The New Restaurant Iris Is Open

Restaurant Iris

The long-awaited new location for Restaurant Iris is ready for its close up—today!

Restaurant Iris's team is finally ready to welcome guests to the new location in Laurelwood Shopping Center in East Memphis. 

Iris is now open for lunch/brunch every day from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., and for dinner on select weekend days including Friday and Saturday October 7 and 8. On Saturdays and Sundays, the brunch menu will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Starting October 10, the bar and bar menu will be available all day.

Reservations can be made on their website and will be going live at some point. You can also make reservations online at (901) 560-2564

Follow Iris on Instagram for more details.

Under direction of Executive Chef Russell Casey, diners can expect a seafood-heavy, classic New Orleans inspired menu to start with more exploration and expansion later. There's a big beautiful bar with a separate menu, too. 

iris dining room
Holly Whitfield

Restaurant Iris Food Menus

I hope to eat all of this soon, but here are my initial thoughts. Restaurant Iris’s lunch, dinner, bar food, and drink menus are all available online. It’s very New Orleans, French, Southern. 

Things that caught my eye on the lunch menu—smoked duck gumbo, crab au gratin, a BLT with cold smoked salmon gravlax, seafood poboys, trout amandine. Lots of seafood. 

The dinner menu’s lobster crepes, short rib ravioli, bouillabaisse (French fish stew), and Confit duck leg all spoke to me. 

Yes the fried oyster-stuffed New York Strip from the OG Iris is on the dinner menu. 

Once things get going, Restaurant Iris hosts to bring a traditional weekend Brunch menu to the table. Maybe with jazz. Think poboys, Benedicts, steak and eggs, and possibly some Bounty brunch favorites like grits and grillades—Chef Casey was chef at Bounty previously. 

The Bar At Restaurant Iris

If you’re not feeling like a sit-down dinner experience, the beautiful spacious bar (and bar kitchen) are open 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. with food served all day, including flatbreads, poboys, BBQ shrimp, smoked duck wing and yes, the lobster knuckle sandwich. 

Thanks to Executive Beverage Director Larin Culp, there's a lovely cocktail and wine menu to quench all our thirsts as well. 

three people sitting in private room at Restaurant Iris
Holly Whitfield

Left to right: Executive Pastry Director Inga Theeke, Execute Chef Russell Casey, and Owner/CEO Kelly English. 

Memphis Upscale Dining At Restaurant Iris

The former Grove Grill space has been completely redone. The skylight-lit dining room wall is graced with a Dorothy Collier mural; there are multiple delightful dining rooms each with a different design (including the best wallpaper I've ever seen). The largest private room can seat 30 guests and host chef's demos, presentations, meetings, and more.

The interior design and construction work was done by Parker Design Studio and Grinder Taber.

Behind-the-scenes, the new kitchen is MUCH bigger than the original restaurants and will allow for more menu items, catering, and a grab-n-go foods section.

I know we all can't wait to eat here for lunch, brunch, dinner, and everything in between.

surf n turf
Justin Fox Burks
restaurant iris exteior
Holly Whitfield
Go There: 

Restaurant Iris 

4550 Poplar Ave
Memphis, TN 38117

Comments Make Us Happy

2
Leave a Comment
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
judy w

Thanks

October 6, 2022 12:32pm
Barbara Cash

My friend and I dined here after church around 12:15.. Kim the hostess was so nice and Nile was the best waiter.. very polite and professional!  love the atmosphere..B. Cash

October 30, 2022 10:59pm