Real Groceries In Cooper-Young? What?

Fresh produce in Cooper-Young. Imagine that.

Memphis has the best restaurants. This is why they're giving us bike lanes, because we just eat and eat and eat, and it never stops. Effin' Memphis sees no problem with this, really. But as we all know, the whole "grocery store" situation is awful, and even Midtowners and Downtowners make the trek to Mendenhall Kroger, because that's how far you have to go to get to truly good grocery store. Miss Cordelia's is great, but small, the Kroger on Union is, well...

Ahem.

South Main is without a grocery store, and until recently, Cooper-Young has been going without as well. That changed recently:

For one immigrant family, Cooper-Young is the new land of opportunity. With the purchase of a corner convenience store, Kevin and Soojin Park hope to revitalize the market for small, privately owned grocery stores. "We had a great opportunity to purchase this store," said Park, who bought the Midtown Market at 836 S. Cooper St. and reopened it on Jan. 1. "If any place can do it, Cooper-Young can do it."

Once he got rid of all the expired food the previous owners were selling (GROSS), he started working:

He immediately removed a set of shelves to make room for a fresh produce section right in front of the main entrance. In the next two months he plans to offer hot coffee, fresh local beef, free Wi-Fi, and open mic nights on a small stage area being built in a corner. Local food will be the store's new focus and in time, Park envisions a mural on an exterior wall and a deck where customers can sample light, prepared foods.

Wow. That is something that all of Midtown can get behind, I think, and it's awesome to officially be able to say that Cooper-Young residents can walk/bike to a locally owned grocery store that will soon feature Wi-Fi and art. It's so Memphis, yet so...so...grown-up. Well done.

Now let's start working on the rest of the "food desert" situation in Memphis, because it is one of the single worst problems we have, as a city, when it comes to being a desirable place to live.

Also, two of our restaurants, Chez Philippe and Restaurant Iris, just made OpenTable's list of the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the country. Your Effin' Memphis has never been to Chez Philippe (though any of you are welcome to take him), but Restaurant Iris is one of our two favorite places in town, and yes, if you're looking for somewhere romantic, it is so completely worth whatever you spend that night.