The Lookout At The Pyramid

Disclaimer: I’m terrified of heights but really loved this place. It’s at the top of the Pyramid and you have to ride an elevator to get there (I believe it’s 28 floors or something like that). When you get to the top, you can literally see all of Memphis — it’s a beautiful view. We decided to sit and have some drinks while we were here. I think the waitress was new because she kept messing up our order/​was running around all over the place. I spoke to an employee who said they were going to do some renovations and make it more of a ‘fine dining’ joint. I’ll definitely check back when I’m in Memphis again because that view alone is worth the trip to the top!

We enjoyed the Lookout restaurant atop the Pyramid, which as of now only serves heavy hors d’oeuvres/tapas type food, but there is a menu being planned as I type this that includes a $ 40 steak. Soon, the restaurant menu will catch up to the stellar service and beautiful panoramic views the location has to offer. The restaurant has struggled to find its happy place concept, but I think once they designate hours for the elevator and make the food and price point more upscale, this will be the sophisticated downtown urban restaurant it needs to be.
Steampunk sculptures of robot fish surround the circular bar, whose focal point is a gigantic round fish tank containing two enormous catfish, who were synchronized swimming for us for a moment!
Our servers Mary, Camille, and Glenda were on top of our drinks, and let us know each stage of food prep. They kept everything until it all could come out at once, which doesn’t really make sense, when it is just tapas. It actually would have worked better if it came out as it was ready. The pimiento sliders were pretty good, though missing some moisture– mayo helped, but maybe some lettuce or a pickle would be better– or just put the homemade artisan pickled veggies on the sliders. They were to die for. The venison meatballs were so-​so, with a sweet asian glaze. I liked the cheese board– the charcuterie was outstanding, but all of the cheese was crumbly, so it was hard to keep on the delicious toasted hoagie points.
The liquor selection was better than I expected, considering the short menu. The house bourbon is Woodford Reserve, and I ordered Ketel One with lemon– otherwise known as the Chelsea Handler.
The elevator ride to the top is FREE with our hotel stay, so we aren’t upset by that at all! Courtney was our lovely elevator hostess, and taught us a lot about the elevator itself– it is the tallest freestanding elevator in North America). We enjoyed sunset (check your favorite weather app to get the precise sunset time, and stay for 15 minutes after before you take your selfies to reduce glare) photos together with another couple, and swapped turns taking each others photos. A professional photographer was on the balcony with a time-​lapse camera.
I only take the last star off of my review because the menu is short and the place hasn’t reached its full potential yet. It has had a slow start, but I know that once it figures out what it is, and gains confidence and some really great reviews, it will be THE place to go eat downtown. In the words of the Lion King Mufasa, «…remember who you ARE.»

If you’re willing to wait 10 minutes to get service, come here. Views are nice, service is terrible.

I believe that most people judge the restaurant off of the price of admission to ride the elevator. The fact is, the elevator ride is a separate experience than the restaurant. However, the restaurant just so happens to be at the top with no other means to get to the restaurant than via the elevator.
The elevator is there to ride and is advertised as such. The views are amazing and well worth the $ 10 for admission. (If you’ve ever been to the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri — there is an an admission charge there as well) The Lookout restaurant just so happens to be at the top of said ride. Think of it as a luxury, or icing on the cake.
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The only thing I’d like to add is this: consider the admission fee as a buffer. I could see how romantic a date would be at the top of the pyramid with dinner before or after. However, with the vast amount of people occupying the store, I would image that the dining experience would suffer greater than it already does due to sightseers that do not dine there. The ten dollar fee adds a modicum of exclusivity to the place.
In conclusion: Rate the restaurant on the restaurant — the food, the front of house staff, the drinks, the back of house staff, the décor and ambiance, the giant catfish fish tank… Not the elevator ride to and from. Most people don’t complain about the amount of gas their vehicle needed to arrive at the pyramid, and the elevator is another vehicle that requires power to operate and ten dollars allows its operation.
Thank you for your time.

You would never know that The Lookout and Uncle Bucks were even mildly related, let alone in the same building. Much better experience. Wondering if there’s a pay differential. If not — there probably should be. Professional, quick & courteous staff. Nice save Bass pro. Nice save

The view might be worth paying for (once), but the overpriced food and drinks are not. Service is lackluster. The guy at the bar served our drinks and that was the last I ever saw of him. I literally had to hunt an employee so I could pay my bill and leave.

Excellent food and great service. For lunch we had the Buffalo Sliders, Duck Jalapeño Poppers and the Portabella Mushroom Flatbread. The view is to die for. Joel was our polite and knowledgable server.

After waiting 35 minutes for drinks I was horrified to see the girl putting away the food for the evening using her bare hands and eating as she went. Gross glad we didn’t eat here!

Overpriced! We paid the $ 10 pp to go up to the observation deck but didn’t realize the restaurant wasn’t open yet so we got the Manger to sign our tickets so we could come back up at 11am. We already looked at their small menu and decided what we were ordering. So at 11 we took the elevator back up.
We were seated and greeted by the waiter within a few minutes. We liked the sound of 2 of their specialty drinks so we each ordered 1. Even though they were pricey we said what the heck because we were on vacation. …I had the Duck blind sunrise which didn’t taste very good, I’m not sure if it was the 2 rums or the different fruit juices but it wasn’t a good mix. My husband ordered the Catfish mary… he said it was good.
As for the food they have a very small menu and nothing comes with a side. I ordered the pulled pork flatbread, which was very good and my husband ordered the 3 sliders, beef, venison and buffalo. He said they were ok but nothing great. Now I’m not sure why they don’t offer any sides but for the price of the items they should come with something. …chips or fries.
After eating our food we couldn’t understand why people gave such low reviews but once the bill came we understood. We knew it was going to be a little pricey but $ 62 for lunch was really ridiculous! It is weird they don’t give you $ 20 off or even $ 10 off if you dine up there but that’s their rule I guess. I uploaded a picture of our bill… tons of taxes of you order alcoholic beverages so i guess my tip will be skip the drinks!

Sadly all I can do is validate previous reviews I first visited the lookout before the restaurant was open. I was thrilled with the hospitality and enthusiasm shown by the staff. I gladly paid the money for the ride, I felt value there. We got our picture taken up top, and free refreshments.
Second time I visited when the restaurant was open, and this is where the one star comes into play.
Having to pay twenty bucks for my wife and I to just ride to the top, to eat felt ridiculous. It was a terrible day for visibility, and our primary goal for going up was to eat. They won’t budge on the cost to get up the elevator!
Our elevator attendant was uninspired and spent more time figuring out who is going on break next than offering anything of value, like information regarding the pyramid like our first visit did.
Once arriving to the top floor she literally got off and told us to «go that way». She went on to immediately walk to the hostess stand and begin chatting with whoever was there. I of course learned that was the hostess stand only after circling the entire restaurant wondering how to get a table. Her directions were clearly so helpful.
The lady at the hostess stand said she couldn’t help us because the lady who is supposed to be there just walked away and she doesn’t know what to do with us. We stood for about 10 minutes until the lady who returned realized we needed to be seated.
Lastly selection is paltry on the menu. Portions are small and significantly over priced. Food was okay. But for 75 bucks I could have had a killer dinner somewhere else in the city and had three courses! I will never ascend to the Lookout ever again.

The experience: First thing, you have to pay to ride the elevator to the top of the Pyramid that houses Bass Pro Shops. Which is OK if you want to enjoy the amazing views from the observation deck, but if you are going to have dinner, it amounts to an extra dining surcharge.
Rating for observation deck: 5.
The food: We were with a group and tried a number of menu items all were pretty good — I would rate the food at 3.5.
The service: It’s what gets the place 2 stars. Restaurant seems to need some organization of server and bar responsibilities, from getting orders out to processing payments. In this price range, you just expect better. Rating for Service: –2
I will give the place another try when they have worked out the kinks. There is great potential here.

Take the $ 10 ride to see pretty things if you like, but do not eat here. The food and drinks are uninspired half-​assery incarnate. It has an incredibly limited menu– people with seafood, fish, egg, or mushroom allergies literally have ONE plate option out of ten total. You get better service at a Burger King drive thru window; 20 minutes to get two non-​alcoholic drinks, 45 minutes to get a salad that looked like it came out of my lawn mower bag, and a flatbread monstrosity. My server stopped by exactly twice, and the manager simply could not be bothered when I wanted to speak with him/​her concerning the leaf-​bag salad.
I’ve never been so disappointed in a restaurant before.
I expected much, much better. Bass Pro, you better find someone else to run the show upstairs or it won’t be around too long.

I’ll rate this a one star, only because you can’t rate it zero stars.
I’m writing this as I wait in line to ride the tallest elevator in North America. One of the coolest entrances to a restaurant I have ever seen. The views up here are some of the best in the south east. Unfortunately, that’s where the good stuff stops. We were seated in pretty short order, but since the place was almost empty, your thought they would have gotten us a table along the windows with a view. We preceded to wait 20 Before anyone took our drink order, and that was one of the hostesses we flagged down. Another 10 mins for those drinks to come out, and another 15 before anyone took our food order (same hostess took our food order and refilled our drinks). After 20 more mins a food runner brought out our lunch (duck wings and bbq pork flat bread). The wings were OK… They had obviously sat under a heat lamp for a while and the bbq flat bread
Was uninspired, to say the least. You can’t offer bbq in the bbq capital of the world and it be terrible. Bass pro needs to partner with someone in Memphis for bbq. Our waiter finally showed up with the check, but never returned to pick up payment. We delivered our own check and the gave us a $ 20 as change (shorted us the actual coin change that was due). While I’m standing in line, the cooks and the servers are literally having a screaming match in the open kitchen.
This place has huge potential, but they need management help and a new menu. Memphis is a foodie town and this place SHOULD be a foodies paradise.
Come on bass pro… I expected much much more for my $ 10 elevator ride to lunch.

During a recent trip to Memphis, I decided that it would be worth checking out The Lookout at the Pyramid which just so happens to be located in the Bass Pro Shops in downtown Memphis. Once inside the store you will immediately notice that the elevator towers above the store. First things first the admission price for a ride to the top of the Pyramid was $ 10/​person, which slightly bothers me because they were not even offering any discounts for those who decided to eat/​drink at the restaurant located on top. Even in places like Chicago, the Hancock Building does not charge for those eating/​drinking in the Signature Room which is located just one floor below the observation deck.
Needless to say ride to the top is impressive giving you great view of the entire store, apparently this is the largest free standing elevator in the world. The views here are nice you get a wide view of the Mighty Mississippi and a separate view of Downtown Memphis from two distinct viewing platforms. For those who have a fear of heights be warned, the floor is partly see through so it might make it difficult to walk towards the edge.
While I visited during the day I can only imagine the view is equally as nice at night, however I am not sure how I would feel about trekking past boats and fishing bait to take a date to a fancy dinner here. Overall this is a nice stop in Memphis if you have some time to kill, however I really wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to make this a stop on your trip.

If I was rating just on the view, it would be five stars. But skip the food. Really expensive (average price around $ 12 for an appetizer sized portion) and not really that good. No kids menu. We didn’t try any drinks, but there is a full bar. No reimbursement for elevator ride if you dine in, which seems odd.
Definitely get some fudge from the Fudge Shop downstairs! Amazingly good!

The food is very over priced and not very good. I had the pyramid sliders and the mile high tacos. The sliders are all bun. You can’t taste much else. The catfish taco was soggy. We sat close to the windows and everyone was trying to use the locked door behind us. It got annoying real fast. So $ 10 per person to get up there then another $ 20 for crappy food. Don’t waist your money and time. And a coke is $ 3

Do this! It is amazing. There is a bar and restaurant at the top as well. This should be added as a Memphis MUST for visitors.

The view on top of the pyramid is amazing! The elevator ride is $ 10.
The lunch menu offerings are limited and they do not reimburse your $ 10 elevator fee in the bill. This is contrary to other reports from Memphis blogs and reporters.
I enjoyed the BBQ flatbread, delicious and hearty. But at $ 14, you can get a rack of ribs for about the same price in the city. The River Rita (Margarita) was prepared with a Bud Light splasher even though the menu says it uses a local brewery. So beware! Your cocktail may differ a bit from what is on the menu.

Paying to ride the elevator to the i observation deck is a little high but I can understand why but then there’s no sort of discount if you want to eat and drink? Is there any plan in the future for this to change because they really need to see into it. I mean we spent $ 30 to get up there and then $ 25 to eat? How is that fair? And after being out on the hot observation deck I was so thirsty so I really needed something and we had eaten yet so it just made sense to try something. I will say that luckily we got sat right by the back window (not one of the actual observation decks) so at least we got to enjoy the nice view the whole time we ate. But there is still a downside to this, people will walk up right beside your table to look at the window! I understand they want to see all the views but it still feels a little intrusive. Just imagine you’re trying to eat and some stands right by you peering out the window. That’s not very enjoyable. Oh well, on to the actual food. I ordered a lemonade which wasn’t very sweet (I like it to be almost too sweet really) but it was better than some I’vd had. My family shared the Bbq Pork flat bread which was really actually tasty except that it was cut in 4 pieces and there were 4 of us so the last piece had to cut in 3’s. I personally felt like the two end pieces could have been cut smaller. As for the staff once we decided we wanted a table it probably took them a solid 3 minutes to decide what section to put us in because «so and so isn’t here yet but they’re on there way and bryan’s on break so we can’t put them there» and it was almost ridiculous because as we walked around looking at the observation decks there were a ton of empty tables. As of now they are only serving appetizers. We asked when the full menu would be available and our waitress said they were hoping for the end of summer. I really don’t get what the hold up is though… I would like to see some things improve (like the elevator price) but overall it was a fun way to spend Father’s Day.

You have to pay to get in… And then prices are fairly high for food\drink. Not worth it.