos Rendezvous Cheffie’s Cafe’ Ciao Bella Italian Grille Circa Coletta’s Italian Restaurant Community Coffee Corky’s Bar-B-Q Fascinating Catering Folk’s Folly Prime Steakhouse Fratelli’s Grill 83 The Grove Grill Gus’s Catering – Collierville Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken – Downtown Harrah’s Entertainment – Paula Deen Buffet Hog Wild & A Moveable Feast Horseshoe – Jack Binion’s Steakhouse Horseshoe – Push Nightclub Houston’s Restaurant Humdingers Huey’s Interim Restaurant & Bar Itta Bena Kooky Canuck La Baguette Lancer Catering Le Chardonay Longhorn Steakhouse Lynchburg Legends Bar & Grill |
Me and My Tea Room The Medallion at Holiday Inn University of Memphis The Melting Pot Memphis Pizza Cafe Muddy’s Bake Shop Murphy’s Pub A “Neu” Mystery Restaurant Old Venice Pizza Co. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Panini Catering by Java Coast Patrick’s Steak and Spirits Pearl Oyster House Perkins Restaurant & Bakery Roadhouse Casino The Range Steakhouse Sekisui Sharky’s Gulf Grill Simply Delicious Caterings South of Beale Southwestern Distributing Company Stix Sunset Atop the Madison The Superior Bar of Memphis Swanky’s Taco Shop Sweet Grass TCBY Texas de Brazil Trolley Stop Tsunami Ugly Mug Coffee United Liquor Corporation Wade and Company Wang’s Mandarin House Westy’s Yolo Frozen Yogurt |
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You get served mini portions in order to taste everyone’s goodies. Even with the mini sizes, you fill up quickly from all of the food!
Pizza from Memphis Pizza Cafe
I have to say, my favorite thing all night was the steak sandwich from Folk’s Folly Prime Steakhouse. It was a rare cut of prime rib on a soft roll. Oh my god. We may have gone back for seconds or thirds. My favorite dessert was the Fudge Pie from Westy’s. I look forward to this every year. Hot and fresh fudge brownie topped with french vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. Yum!
The party was alive and packed from the get go. Everyone seemed to have a blast.
My friends at Huey’s won Best in Show AGAIN this year for having such fun booth decor! They were all rocking the animal print and records.
Kooky Canuck won an award as well for having so much fun at their booth!
All in all the event was successful. The Memphis Zoo was able to raise a lot of money, and everyone partied hard. If you didn’t have a chance to make it this year, I highly suggest you mark next September in your planner. You don’t want to miss this.
