Blue Note Cafe

Good enough if you are starving.

I sat down at 9:57 and asked the waitress as politely as I could (since I had been in the airport for 5 hours and three canceled flights) if I could still order breakfast even though it ended at 10AM.
«If you order it in the next three minutes you can» was her response, and then she walked away.
Fine. I’ll have a glass of water and a salad. How is the gumbo?
«if you want that, you’ll have to wait 15 minutes»
Fine. Just the salad. Everything else on this menu will immediately cause my seams to explode and make my ass the size of yours. Yep, patience is gone.
Horrible, limp salad — most likely because the people here have never HEARD of salad. The only saving grace was the grilled chicken on top. It was good.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m still staring at an empty dish, empty water glass, with my card in my hand.
«Oh…did you want your check?» Five minutes later I get it… and she gets a 2 dollar tip. I absolutely hate doing that, but you know what sweetheart? If you aren’t nice, don’t be a goddamn waitress. At an airport. Where people are most likely going to be stressed.

I stopped in here with my wife during a layover. They have a smoking area… which made my wife very happy.
We didn’t have a huge meal… we had the BBQ pork quesadilla. It came with BBQ sauce and sour crime. It was $ 10 bucks. It was a good snack for two people to share. They were of course playing blues music. Service was good. But it was not very busy while we were there.

Biscuits n gravy was good. Service was friendly. And there is smoking inside the airport.

The waitress was very sweet, but the manager was awful. I dont care if the manager is nice to me if I can visibly teel that they are terrible to their waitstaff. He was walking around berrating them for very small things. They asked him for small things, like «can you hand me that ketchup» kind of things and he said things like ‘NOT MY JOB!’. He turned away when they asked him anything as if he had not heard.
There seemed to be two other managers on that were not like that but this guy was obnoxious.
The food was pretty good for airport food in Memphis. The beer helped. The waitress was nice enough to hold my beer at the bar while I went to the restroom to change. She advised me what was quick, since I had another flight.
I had jambalaya, it was fine. It was basically Zattaran’s or something.
I hope the manager that was terrible reads this and feels bad. But I feel like he is the kind of person that problably wouldn’t believe it could possibly be about him.

Given all the bad reviews here, I felt compelled to write something (since I had not seen them or I wouldn’t have stopped in!).
Breakfast was very nicely done — eggs cooked perfectly and well seasoned, a generous thick slice of ham, and grits. The food was solid and the service was very very fast.
Perhaps breakfast is different than other meals here but I had a good experience and would recommend this place if you want a sit down meal at MEM.

During a long layover, I didn’t see many options for breakfast, and reluctantly picked the Blue Note Café.
The fact that the airport announcements feature the Blue Note Café as the ONLY designated smoking area in the airport might be an indication that food is not a priority here. Non-​dairy creamer was another clue.
I ordered a ham, cheese, and mushroom omelet that included a biscuit and bacon. The bacon was the best part, and it wasn’t good. It tasted like it had been sitting in a bin, not resembling bacon made recently. The biscuit was similarly tired.
The real horror was my omelet. Burned yet runny eggs with an excessive amount of oil. Eating half of this egg disaster was punishment enough, but not as bad as what was ahead.
Upon landing in St. Louis about 2 hours later, the first thing I did after getting off the plane was to urgently visit a toilet.
Don’t fall for this place. You’ll regret it.

As I am trapped in the Memphis airport with no hope, I had to eat. Forgetting that there was an Arby’s, wanting to try something «local», I gave this place a shot. First of all, how the hell can you smoke anywhere in an airport these days? Whatever, a lot of people would see that as a perk. I ordered an easy pulled pork with mac and cheese and fried okra. The okra was the only thing they really did right. My mac was, get this, Kraft macaroni & cheese. No, I am not exaggerating this. The BBQ was gross and I didn’t eat anything except the mac and some bread. The server was a redeeming factor. She had my meal comped.
Do yourself a favor if you’re ever in the Memphis airport, get Arby’s. Or popeye’s, or Starbucks. You won’t regret it.

We stopped for breakfast on our way out of town a couple of weeks ago. The food was not very exceptional at all, but it wasn’t very expensive given that it was airport food. However, the part that stood out was the service. Thanks to Porsha, our waitress who did an excellent job abd was very friendly. Nice to meet you, you were the bright spot in the restaurant.

Memphis International is a solid airport, but the food options are shoddy at best. Blue Note Café is one of the only actual sit down restaurants at MEM, located in the passage way between Terminals A & B and has been the site of my many time killing hours spent at the airport.
Ever since it’s grand opening roughly 5 years ago, Blue Note has been on the decline. A gradual downward spiral that has resulted in worse service and even worse food. Most like I, come here due to the limited options, coupled with the fact people are willing to brave any lines that don’t always come with a table (I’m talking to you Lenny’s!
). Waiting more often than not, is still part of the game here at Blue Note. Not because of the sheer number of patrons but because service is painfully slow.
Blue Note tried to set itself apart but fell into the mold of most airport establishments — overpriced with mediocre food. Perhaps I’ve been lucky (#1) enough to sample most of their menu. I can safely say to stay away from anything that is beyond $ 12 or higher, so avoid most of the southern entrees, especially the pulled pork. Non-​Southerners should not feel compelled to order Southern fare just because it’s in the South. Let’s just say flavorless never had a name till this food came around. Even a burger, which is typically a safe bet in most places may vary, but the weighted average would still suggest it’s subpar at best.
So now, my choices are limited to breakfast. The morning meal happens to be my favorite anywhere and I can tolerate a pretty bad breakfast. Another reason why I choose breakfast is because I’m a fiend for hash browns. These hash browns are among the most greasy, soggy, shredded potatoes I’ve had in recent memory. I’ve been a repeat offender three times, not one of which has lead to any particular improvement. (#2)
Many have told me the food is never worth it, but the drinks are. Given I never drink before a flight (mainly because I want to stay ON it), I can see some appeal in drinking at the bar while relaxing to some jazz that they might have during the night. I’ve just never had to fly through Memphis after 6PM.
But for me, it always boils down to the product of which they’re offering — i.e. the food. And if the standard for airline food is always going to be lesser, then in airline terms Blue Note’s offerings are certainly a «missed connection.»
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(#1) What in the world is wrong with me?
(#2) Insert sad face now.

If you’re looking for more than a food court or a saran-​wrapped sandwich from a stall, there are surprisingly few options in the Memphis airport. Blue Note Café is one of your options.
As for the basics, they have an indoor section (which is a designated indoor smoking area) and a tiny «patio» which consists of a few tables out in front. A quick tour of the inside area shows a few bluesy decorations but also a bit acrid smell. So after a few moments consideration, I went with the patio seating.
When in Memphis it’s probably a cardinal sin to get anything other than ribs, so I went with a half-​stack of their ribs with some greens and mac/​cheese sides. I’d say all of these were pretty much average. The ribs had a nice slathering of sauce and were fairly tender; they almost slid off the bone on their own accord.
Service was on the slow side. I was seated quick, but the waitress took a while to get to me and I had to flag her down to pay (so I didn’t miss my connection).
I’d say the take home points are that it’s fairly basic food but a decent choice of the sparse sit-​down dining options. For smokers, the indoor seating is probably your airport oasis.

Awful food.

I was hesitant to come here after reading the reviews but was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was expecting some southern hospitality but all we received was southern hostility! The waitress sits my husband and I next to these people on both sides that have luggage that took up most of the space. My husband tried to put his back pack on the seat next to us to create more room .He was scolded by the waitress she told him to put it next to our feet which was already crowded. We tried to move to a more spacious empty table just a foot away then another waiter just gave us a dirty look. We just walked out after that. You are better off eating at the food court the workers there are so much nicer!

I GOT FOOD POISONING AT THE BLUE NOTE CAFE
I was at the memphis airport last week and stopped by the blue note café for a to go salad in their little café next to the actual resturant. When i got on the plane my Greek Salad has rancid cheese on it as well as stale everything else– i unfortunately took a big bite before i realized it and was too polite to spit it out. I wish I had because i was vomiting a few hours later. My husband had the caesar salad and it was rancid too, but at least he had already seen my salad and threw it away. i called their number on the receipt to warn them they had spoiled food and should take it off their shelf. After my next arrival i called them again to ask for a refund of $ 20 for just the salads. They have not returned any of my subsequent 4 phone calls. DON’T EAT THERE YOU MAY GET SICK!!!

Unimpressed. Was seated fairly quickly but when I hadn’t seen a server within a rather lengthy time from being seated, I left and went to Neely’s. I think that server did me a favor.

Chopped platter, good beer selection! Had a layover in Memphis airport and hubby wanted some good olé BBQ. We sat inside where you have to be 21 years old to enter, they card everyone. As we walked inside, they had a band playing some fine tunes. It was loud with great music, good beer selection, and hubby ordered the Pork Chopped Platter.
The pork was good, I did expect better in the South but flavor was good a bit on the dry side. The BBQ sauce was just OK, only having one kind smoky flavor. Great bar inside with a large space for diner’s.
We sat and enjoyed the great music and beer for a little over an hour. Our waiter was fun with a great personality. Very good service, fun place to hangout during a layover. The prices on food and drinks were reasonable especially being in an airport. The platter was $ 12.
Food was average, but the whole vibe they had going on and good service, with great music made it worth stopping in.

With only an hour and fifteen minute layover in Memphis, I got off the plane, ran to the bathroom, and frantically searched for a place to have a quick beer and maybe a ciggy or two. Just so happens there’s one spot in the airport where you can do both.
The Blue Note was pretty packed on a Friday afternoon with folks both on the exterior (smoke-​free) dining, and inside (black-​lung) enjoying some cocktails, live music (IN THE AIRPORT!!) and a light snack before their next flight.
They only had a 4-​top open, so to conserve space I was seated with two college girls coming back from vacation and an Army vet on his way home from Iraq. Somehow, we made fast friends and we were all swapping horror travel stories. Unfortunately, the Blue Note was packed and the service slow — took quite a bit to get a round of beers and had to remind our waitress a couple times to bring a ashtray — not surprising from what others were telling us. When we got service though, our waitress was apologetic and friendly.
Was fun to meet new folks and cross paths, then was back on my way. I’ll be back if I’m ever thru Memphis again, they deserve a second chance, and it’ll be cool to meet more folks.

To expensive for what it was … Ordered catfish and my friend ordered the catfish sandwich … The mac and cheese that came with was literally Kraft mac and cheese out of the box … the potato salad was decent but it felt like it was just plopped on from a bucket of the stuff. My friend described her catfish sandwich as «gross». Probably won’t be stopping by again if we find ourselves back at the Memphis airport.

Live music when I went which was amazing. The ambiance is great. The food was above average. I had the fish and chips.

Hiding right in the middle of the Memphis Airport is this little gem of a spot with some of the best food that you can find in Memphis.
Since I arrived pretty early for my flight back to LA during the holiday season this was a perfect place to catch a bite to eat while waiting on my trip back to LA.
If you ever go there just ask for Cecilia and tell her you know me and i’m sure she’ll hook you up.