A new fast-casual, family-friendly deli restaurant with local roots is making its debut on Oct. 26 at 6450 Poplar Ave., in the busy Poplar corridor of East Memphis. Pimento's Kitchen + Market is a family-owned venture from the same people that created Holiday Deli and Ham Co.
“The reason we are also called a market is that we have tons of items ‘to go’ including a homemade ham and macaroni salad, a black bean salad, pimento cheese, jalapeno pimento cheese, pasta salad, and chicken salad,” said Trey Jordan, owner of Pimento’s Kitchen + Market. His family started Holiday Deli and Ham 22 years ago and has expanded to five locations across the Mid-South area. “We also have a side door that’s a ‘to go’ door where you can pull up and run inside and grab a quick ‘to go’ or a smoked turkey. We’re really designed for someone to dine in or take out.”
Pimento’s will serve handcrafted breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the menu includes egg dishes, sandwiches, fresh entrees, and sides, along with beverages like smoothies and locally roasted coffee from J Brooks Coffee and beer from local breweries like Ghost River and Wiseacre.
The restaurant also partners with other local companies like Frost Bake Shop to bring additional high quality items into the restaurant. An added local touch is the restaurant's use of coffee cups from local businesses. When customers arrive at the counter, they choose their favorite to drink from.
Turkey and pork are roasted onsite.
The breakfast menu includes tasty items like Baked Oatmeal, the Memphis Egg Roll, and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast. The lunch menu features shareable plates of quesadillas and sliders, pimento cheese, and the Memphis Cheesesteak, with steak and pimento cheese.
“For dinner we actually do a carving station with hot sides and hot meats like smoked turkey, smoked tenderloin, shrimp and Teres Major medallions (steak),” said Jordan.
The location’s interior design is open and relaxed, and there’s an outdoor patio.
The Memphis community plays an important role at Pimento’s Kitchen + Market, and they plan to work directly with local non-profit organizations to help make the Memphis community a better place.
The restaurant, which employs more than 50 people, will also do catering. Jordan hopes to open multiple Pimento’s locations.
“We are absolutely looking do more locations,” said Jordan, who would not tip off where the new Pimento’s might be. “For now, I will just say that they will be in Memphis.”
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.
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
The Memphis Daily News,
Memphis Bioworks Magazine,
Memphis Crossroads, the
New York Daily News and the
New York Post.
Contact Michael.