This is a summary of the restaurant experiences in Memphis. My brother and I went out to eat every day (usually dinner) and I tried to avoid going to a restaurant that I'd find in California. So we didn't go to McDonald's or The Olive Garden or a couple of other chains. The only interesting fast food chain that I saw (although we didn't eat there) was Captain D's which was some kind of seafood place. Lots of Captain D's in Memphis.

On Thursday we ate at The Terrace, a restaurant in the Salt Lake City airport. It has a nice view of some of the runways and mountains in the distance. I had a pasta dish and Chris had a sandwich. Friendly service, nice sorroundings, price is a bit more than average.

Friday night we ate an Outback Steakhouse (which I can find in California, but I've never been to one and was in the mood for a piece of beef). Very crowded and we were seated within 20 minutes. Loud and friendly is how I'd describe the atmosphere. I had the biggest steak I could get (The Melbourne -- Porterhouse) and Chris had the Prime Rib. Well undercooked: my well done came out medium and Christopher's medium came out medium-rare. Chris did want to try medium-rare, which the waiter and I persuaded him would be kind of raw so he ordered a medium. He didn't like it medium-rare. Now he knows.

Saturday night we ate at La Chine of Wang, a medium sized Chinese restaurant near the Malco Majestic Theatres. Chris wanted to eat Chinese food, and after much looking this restaurant was both close by and didn't have too goofy a name. They have a buffet grill of some kind, usually a bad sign in a restaurant. We had potstickers, General Tsao's chicken, and something else. The food was not all that impressive, the restaurant was rather sparsely populated for the time of night, and it was quite bright. Ok food, average price for a Chinese place.

Sunday night it was Hops, a restaurant with a microbrewery. Decor much like any fairly nice American restaurant chain like Black Angus. Unfortunately we had lunch that day so I ordered too much and the dishes were big. We had a spinach- artichoke (or something like that) dip, plus soup and a salad before the main course. I had blackened catfish and Christopher got pork chops in a creamy sauce. I barely finished my food and Chris left most of his uneaten. Then we waddled over to the movie theater to watch Chicken Run and digest.

We didn't make the same mistake Monday, as we didn't eat lunch. We went to Jarrett's Restaurant on Quince Road. Actually we went there Sunday but they're not open that day. This is a fancy restaurant and Chris and I felt quite a bit underdressed. Monday is wine tasting night and we were seated next to the wine tasters who had a big table. Good bread to start off with. We ordered the seafood sampler appetizer (it's a seafood place) which was quite good. I had the rack of lamb, which was good but a bit small. Of course we were already satisfied by then so that wasn't a problem. Relaxed atmosphere, expensive food, good service, no milk.

On our last day we went to Amerigo for lunch. It's an Italian restaurant, one of three in Tennessee. Very nice again although it was quite empty when we ate there (sometime after 14:00). Flavored bread with some sort of olive oil dip to start with. I had a delicious pasta dish of some kind. Creamy sauce, fettucine, chicken. Chris a seafood dish that he couldn't finish. Quite full by the time we left. Moderately priced and good food, good service, nice looking place.

That's it. Not very descriptive I suppose. If you go to Memphis the last three places we visited are excellent. They're all to the east of the airport, within 15 minutes driving from the Marriott. By the time we left Memphis I think I had gotten the hang of the major streets near the hotel. The only weird things about driving there were that most of the protected left turn signals were these auxiliary signals next to the main signal, as if it was added afterwards. The other thing was some streets overpass other streets, and if you want to turn there you have to take a right lane exit which I missed the first couple of times.