Saturday Night at Bigfoot Lodge

As much as I detest the constant “what are we going to have for dinner?” debate, I do love that it takes us to some odd places at odd times. Last night, the debate started pretty late, so our options were limited. We wanted Soul Fish, but by the time we got all the way in from the ‘burbs, it was closing in less than an hour and had already emptied out. EAToo said it was a shame we didn’t have our coupons for Bigfoot Lodge with us. I replied that they weren’t good on Saturday, anyway, but that it sounded great and isn’t all that expensive. So off we went.

It turned out to be a great idea. We found a parking spot downtown without too much trouble — kudos to the guy who parallel-parked his ginormous white SUV behind us on Gayoso after the little Yaris left, without messing up our new car. (EAToo did an excellent job with the parallel parking as well.) Even better, after we got inside Bigfoot, our “10-15 minute” wait suddenly morphed into about five minutes. Woo-hoo!

Bigfoot Lodge is one of my favorite places, for several reasons. The food is always good and relatively inexpensive, the portions are huge, and the service is always dead on. Plus, we again defended our title as the “World’s Greatest Aunt and Uncle” the night we took the princess there and got the make-your-own s’mores. Baby girl apparently enjoys fire and toasted marshmallows just as much as her aunt does.

Last night’s trip turned out to be one of my all-time favorites. One reason was the music. Bigfoot has a great digital jukebox, and apparently someone our age had gotten hold of it right before we got there. When we arrived, Journey’s “Faithfully” was playing. A few songs later, “Elvira,” by The Oak Ridge Boys, came on, at which point we could overhear one of the managers explaining that the song was “really big at the skating rink” and yelling, “Wait! Here comes the bass part!” (Admit it – if you’ve ever heard the song, you know you love it.) I, myself, was belting out “Summer Nights” from Grease — fortunately, the place is loud enough that no one could really hear, so we weren’t thrown out.

One thing I don’t always like at Bigfoot is sitting in the front window. The entire front of the restaurant is glassed-in, and I always feel like the exhibit in a people aquarium. So I was glad we were sitting back just a bit last night. Right up until we had a bit of a celebrity sighting outside the window. Watching the people walk by outside, I turned to EAToo and said “That’s funny. That kind of looks like — it is! It’s Joey Dorsey!” My suspicions were soon confirmed by the crowd that was forming around him, cell phone cameras in hand. Just as I have always heard, the 6'8" Tigers’ forward was extremely gracious to his fans, posing for pictures and signing autographs, with that big, sweet, genuine grin he’s so well-known for. It’s obvious watching him that he still can’t believe he’s such a rock star around these parts. Just for a second, I kind of wanted to go outside and get a picture (and I probably would have taken the kids outside if we’d had them last night — they both adore him), but the poor guy was getting mobbed badly enough already. Besides, we had some serious food on the way....

Especially since EAToo and I finally decided to try Bigfoot’s signature appetizer, the “Poutine.” (That’s pronounced “pooh-tin”, by the way.) I wish I could have taken a picture, but I hadn’t been planning on blogging — as far as I knew, we were just as likely to end up at Krystal last night. But I will do my best to describe the Canadian wonder that is poutine in words, instead. The dish begins with a ginormous plate of french fries. (And make no mistake — at Bigfoot, these puppies have never been frozen and do not originate from a plastic bag.) I don’t eat fries out a lot, anyway, but I always make an exception for the handmade ones at Bigfoot.

But these weren’t just fries. Oh, no — these were covered (dare I say bathed?) in a beautiful brown gravy which was perfectly seasoned and not a bit too salty. Also included was a lovely, fresh cheese. I’m still not sure what kind of cheese, but it’s a lovely, fresh one, about the same texture as fresh mozzarella. The curds, like fresh mozzarella, were soft enough to melt just a bit in the hot gravy, without disappearing entirely. And the proportions were perfect — it was possible to get fries, cheese, and sufficient gravy with every bite. EAToo enjoyed them as much as I did, which is a grand endorsement, considering that he has issues with most of the softer cheeses. If I had any argument at all with the poutine, it was that it’s a big enough appetizer for at least four people — and EAToo and I probably shouldn’t have tackled it alone.

We followed that up with a burger for EAToo — the “Four Cheese” — although he would have been happy to skip the American and make it a “Three Cheese” with the Cheddar, Jack, and Swiss. (No, even EAToo wouldn’t try to eat the entire four-pound “Sasquatch” burger alone in an hour, although he has shared it with friends before.) Bigfoot is one of the few places where he can order his burger medium rare and I can order mine well done, and we both get what we want. I had the “Asian Egg Roll Salad.” I’m not normally a salad kind of girl, but who can argue with a salad topped with sesame seeds, fried wontons, and egg rolls stuffed with pork shoulder barbecue and slaw? Not me, especially if the whole mess is covered with Bigfoot’s light but flavorful sesame ginger dressing.

We didn’t have any room for dessert last night, thanks to the poutine. But Bigfoot does have a wonderful dessert menu as well. They also have great sandwiches, including a really good bratwurst and an amazing pork tenderloin sandwich — the night I ordered it, I had to trim so much meat off the thing just to be able to pick it up that I could have had a second sandwich. They also have a really good, reasonably priced kids’ menu. You can check out the entire menu here.

Obviously, EAToo and I don’t really get the idea of “too far to drive for food.” But we hear that some people do, so here’s some good news for those of you who may not want to make the trek to downtown Memphis to sample the wonders of Bigfoot Lodge. According to this post, the owners are currently asking for input on where to locate Bigfoot #2. I’ll keep my ear to the ground and post about it if I hear any further news.

Bigfoot Lodge
97 S. Second Street
Memphis, TN 38103
(901) 578-9800

Open 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Seven days a week