Cafe 1912

Hi. It’s me, the girl who tried to enter through a non-​door the other night in my pursuit of French-​American fusion cuisine. Sorry for almost over-​turning an entire table full of French Martinis – that was ma faute.
If you’re looking for a cozy little dinner spot, I highly recommend this Cooper-​Young hole-​in-​the-​wall. My boyfriend and I ordered the mussels and the seafood crêpe. The food was very well prepared and presented, if not entirely «French.» Our waitress was friendly and attentive. We were seated next to the (real) door, so it was a little nippy, but other than that, the ambience was nice.
Bottom Line — If you were hoping for une expérience Française authentique, you should probably keep looking. But if you’ll settle for a tastefully appropriated alternative, Café 1912 fits the bill. Let me know when steak tartare is on the menu, and I’ll be back.

I went to Café 1912 for brunch today and I was pleasantly surprised. I have been for dinner three times and found everything okay, but not spectacular. My meal for brunch was outstanding! The Bloody Mary was a perfect blend of spiciness and richness and it’s served in a large glass — nice portion size! I ordered the crab eggs Benedict, but since I don’t like runny eggs, I got it with scrambled eggs. It was divine! The English Muffin was perfectly buttery and toasted, the lump crab meat was sweet and the hollandaise was decadent. Service was great and the food was so good I think I will go back next weekend to repeat the experience!

The food was fair although going out is also about service which was quite poor. Many obviously agree that the staff of servers does a less than mediocre job at basically anything that a great server should (promptness, politeness, opinion on menu items, knowledge of restaurant). Was not given a single opinion on anything pertaining to the menu even after prying for information. I was brought the wrong wine not even the same color, ha I thought it was a joke. The thing that makes it completely dissatisfying is the fact that it was 530 and the restaurant was empty. Maybe train your servers better also maybe some more French wine!

We started off the morning with drinks… bellinis and mimosas, and well, you can’t go wrong there! I ordered the Croque Madame, and my boyfriend had the Irish Breakfast. The food was pretty good. The service so-​so, as the waiter kind of disappeared once we got our food. Overall, I’d say its a good little breakfast spot.

We went for a Sunday Brunch and were impressed by the food. I ordered the Irish Breakfast and it was delectable.
I did not give a 5 Star rating for the following reasons:
1) The Mimosa’s were below par and had staleness to the juice
2) They don’t accept American Express
3) Despite managing a smaller space well, they can do a better job.

Visited with family for Sunday brunch. The food was very good! Between us we got the seafood crêpe, French onion soup, burger and monte cristo. I’d recommend and eat again all of these except the French onion soup. It wasn’t bad just not amazing. Service was also ok. The atmosphere was romantic but small. Good for a date night but not if its a first date or good if you want space. I plan on coming again for dinner!

The bartender sucks and has an attitude… He was waiting on our table and neglected us for 30 mins… Once I brought it to his attention he copped an attitude!

I ordered the burger with bacon and provolone cheese. The burger was just ok. I asked for fries for my ketchup and didn’t get it until after I had finished my fries. I was told they had no spout for the ketchup dispenser. The service was ok overall but a little slow. They did take car of our drinks because of these issues.

Love 1912! What can I say about it… hmm, the calamari is always crispy and tender. I usually get the scallops, another fish special, or the blue cheese burger, but I always have a great dinner here. I personally love the atmosphere even though there isn’t much space. The dining area somewhat wraps around the kitchen and the bar so the staff are always moving about with haste. (I like it!)

Always a pleasurable experience in this local restaurant. Cheese ravioli for appetizer was excellent as was the spinach salad, pork chop, beal and ricotta blueberry dessert. Service was friendly and right on the mark.

This place is a little off the square on cooper. We got here early on Saturday at 5PM when they opened since we did not have a reservation. We were promptly seated near the entrance at a window seat. I liked the natural light and it was good for my photos. It has a very casual vibe inside with some interesting décor. Parking was a little confusing, but we parked at the fresh market and walked over.
The food at this place was great. I really enjoyed everything I ordered, plus the complementary bread with balsamic and olive oil dip was delicious. So delicious that we got a second, no, a third basket! It’s addicting.
Food:
Mussels — they were so savory and full of flavor. The white wine sauce was a perfect balance to the mussels, and the crispy croutons on top were a great pairing. $ 12.50
Ham & Gruyère baked chicken — this entrée comes with a side of mash and gravy with asparagus. The potatoes were smooth and the gravy reminded me of thanksgiving. I really liked the add of the ham inside the chicken because it added a nice salty taste to the breast meat. $ 18.50
Pan seared mahi mahi special — this dish was excellent. I would order this again if I could, since it was a special. The mahi was cooked well, and came out nice and flakey. It was filling and light. $ 24
Cheesecake — definitely recommend this dessert. It is so creamy and thick. And the amaretto with fruit sauce is a great addition to break up the creaminess a bit. It’s not too sweet either. Yum. $ 7
Overall, 4 stars for great service and food. I’ll be back again :)

I wanted to check this place out because of the dark & moody ambiance that I notice every time I drive by, as it seemed like the kind of place that the darker sort of folk (namely my always-​clad-​in-​black self) would be comfortable sitting alone at a table. But luckily my partner was in town, which means more menu items to try. We sat at the bar, as all of the tables were already reserved. Usually I’m pretty uncomfortable eating at bars, but this was set up so that you’re not bumping elbows with anyone.
I have to say, this was definitely the best meal I’ve had since being in Memphis. To list:
Crab Cake… When I saw it, I thought it was going to be 95% filler, but nope, so much yummy crab covered in a crunchy panko crumb. And the ‘spicy’ sauce, while not spicy, wasn’t some abomination that super-​trendy restaurants keep trying to pair with their poor little crab cakes. My partner got one bite.
Mussels… Best broth I’ve had in years. I could have eaten a few orders of these.
House Salad… Three ingredients. Nothing else needed.
Filet with Truffled Mash, mid-​rare… Perfectly seasoned and cooked. Not completely charred on one side like I’ve experienced at other restaurants here.
AppleJack with Beurre Blanc, special… While I’m all about sushi, I can’t stand cooked fish. So every time my partner and I go out, he orders s fish dish, I take a bite, make a face, and put yet another species on my list of fish that I can’t stand cooked. So not the case with the AppleJack! While I probably couldn’t eat the entire serving, this was the most texturally enjoyable fish I have tried. Partner wouldn’t stop raving about the beurre blanc.
Amaretto & Goat Cheese CheeseCake… The woman next to us saw the look on my face when I bit into it, ordered one for herself, which resulted in the same exact face. Get the cheesecake. Especially if you’re going home alone.
The service was perfect… Made you feel more than welcome while staying on top of things. And this is definitely the kind of place that you could go to alone and not feel at all awkward.

Café 1912 is a great restaurant. It is in a great location and is upscale without being snobby. I recommend it.

Atmosphere: Eh???
Service: Uh. was ignored for long stretches, never asked if I wanted another beer. Maybe they assumed I’m a bad tipper because I look young?
Food: Don’t try to sell me an $ 18 chicken entrée that comes with no sides, is tiny, unremarkable in terms of flavor, and is covered with canned mushrooms. Also, don’t try to sell me $ 24 pasta plate that is identical to that of so many low-​end ‘italian’ chains. The lobster-​less lobster bisque is a bad look, too.
In summary, the experience made me want to start writing positive reviews for all of the other restaurants in this price range that are actually doing good work, so I guess something good came out of it.

In short: Overpriced for what they offer.
Service was friendly and great and didn’t look at me funny when I asked for another helping of bread, which I clearly very much enjoyed. I had hoped that their pizza would benefit from those bread crust and flavor skills, but unfortunately, the bread was from a New York baker and the pizza turned out to be only so so. My wife’s mussels were okay, the white wine sauce dominated but not in a good way (I preferred to soak up olive oil with the bread instead). The atmosphere was okay, fake bistro I suppose, but if you sat close to the kitchen, you could at least enjoy the show.

Café 1912 is a very informal quaint French restaurant. Nice wine list. Great cuisine. Impressive menu

I love this place! It’s such a secret place in Memphis… In my opinion! ;) I always order the grouper, so I couldn’t tell you what other entrees are good, but my fiancé swears by the baked chicken. Make reservations! They get busy in the evenings and it’s a pretty small restaurant!

Had read good reviews on this place and was excited to give it a shot. Called in at open at 3:30pm to arrange reservations for 4. The only slots were 5:30 or 8pm unless we wanted the table by the kitchen door. We opted for 5:30… Very early but we wanted to avoid being seated In a noisy high traffic area.
We arrived at 5:25 to an empty restaurant. We tracked down the hostess who then pored over the list then walked is to the only other table in the hall by the kitchen. I explained we arrived early to avoid such a table. She acted very put out and spent 5 – 7 minutes between the list and the back room… Nearly every table is a 4 top and none were occupied. What the hell. We finally get a table by the door. Okay.
Our server was nice but very slow and quickly was overwhelmed by his 2 tables. Drinks were slow. Food was slow. Table touches were few and far between.
One of my favorites, French onion soup, was average at best. Scant onions and the cheese was exceptionally clumpy. The broth was lacking flavor. The mussels app was very good. Great broth/​base and properly cooked.
Entrees came out and my grouper was good but slightly overcooked so it was tough on the thinner ends of the filet. Overall it was good but not great. My date’s scallops were quite undercooked. To the point we questioned if they were safe to eat. $ 25 for 3 scallops you’d think they could cook them properly.
Have to add that we struggled to hear each other over the din. For the style of place it is, the noise was a bit much.
Had to flag down the server to get our checks. Overall some highlights but overall a disappointing experience on the food and service front. I’d go 2.5 here for the mussels and the accompaniments to the grouper, but forced to round it’s got to be down. We won’t be back.

Delicious food — a French bistro with lighting too high, freezing on a cold night when they leave the airlock drape open.
It’s sort of tacky and trashy (that’s a bit of an exaggeration but not sure how to describe it — faux French?) looking but the food is excellent and the service is lovely.
Mom & I shared an excellent filet, sis & daughter had a margarita pizza. Decent chard and different Caesar salad with olive tapenade instead of anchovy.
Bourbon bread pudding was not well received by the group — pronounced a bit gummy but I found no fault with it — I voted yummy.
Not what I expected but very good and definitely worth a try.

French cuisine will always hold a special place in my heart. No, I never ate it as a child, but it was the staple of my culinary upbringing in school. It takes a lot of time, patience, and proper execution to get it right. When done properly, the results are amazing. So when I had the chance to go out to dinner last Sunday with awesome company, I had French food on my mind.
Café 1912 is located in a block of 3 buildings (in between a salon and Barksdales) on Cooper. The parking is very sparse (like 3 spots), but there is plenty of parking on the side street (s). Upon entering, the first thing you see is the kitchen, and a few tables. Looks very intimate, and then you realize there are more rooms, and even a patio. I didn’t do much exploring– but I had no need to, I was having such a great time.
We had reservations for 7:15, and had no issues with that. We got seated in the main room, with a perfect view of the kitchen. It took a few minutes to get the ball rolling, but we finally got our drink orders in. We got a bottle of wine (cannot remember which bottle), and a cheese plate too.
The menu is simple, with heavy French influences. There were even 3 – 4 specials too. It was tough to decide. I may have looked at the menu for at least 10 minutes. I finally decided on the duck special– which included shoestring garlic fries, greens, and a fried egg over medium.
The cheese plate arrived, and it packed a punch. A goat cheese, a bleu cheese, and a creamy brie, along with a cranberry/​onion relish, toasted nuts, and thin sliced bread. They did it right with the cheese being served at room temp, so it was easy to spread on the bread. The cheese went really well with the relish and bread. I didn’t eat any of the nuts though (I later put them in my pocket for a later time). I wish there was more bread though, with the amount of stuff on the plate.
It was then time for the entrees. 2 of the plates came out, but we were waiting on the mussels to come out. They came out about 3 – 4 minutes after. So it was time to eat!
The duck was cooked and seasoned pretty damn well. It was juicy, and I have not had duck like that in a while. It was pleasant. I mixed up the egg, fries, and greens together and ate them like a barbarian– went down like a champ! It was worth the wait.
Dessert was offered, but we decided to go down the street for more drinks and dessert.
This is a solid place to go out to eat. It was relaxing, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, with the company I was with. I will be sure to go back! Be mindful though dinner here is slower paced, and they do not rush, so if you want something quick, this may not be for you!

I hadn’t been to Café 1912 in 8 years until last night. I don’t know why I had completely forgotten about this place! It is extremely cute and very well located (Cooper across from Midtown Yoga).
I am currently fighting a cold, and was thrilled with their hot tea selection. An odd thing to be raving about, I know, but it made my dinner. Also fantastic was the onion soup (also good for my cold and sore throat). But my absolutely favorite dish of the evening was the cheese plate. I am picky about my cheese but it was divine (especially the bleu cheese).
I didn’t get to try anything too fancy since I was sick but I can’t wait to go back there. It is definitely on my radar now!