Itta Bena

This place was really great. The food was good, like, «yum, this is delicious!», but nothing spectacular. We had the portobello fries as an appetizer and that was definitely something I would recommend getting. I had the mushroom pasta with steak; the pasta was good, and the steak was cooked perfectly.
That said, the service was phenomenal. From the bartender, to our waiter, to the general manager… They were all top-​notch. The great service only made the ambience of this even better. I would HIGHLY recommend this place!

We have been dinning at Itta Bena’s for years; we have not tired of it because this restaurant has actually become better. Service, food, and drinks — all earn an A. I had a Manhattan while waiting for our table at the bar — first rate. The barbeque shrimp — delicious. The bartender was out of a Billy Joel song. But Itta Bena’s most enjoyable offering is the live piano music. The young woman playing the classics [early last Thursday] from my generation was hugely enjoyable (A+), followed with Ruby Wilson. Wow. This package makes Itta Bena’s my favorite restaurant in Memphis.

Everything on the menu is great. The staff is always good. Ask for Stephan. Drinks are cheap and the atmosphere is great. Love the blue window tint. Try to go on a night Susan is singing. It is quiet enough that you can talk with your party while dining. Enjoy.

To start… I had my rehearsal dinner at Itta Bena 4 years ago. It was wonderful, it was a buy out which was incredibly reasonable and the food and drink fantastic! Well four years later (I don’t live in Memphis) I dined with several friends and we ordered several apps to share and entrees to have on our own. Every single bite of each thing was more incredible than the presentation, the wonderful atmosphere, and the amazing staff. I didn’t think it could get better than simply just walking into the room! Apps I suggest: spicy shrimp with Abita bread (incredible) the stuffed avocados with crab meat and pico de gallo, my husband LOVED the duck confit grilled cheese!!! What??? it’s amazing how original this food is!!! Entrees: jambalaya pasta is a must! Shrimp and grits also another must! And the Red snapper to die for! Dessert: white chocolate bread pudding! Every member of the staff was very attentive, on point and friendly/​positive. The Manager Chris was amazing as well or shall I say the best he greeted the table he checked on us, all while taking great care of others. We all had great conversations and when it comes to food and wine that man knows his stuff!!! So overall great experience and ambiance and thanks to the chefs, staff and Chris!!!
Ps have the mac and cheese as well

UPDATE:
FooFoo Soul!
Still Yummy & Classy!
This time, SCALLOPS & GRITS were just slightly under-​amazing (overlooked-​but still very good!)
Duck & Waffles was delish & beautifully presented. I let the sweet favors linger in my mouth. I only wish the portion was bigger!
Entire staff was super friendly.
Very good food + great atmosphere
= A Wonderful Combination above one of America’s Party Streets.
It’s «FooFoo Soul“above a big party!

Itta Bena does what they do well! The ambiance, food, drinks, music and service are superb!
Being from out of town, I found this restaurant on a blog and made a reservation. This place is upstairs from outside of B.B. King’s blues club, and unmarked, kind of a «hidden» gem.
While I loved the food (we got a salad, app, and jambalaya), the Abita Bbq shrimp were the highlight of the meal and had just the right amount of kick!
The atmosphere was great. A woman played live music on the piano while my hubby and I sipped cocktails underneath the blue lighting. If we lived in Memphis, we would come back again!

Great atmosphere and even greater food. Shrimp and Grits is the best in all the land, and the Ribeye is a culinary experience.

Salt and pepper is much needed.
The duck and waffles is sweet. The duck grilled cheese is good. The rest. S. P.

This is and probably always will be my favorite restaurant in Memphis. The entrance is an adventure. The dining area is white table cloth perfection. The lighting is sultry and if you sit by the Beale St. side, you get one of the best views of Memphis. The bar is sophisticated and yet welcoming. The bathrooms are even gorgeous!!!
This is the place where I fell in love with scallops. I have never had a more perfectly seared one since! I love how they embrace southern style in all their upscale dishes. You can’t go wrong. There is no item on the menu that disappoints. If you hear someone distastefully moaning with pleasure, it’s me.
If you want to impress/​shmooze/​marry someone… take them here!!!

Absolutely delicious! I was visiting Beale street and looking for a more quiet place for myself, husband, and infant daughter, and this place was perfect. The food was southern but not oily and it tasted fresh. It’s pretty hard to find as we had to go through a restaurant to find it, but it was pretty tasty. I had the shrimp and grits, and my husband had the chicken Marsala. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The live music and ambiance was also really nice.
The only downside for us was that there is no elevator so we had to carry our stroller up several flights of stairs. Other than that, visit this place if you’re on Beale street!

Don’t let the address fool you — although it may be tucked away on Beale, this gem of a restaurant is anything but touristy.
The atmosphere is great, and the food is very good. We had a large party and had a reservation, and they had our table ready for us when we walked in. Our server Alex handled all 15 of us extremely well.
We tried the fried green tomatoes, the Mushroom fries and the BBQ shrimp appetizers. I recommend them all. Don’t get me started on the bread. I could eat about 100 of their rolls in one sitting.
I had the Salmon Filet for dinner. It was delicious, and the green beans & wild rice complemented it nicely. We had the Godiva Cheesecake and bread pudding for dessert. Don’t leave without trying at least one of them.
The only complaint the whole meal was from a coworker who ordered the chicken Marsala and didn’t realize it was fried. It’s very fried. Other than that, the meal was incredible. I will be back!

Eh I want to love this place but it’s not consistent. First valet is expensive. Atmosphere’s nice, but their food is just mediocre. Some visits it’s good other visits it’s not. We got there at 630 by the time we ordered they were out of salmon so I got the red snapper which was nothing more than a large piece of frozen cheaply sautéd tilapia. It had no flavor. I was low carbing so I had to eat something before I ate someone instead. I squeezed as many lemons as I could to give it flavor. Piccadillys meal would have been better to be honest, specially for 25 $ I could have had a full course meal hahaha. Anyway their wedge salad was decent. I think they have good rolls but one time I went they had a weird chemical taste, hence the inconsistency. Will I go back? Probably because someone else picked it, but not by choice.

I recently ate here on a trip to Memphis. The location is fun tucked away above BB King’s. The ambiance is nice with a small-​ish bar and blue tinted windows that allow patrons to have a birds-​eye view down on Beale Street. There was also an awesome piano player there the night I went which I loved. The food was okay. I order the chicken marsala with mashed potatoes and green beans. The sides were great, but the chicken marsala was a very large breast breaded and fried like a fried piece of chicken. The marsala sauce was brown gravy with mushrooms. I would come back here for drinks and to escape the madness on Beale Street, but not necessarily for the food.

Went in with a few friends for a bachelorette dinner.
Was slightly confused how to enter, but we took a gamble and walked up the stairs into seemlingly, a different world.
Itta Bena is absolutely gorgeous inside, with friendly staff and AMAZING food. We ordered the crab stuffed avocado (WHAT!) as an appetizer, which obviously did not disappoint, and I ordered the scallops with grits as my entrée.
I would highly recommend Itta Bena for a romantic date night, or before a night out with the girls. I’ll be back!

We sat in the cove,
a cozy private room for two.
Started with the Portobello fries which somehow we’re both crispy and juicy.
The dipping sauce that accompanied them was cheesy, creamy, and bacony.
My beautiful date had the lamb chops. They were cooked perfectly and did not taste as gamey as Lamb usually does to me.
I had the Lobster «Thermidor» which was two specially seasoned lobster tails served with parmesan rice risotto.
Very flavorful and only $ 23
Our server was just right, friendly but not overly familiar and always there when we needed her.
This is a very romantic restaurant with great food at a fair price.

Itta Bena is just a seriously cool place to be. I mean, come on – you get in through unmarked stairs, it’s dim and mysterious and cool and those blue windows!
We’ve been here a few times now and eaten all around the menu. The Abita BBQ Shrimp is a must-​have; they have a fantastic craft drink list; and the Grilled Lamb Chops are my personal fave =)
Another fun thing about Itta Bena is the live music. Last time we were there (about two weekends ago) there was a couple playing piano and guitar; her voice was lovely and it was just the cherry on top of a perfect evening.
Like most places I review, I’ve not been blown away by the service and our most recent visit was no different. We still return though for the food and atmosphere.
They do have valet, which is super convenient.

thoroughly enjoyed my first experience at Itta Bena! It’s neatly tucked away above BB Kings — who freakin’ knew?! I love love loved the ambiance — lighting, music, and I totally want to request the secret table behind the curtain next time. The blueberry lemon drop martinis went down all too easy, and I need to make a point of trying the others next time. The fried avocado was DELICIOUS, and the pasta jambalaya made me fondly remember the days of Café Roux. Shrimp and grits are somewhat non-​traditional. I am not sure my husband would order them again, but they did taste good. Overall, a nice dinner.

Itta Bena!!! What a hidden gem!!! Absolutely my top 3 favorite restaurants in Memphis!
First of all, what a surprise and unique entrance lead by those old vintage iron stairs. I was kinda nervous prior entering the restaurant, as I don’t know what it would take me to, however, I was totally blown away by its simple yet elegance ambiance with the soft blue lighting. Beautiful! First thumb up!
Then, we were greeted by our server Billy. What a great guy! He was extremely friendly, patient and professional. We weren’t felt rushed at all from the beginning of the meal to the end. He made us comfortable and all of us enjoyed our dinner there!
As far as foods, wow! Fantastic!
Starting with the appetizer; we had scallops and grits, and green tomato! De-​Li-​Cious!!! I loved the texture of the scallops and the grits were very well done and it somehow made me felt like having a very flavorful mashed potato! Don’t take it wrong as I am comparing it to potatoes. It is absolutely tasty!!! I loved it a lot and if it’s not because I have big dinner coming out, I would definitely order another plate of those scallops!!!
For main entrees, we had the red snappers, duck waffle and grilled salmon! The grilled salmon was well prepared! Nothing to critique. The highlight is the duck waffle!!! Humm!!! Yum yum yum! It was definitely rich, but doesn’t feel greasy at all! Right on par! And the flavor! Oh gosh!!! It’s vanilla, maple and blueberry ish flavor!!! Humm… I can’t describe it! It is just good, great and phenomenal!
We needed our night with some decaf! Definitely would come back again! And as a matter of fact, we went in last night for our New Year Eve dinner! 4 course meal with wonderful music and great service from our server Billy!!! Double thumb ups!
PS: the BB King Club is right under Itta Bena! What a perfect way to end a night with blues and soul music;)
Great job Itta Bena!!! looking forward to our next meal there soon!!!

When it comes to ambience Itta Bena is easily one of the top restaurants in Memphis. Think speakeasy meets upscale dining. If you’re not sure where to go just walk into BB Kings and tell them you’re there for Itta Bena, they will direct you towards the stairs.
I’ve been several times over the years, the food is always good, not wow but good. I actually like the non steak options better than the steak, this is not a steak place so save the nice meat for a place that specializes in that. You are really going for the ambience. The service is good and theres a nice selection of wine and cocktails. Usually there will be some type of lounge singer during dinner, which is nice. Once the band starts playing downstairs you’ll hear it come through a little and the floor with vibrate, nothing too alarming but just something to think about if you are wanting a quiet night.
I noticed on my last visist there is a small «room, looks like a former closet near the back stiars that could hold a party of four, maybe? Not sure if you have to do something special to book it but this is now on my romantic dining bucket list. Personally I prefer the booths to the tables but the table’s chairs are perfectly comfortable. This is a great spot for a pre show dinner or just a nice night on the town.

I’ve always loved Itta Bena.
Their representation during Downtown Dining Week 2014 did not let me down.
As usual, the ambiance at Itta Bena was awesome. I love the fact they can pack a secret restaurant that is just word of mouth.
To boot, Queen of Beale Street Ruby Wilson was performing during our meal.
To start, the honey butter and hot rolls were decadently delicious. So delicious I left little room for the meal.
I ordered the mushroom bisque and finished every drop. I also sampled the salad, which wasn’t bad.
My main dish was the salmon. OMG. Perfection. The green beans were not overcooked and the grits were perfectly seasoned. I was so full from the pre-​main dish food that I had to get a to-​go box. It tasted even better the next day.
The desserts were good, but a little hard to get my fork through them.
All-​in-​all, a wonderful experience for such a reasonable price!