Memphis at the Santora

The Memphis at the Santorra in Downtown Santa Ana is a wonderful place to have dinner or meet friends for a cocktail.  The meatloaf and fried chicken specials on Thursday night are wonderful; but both of those signature dishes are ones you'll order again and again any day of the week.  Not all items on the menu work, but most do. And the service is exceptional.  5 stars!

E side of Broadway just N of 1st Street

I had an event here in hopes of reviving Memphis' popularity again. I wanted to remind people how delicious their food was. Only time will tell whether this event proved to hold any clout. All I know is this kid had fun and the food was truly delicious.

I bought some appetizers for the table to share with each other. The only one I could snap a photo of was their Pulled Pork Sliders: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/memphis-at-the-santora-santa-ana?select=BdgcCStwjXBzH5288XwCIg#29udOmtAlINNVlhlPR_1_Q">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a> which were divine in their own tiny right. There was tender, juicy, and flavorful pulled pork with crispy onion strings all nestled lovingly inside tiny grilled Brioche buns. These sliders prove to be an awesome starter to a great Southern meal.

For my entree I decided to go with their Southern BBQ Combo: <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/memphis-at-the-santora-santa-ana?select=BdgcCStwjXBzH5288XwCIg#QQRdxh18rDEjo7fiwT29qQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a> which was Hickory Smoked BBQ Pork Ribs with Black Eyed Peas and Mac n Cheese. Talk about a treat to my taste buds! I loved this meal. The ribs turned out flavorful and succulent practically melting off the bone, the black eyed peas were actually really good and the Mac n Cheese was stringy and dreamy. The sauce on the ribs were incredible and right up my alley. They were slightly sweet with also a nice bite of spiciness in the back end to include my two favorite flavor profiles. After having this food a sense of pride settled upon me for I knew that Memphis had taken care of all of us.

Service was really nice by the entire staff. I had been in communication with their P.R. person who got us our own section and extended out Happy Hour till 8 p.m. which was truly nice. Turns out that Sundays (the day we had it) is Service Industry Night and since we all work in the "industry" we were treated to half off entrees, so yay on that front too!

I'm really surprised that Memphis' popularity has seemingly waned because they have so much to offer.

Once a month their resident bartender Dave (guy with the Cowboy Hat) will host a "Dinner with Dave" on I believe the 3rd Wednesday of the month where he'll offer free food for everyone (including the homeless if they show up) as well as live entertainment. While the food may not necessarily be any of the menu items I can tell you first hand that it is still very good!

Seating comes in the form of regular tables and booths inside and regular tables outside if you'd like to dine al fresca!

While the decor is not necessarily much to look at it is still modern looking and clean inside offering a sort of hip element to your dining experience.

There is no dedicated parking so you really have two options here: either on the street or at the nearby paid Parking Garage.

Great food! Great staff! Worth the trip and good for people watching too!