Downtown Memphis’ riverfront dining scene looks a step closer to getting its groove back. A new seafood-and-steak concept called Walt & Ricky’s Seafood Kitchen is lined up for the high-profile One Beale restaurant space that Fancy’s Fish House left behind in 2023, with plans centered on a raw bar, steaks, cocktails and significant daytime service along the river.
Plans, lease and grant request
As reported by WREG, Walt & Ricky’s Seafood Kitchen has signed a 10-year lease for the former Fancy’s space at One Beale and outlined a full-service seafood and steak restaurant in Downtown Memphis Commission paperwork. Those filings describe a concept built around raw-bar service, oysters, steaks, and cocktails, with outdoor dining and valet service planned for riverfront guests. The documents also indicate the team expects to operate during daytime hours along Riverside Drive, positioning the restaurant to fill one of downtown’s scarce full-service daytime riverfront slots.
A long-vacant riverfront slot
Fancy’s Fish House opened in 2022 and shut down in late 2023, leaving a rare riverfront dining room empty, according to reporting from The Commercial Appeal. The space is no ordinary vacancy. It offers sweeping river views and a large patio, the kind of setup that tends to make restaurateurs and developers circle like seagulls over a dropped French fry. Even so, earlier efforts to re-tenant the spot after Fancy’s closure never quite landed, which is how the high-visibility address has stayed dark until now.
Downtown support and next steps
The Downtown Memphis Commission operates tenant-improvement programs that help get restaurant and retail spaces back in business, and the application for Walt & Ricky’s references a request for a $40,000 tenant-improvement grant, according to Downtown Memphis Commission materials. Grants like these typically help cover interior buildout costs, often making the numbers work on long-vacant or tricky spaces that might otherwise sit empty. Even if the request is approved, the operators will still have to secure city permits and complete a full buildout before any plates of oysters or steaks hit the tables.
Who’s behind the concept
WREG identifies Mowbraw Rowand as the listed project contact for Walt & Ricky’s and links him to local operations that include Esco Restaurant and Tapas and Fat Tuesday. That background suggests the team is no stranger to downtown’s hospitality scene or to building buzzy concepts in high-traffic locations. The application frames Walt & Ricky’s as one of the relatively few full-service, daytime-oriented restaurants planned along the riverfront corridor. The filings do not list a construction timeline or projected opening date.
What to watch
From here, the major checkpoints are clear enough. First up is whether the Downtown Memphis Commission signs off on the tenant-improvement request, followed by the filing of building permits and the start of visible construction work at the site. If those dominoes fall in order, the project would bring a prominent riverfront dining room back to life and add another daytime option on Riverside Drive. Hoodline will be watching public filings and official announcements for the next round of details.
