Midtown Eateries facing challenges as restaurants close and new ones open

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Longtime restaurants are closing, new restaurants are opening, and others are just trying to stay afloat. Running a business in Memphis can present mounting obstacles.

The owners of Bari Ristorante are familiar with those challenges all too well.

“If we hadn’t moved to this new location two years ago, we wouldn’t be in business,” Rebecca Severs said.

Approaching 21 years in business, Jason and Rebecca Severs have seen it all, including relocating their business.

Two years ago, the severs relocated their restaurant out of Overton Square. Since then, there have now three major vacancies in the popular destination.

“Landlords and tenants have to be a team,” Jason said. “As a landlord, you make money if you have a tenant. And as a tenant, you make money if you don’t have a landlord that gouges you on your rent and if that doesn’t happen, you have to leave.”

However, the Severs family said rent is not the only leading factor to why some businesses are closing.

“We got broken into at our old location, once,” Jason said. “We installed cameras and that kind of calmed things down, and when we moved here, we made a point of installing security everywhere, and we’ve still had crime.”

“We’ve had windows broken into and they tried to steal a car,” Rebecca added.

Crime, rent, and staff shortages were all leading factors.

“TopGolf just opened. And they hired 400 people. And you’re like where? All the restaurant owners are like where are they getting this from,” the Severs said.

While it may seem like it’s just the locally owned spots closing or relocating, the Severs said there could be a bigger issue.

“I don’t think it’s localized to a region because Downtown has the same problem, Midtown has the same problem,” Jason said. “If you go out East you see for lease signs everywhere, if you go to Hickory Hill you see for lease signs, if you go to Whitehaven, you see it.”

“It may not be a Memphis problem; it could be happening in other cities too,” Rebecca added.

Local On The Square is the most recent closure in Overton Square. The long-standing business made the announcement on social media.

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