Ubee's: Deals offered daily on the edge of UM campus

By Meagan Nichols

In any business, success is largely dependent on knowing the customer demographic or target audience.

With reasonable prices, constant specials and a large alcohol selection, Ubee’s restaurant located on the Highland Strip definitely understands its University of Memphis neighbor.

Ubee's is one of five restaurants owned by 30-year-old Kendall Robertson and his mother, Sandy Robertson. Dyer’s Burgers, Alfred’s on Beale, Automatic Slim’s and Cafe Ole comprise the other four. Robertson also owns Catering For U.

 With roughly 100 employees to manage and multiple restaurants to maintain, Robertson said a typical day starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 3 a.m. the next morning.

“I’ve been running the restaurants for about six years now, and I’ve been working in them since I was probably two years old with my parents,” Robertson said. “It’s a challenging life. You don’t sleep much and you work 24 hours a day seven days a week, but it’s different and it’s fun and it’s definitely not sitting behind a desk or anything, but I enjoy it.”

With roughly 100 employees to manage and multiple restaurants to maintain, Robertson said a typical day starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 3 a.m. the next morning.

“I’ve been running the restaurants for about six years now, and I’ve been working in them since I was probably two years old with my parents,” Robertson said. “It’s a challenging life. You don’t sleep much and you work 24 hours a day seven days a week, but it’s different and it’s fun and it’s definitely not sitting behind a desk or anything, but I enjoy it.”

Established seven years ago, the restaurant is named after Jay Uiberall, a former business partner of Robertson and his family.

Robertson said Uiberall managed Alfred’s on Beale for about 16 years, but always desired to open a place near the U of M campus and eventually campuses throughout the country.

Uiberall never saw his dream of expansion come to fruition. In 2010, the 37-year-old Ubee’s co-founder died after falling from the balcony of his Pickwick Lake home.

Robertson said they still plan to open additional Ubee’s locations, but with the purchase of Cafe Ole a few months ago, he said was unsure when expansion would occur.

“If you do to much too fast you overload yourself and you can’t pay attention to what you already had, and you will end up not doing as well,” he said.

Kenneth Eggleston, a Ubee’s employee since its inception, said he has witnessed the restaurant’s growth over the years.

“I just love the crowd that we have,” he said. “The people that come in, and I love cooking. I love serving food. Our burgers are fantastic because our grease is 100 years old.”

One of those frequent faces in the crowd is Lindsey Allison, a senior exercise and sports science major at the U of M. Allison said she has been a regular at Ubee’s for the past three years and highly recommends the restaurant. 

“Great service, great food, great drink specials, and they deliver,” she said. “They have the hardest working, friendliest people working there. Not to mention affordable for broke college kids.”

With a menu that consists of everything from the classic “U Burger” cooked in their signature century-old grease, to the “Dirty Hippie” roasted portabella sandwich, to the garden mix “Spring Break” salad, to prices that range from $3.49 to $7.99, there is something for all taste buds and wallet sizes.

For those people who do not wish to make the trek to Ubee’s, the restaurant makes deliveries to locations inside the I-240 loop. And if you cannot be bothered to talk on the phone, no worries, the restaurant has that covered too, just place an order online.

“People live in dorms and everything, so they don’t have anywhere to cook, so it gives them an opportunity to order meals and not have to cook them or go out and spend a lot of money…I think we have worked hard at getting it where it has been,” Robertson said.