By Dee Reneé

The UDistrict has many great eating places from wings and pizza to Mediterranean food. Restaurants such as Brother Juniper's and CK's coffee shop are great places to eat breakfast and to start the day off right. Many restaurants like RP Tracks are trying to find a way to satisfy all types of customers. That's why recently they have added barbecue tofu to their menu to attract vegan and vegetarian customers. 

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By Kirby Cheers

It takes a village to raise a child and it take hot wings to raise a college student.  

At least that's what one will find when they visit Ching's Hot Wings located at 1264 Getwell Road, one block away from South Campus on the corner of Park.  

On any given weekday, the hot wing restaurant is filled to capacity with standing room only. Placing an order for carry-out over the phone leaves the customer waiting for about 45 minutes on "Scandal Thursdays" and a solid hour for a night of March Madness. Yet, the various, mouth-watering flavors keep Ching's customers coming back and waiting for more each week.  

"It's a good problem to have," Stacey Jackson, one of the co-owners of the popular hot wing restaurant, said. "We talk about the parking. Even with our employees, they will call me and say, 'I'm here, but I can't find a parking space.' It's exciting to see the growth and see where the next level will take us."  

By Meagan Nichols

To the unfamiliar eye, the Park Avenue strip that falls between Echles Street and Goodlett Street is nothing more than pawnshops and cash on the spot businesses. But the unfamiliar eye can be deceived.

Tucked on the corner of Park Avenue and Graham Street is a Mexican restaurant with such authenticity that a person is liable to question what they have consumed at Mexican chains their entire lives.

With three locations, the first Las Delicias Mexican Bar & Grill opened in January of 2003 on Shelby Drive by restaurant founder and owner, Antonio Martinez. The restaurant relocated to the current Mendenhall location a few years later. The Park Avenue location opened in September of 2009 and the newest Las Delicias, housed on Quince Road, opened in July of 2012.

A native of Mexico, Martinez moved to Memphis from Mexico City in 1998 and worked in the IT department of a local business. After refusing the request of his employer to return to Mexico to perform equipment installation, he was fired.

Faced with unemployment, Martinez and his wife decided to give the restaurant business a try.

“When I was a young boy, like a thousand years ago, I used to work in a restaurant,” he said. “For some reason, I don’t know why, you go back to the basics. On top of it, while I was working at this company on Friday nights I was selling tacos in my garage so I kind of started before opening.”

The University of Memphis’ Park Avenue Campus is getting a long-awaited facelift with Gov. Bill Haslam’s announcement in January of $45 million of a community health building.

The Community Health Building will be the new home of the Loewenberg School of Nursing, which is now housed in the Billy Mac Jones Building.  It will also serve as the location for the Memphis Speech and Hearing Center and the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, which are both currently combined into one facility.

Director of Development at the University Lendon Ellis said this new building will be more convenient for all, as the current setup is causing a divide.

The Southern Meat Market at 3507 Southern Avenue plans to relocate due to the redevelopment of the Highland Strip.

The owner, Randy Stockard, is moving to a new location on Park Avenue, but he does not know when.  His business is among others like Yum’s Chinese Sub Shop and Whatever’s that are also being forced to move because of development of the property at Highland Street and Southern Avenue.

What makes the Southern Meat Market different is that the butchers cut the meat by hand.  Most grocery stores have their own deli department equipped with a slicer, which is how most people today get their meat.

When you think of a barbershop, you think of a place where you can get a good haircut and socialize amongst people. 

Professional Cuts is all that and then some.  Located at 3844 Park Ave.in the University District, the barbershop has a family friendly feel to it, and most of the customers have been getting their haircut there since it first opened ten years ago. 

Larry Lockridge, owner of Larry’s Cakes and Plates, has been getting his haircut at Professional Cuts for eight years and loves the family environment that the shop brings.