901 Grille and Market concept design
Entrepreneurs Hamida and Sunny Mandani are starting their third new venture in the past two years with the 901 Grille and Market going in on the northeast corner of East Parkway and Central Avenue.
The Mandanis opened the City Market Downtown at 66 South Main in 2010, and then added a City Market Midtown location at 836 South Cooper last year. Last July, they also opened upscale wine shop Quench across the street from the Peabody Hotel at 99 S. Second Street. Their three business are doing well, so when they noticed a prime Midtown parcel was sitting vacant and had come available to lease from Loeb Properties, Inc., they jumped at the chance.
“Quik Shop Grille had been in that spot for several years, and they had been very successful,” said Hamida Mandani. “It was such a busy location; the parking lot always seemed full. But unfortunately, the previous owner stopped doing business there, and it was shut down.”
Mandani hopes to replicate some of Kwik Shop’s success from selling burgers and gyros thanks to steady customers from CBU and the Krok Center across the street, as well as the traffic from one of the city’s busier junctions.
“So in that exact neighborhood, we already have our City Market location, which is doing really well with sandwiches and smoothies and things like that,” said Mandani. “We didn’t want to add just another City Market in this new location.”
901 Grille and Market will tout fast and casual meals featuring local and farm fresh ingredients, with daily specials and farm-to-table favorites will feature regional and international flavors.
The 2,400-square-foot space is undergoing upgrades now, including new flooring, paint, paneling for coolers, lighting, furniture and brand new kitchen equipment. Designs include a 30- to 35-seat restaurant space for more than half of the parcel, along with a smaller market area than at other City Market locations. The market will sell handmade snacks, local craft beers and various dry goods.
The Mandanis hope to be open on East Parkway before Thanksgiving.
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Michael Waddell is a native Memphian who returned to Memphis several years ago after working for nearly a decade in San Diego and St. Petersburg, Fla., as a writer, editor and graphic designer. His work over the past few years has been featured in
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Memphis Crossroads, the
New York Daily News and the
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