Gussied Up celebrates its grand opening Saturday, Oct. 24, following a soft launch that offered an early look at what the owners have been working toward for more than a year.
We stopped by for a meal on Oct. 21, the first day of the soft launch, and the excitement was evident throughout the team.
“We’re so excited to open on Saturday,” general manager Max Braverman said. “And it’s going to be a fun one. We’ll have a ring set up outside by the patio. And from 8 to 10, we’ll have live Memphis wrestling happening. Plus, we’ll have our full bar and menu. And it’s supposed to be super nice out, so that helps. It’s going to be like one big block party.”
As that last comment
suggests, Gussied Up isn't your typical neighborhood bar.
It’s the kind of casual spot where the drinks are cold, the food is better than it needs to be, and nobody cares whether you’re dressed in a three-piece suit or Adidas sweat pants.
Tucked behind Hard Times Deli, the owners' first Memphis venture at 655 Marshall Ave., Gussied Up is the latest project from Harrison Downing, Cole Jeanes and Schuyler O’Brien. After building a large following with Hard Times' oversized, chef-driven sandwiches, the trio has branched out with an entirely new bar concept.
“Gussied Up is an extension of Hard Times Deli,” Downing said, and he meant that quite literally. “It’s just right past the Hard Times dining room. So during the day we’ll use the Gussied Up space for Hard Times.”
In other words, Hard Times is the daytime destination, while Gussied Up is designed for the evening crowd.
This means if you grab your Hard Times Turkey Bacon Ranch and want to catch the Tigers game, for example, just mosey down the hall to Gussied Up, where multiple flat-screen TVs are ready for game day.
“Hard Times goes from 28 seats to now 70, plus a patio,” Downing explained.
“We’re mostly excited to have this extra Gussied Up space on a Saturday afternoon,” Braverman added. “So customers can grab their lunch at Hard Times and then watch sports on the many Gussied Up TVs.”
Hard Times Deli will continue operating from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., with Gussied Up opening an hour later for the evening crowd.
“It helps that Hard Times and Gussied Up share the same kitchen,” Braverman said. “It simplifies things.”
During the soft launch, the kitchen was where you'd find owners Downing, Jeanes and O’Brien, and that will likely be the case during the grand opening, too.
After all, there’s lots of pickled eggs, Husky Boi salads and fried bologna sandwiches for the trio to make, and the trio has a hungry weekday crowd to feed.
Comfort food, all gussied up
One look at the menu confirms that once again, Gussied Up isn’t your typical neighborhood bar. The offerings have a playful sense of humor, but there's real ambition behind the food, too, with creative twists on familiar Southern comfort-food favorites.
Braverman has a clear go-to.
“My favorite is the Filet O’ Phish,” Braverman said, laughing. “It’s a piece of panko cod, with American cheese, pickles, and chow chow tartar on top and served on a potato bun.”
Co-owner Jeanes, meanwhile, raves about one of the items listed under the appetizers: the straightforwardly named Shrimp Cocktail, made with grilled shrimp, cocktail sauce and lemon.
Multiple waitstaff immediately recommended the Sausage + Cheese plate, an inviting combo of sausage, pickled onions, pimento cheese, dill spears, mustard and something called koolickles. A Delta staple, koolickles put a colorful spin on dill pickles by marinating them in sugar and Kool-Aid powder.
If you like your starters with equal parts sweet, sour and salty, the koolickle might be right up your alley.
For us, though, the main draw was the team’s smashburger.
The owners’ popular Secret Smash Society pop-up, which over the years has been stationed everywhere from Grind City Brewing Company to Home Place Pastures, a farm in Como, Mississippi, that supplies their grass-fed beef. The trio, affectionately known as the Patty Daddies, has clearly put that experience to good use.
You can order the “Crusty Boi” smash burgers one of two ways.
The “Dressed” version comes with two Home Place smashburger patties, American cheese, angel hair letty, tomato, onion, pickle and "Daddy Sauce," a mayo-based blend of ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. This towering creation is served on a robust Martin’s potato bun.
The “Undressed” version takes a simpler approach, with two Home Place smashburger patties, American cheese, mustard, onion and pickle, all tucked into the same potato bun.
Downing has described the Gussied Up smashburger as a “sophisticated Big Mac.”
Naturally, we had to order one, fully dressed, of course.
Shoestring fries come alongside the burger, and they turned out to be one of the meal's biggest surprises.
Fried in oil and then dusted with a salt-and-vinegar powder, these potatoes taste more like something you'd find at an Irish pub than at a typical bar and grill.
We also tried the Hawaiian Backyard-Bird, an elevated grilled chicken sandwich that nicely balances sweet and savory flavors. It features grilled barbecue chicken, grilled pineapple, lettuce, red onion, honey mustard, all served on a Martin’s potato bun.
Both sandwiches were large, satisfying and tasty. But one other adjective applies: gloriously messy. With all those toppings and sauces, you'll want napkins. Lots and lots of napkins.
It's 5 o'clock somewhere
Gussied Up opens at 5 p.m. for a reason. The well-stocked bar may be one of the restaurant’s biggest assets.
We didn’t partake during our visit because we were on the clock. Just water and Diet Coke for us. But the cocktail menu is colorful, mischievous and extensive, just as you’d expect. The wine and beer lists are generous, too.
The “A Beer + A Shot” section delivers a solid one-two punch, including the PB&J: a Pabst Blue Ribbon Tall Boy + Jameson.
Specialty cocktails include the Long Weekend in 30A, made with Old Monk, banana oleo sacrum, orgeat, lime, Angostura and one Teddy Graham, and the Eiffel Sixty Five, featuring Letherbee Gin, lemon, a champagne of beers, and Fiorente Elderflower.
But perhaps most tempting — and a little dangerous — are the frozen drinks on tap. Options include the Jaguar Margarita, Fernet and Coke, a Whiskey and Coke Old Fashioned, and a Freezer-Tini, made with Bristow Gin, Carpano Dry and orange bitters.
It's an appealing lineup for anyone looking to settle in, order a drink and make an evening of it.
From Hard Times to good times
For anyone who has spent a lunch hour at Hard Times Deli, Gussied Up feels like a natural next chapter for the team.
Hard Times made its name with large, generous sandwiches and a cheeky approach to deli fare.
Gussied Up takes that spirit a step further, trading the midday cheesesteak for a more leisurely evening centered around boozy drinks, elevated grub and Friday night laughs among friends.
The three partners bring complementary experience to the project. O’Brien has worked in several Memphis kitchens, including Catherine & Mary’s, Hog Wild and City Silo. Jeanes studied at L’École Culinaire and also owns Kinfolk Country Kitchen in Harbor Town. Downing’s restaurant experience includes Jim’s Place Grille, Hog Wild and several Denver restaurants.
The three became friends, and as their friendship grew, so did the idea for Secret Smash Society. Now with Hard Times Deli and Gussied Up, they're continuing to build on that shared passion for food, hospitality and having a good time.
“I think what we’re building here with a lot of other people in the neighborhood is very special,” O’Brien said. “We’re just super excited to be a part of it. And we just want to build fun things that we love that other people love.”
Brian Strickland is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at brian.strickland@commercialappeal.com.
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Gussied Up
Where: 655 Marshall Ave., #103
Hours: 5-10 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 5-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday; closed Monday-Tuesday
Online: gussied-up.com
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis is getting Gussied Up. First look inside the new restaurant
