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FeedJul 21, 201104:32 PM
Eating Out: Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
Here’s a shout out to fans of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken: The new Gus’s on Mendenhall in East Memphis is open, and the place is rockin’ even during off-hours. Customers have been visiting nonstop since the restaurant opened two weeks ago, with sales last Saturday topping $10,000. That’s a lot of chicken.
We stopped by Wednesday at 4 p.m., and we heard the Bo-Keys on the jukebox as soon as we sat down, courtesy of the Sirius station BB King’s Bluesville. The music was a perfect appetizer for our three-piece white plate with an extra chicken tender. We’d never ordered a tender, and it tasted just like Gus’s chicken on-the-bone, thanks to the top-secret frying batter that comes directly from the original Gus’s in Mason, Tennessee.
My favorite thing about Gus’s is how the chicken is so hot and juicy. I love pulling a chunk of meat and skin from the bone with my fork and having to wait a minute or two before eating to let the spicy steam escape. The smell is everything that’s good about summer.
While the menu at the new Gus’s duplicates the other restaurants, the ambiance of the place is entirely it’s own. Owners Tripp Carter and Tom Mitchell spent $400,000 for the build-out, which included demolishing the existing building that had been empty for 25 years.
“Did you notice the sign for Rodgers Radiator Shop by the cooler?“ asked operations manager Ted Sullivan. “The shop was the last business here, and we found the sign inside the building when we torn it down.”
This mix of old and new gives Gus’s a comfortable, lived-in feeling. The restaurant’s brick and corrugated tin ceilings were reclaimed from a downtown warehouse, and the redwood for the window frames came from a Mississippi ranch. The name of the ranch - WW - is still stamped on the wood.
The restroom and storeroom doors have some history too, coming from a Mississippi gas station where customers left stickers for stores (Cowboy Corner), radio stations (107 FM), schools (Roar With the Tigers), and political campaigns (Impeach Nixon). “We wanted to preserve the stickers, so we sealed the doors exactly as they were,” Sullivan said.
Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Open Sunday - Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
730 S. Mendenhall (901-767-2323)
Memphis Stew is a food blog that celebrates our city’s community table and the people who grow, cook, and eat Memphis food. It is written by Pamela Denney, food editor of Memphis magazine, who sees food as a delicious way to build families, friendships, and a more healthy and sustainable future.
ohh weeee !!!! talk about the perfect yard bird ..... yessir reeee
I was born and raised in memphis, I now live north of the border, Canada. I had a chance to visit Gus's Chicken downtown loacation. I must say that I've been hooked ever since. I've even went as far as to have someone bring me chicken back with them after the IBC International Blues Challenge, who happen to be Shakura S'Aida. Well Shakura brought back 16pc of Gus's Chicken I think I ate at least 5pc. I had people coming up to me asking where the chicken came from because she brought it to a club and we ate it there.
What I really want is for Gus's Chicken to be packaged and shipped! This Chicken should be tasted by everyone. I LOVE GUS'S CHICKEN AND IF AND WHEN YOU DO SHIP PUT ME ON THE ROSTER AS THE FIRST DELIVERY!
THANKS FOR LISTENING
I just ate in the Gus's on Mendenhall and it was horrible. First of all I have to say that I have been hooked on Gus's chicken for a while, but Mendenhall is an insult to the brand. We had beans that no one in my family would eat, and the potato salad really was the worst that I have ever tasted.The potatoes we way over-cooked and it was more like a mayonnaise soup. (no kidding!)
The chicken was extremely spicy, but reeked of black pepper. I will continue to eat Gus's chicken at the original and other locations, but Mendenhall should have their franchise revoked.
Since when did it become ok to call a customer a bitch? After calling to complain about Gus's staff leaving out our dipping sauces for chicken tenders, I was told we could drive the 15 minutes to come back up there to get them, but nothing else could be done. We all know that tenders are no good without sauces. When I complained about the obvious incompetence of their staff, I was called a bitch by a manager named Ted. He screamed into the phone and told me to never call there again. I have never in my life been treated like this by a restaurant. This treatment crosses the line into total egregious conduct. This manager should be fired and never allowed to deal with the public again. What happened to treating the disappointed customer with respect and trying to make the situation right so the customer returns in the future. Not only will I not return, but I will make sure to tell everyone I know about my experience. You should consider employing managers who have the best interest of your company in mind, which normally doesn't include cussing out loyal customers. At the very least, your employees could use some training on customer relations. If my attitude about the incompetence of your employees was less than favorable, I do apologize; however, that gives your manager absolutely no right to retaliate in the way he did. I have cried for the past few minutes because of his harsh treatment and feel insulted to the point of emotional distress. I will do everything in my power to make sure that my treatment does not go unnoticed.
Manager on Mendenhall is extremely rude and uses foul language. There is no excuse for that behavior especially in a service industry. Seems to be a pattern of poor customer service from the Mendenhall manager based on what is on the internet. The Mendenhall location also needs to purchase a lot for parking for customers. Gus needs to recognize that they have a parking problem and resolve that problem instead of using other businesses parking. These other businesses own that property and Gus has no right to use that parking