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City Silo Table + Pantry is moving to a new East Memphis location this summer.

The Memphis-based clean eating establishment is moving to 580 S. Mendenhall Road, adjacent to the Malco Paradiso. It's less than half a mile away from its existing location at 5101 Sanderlin Ave., which will remain open until the move is complete.

Co-owners Scott and Rebekah Tashie said the move to a larger space is something they never would have imagined being able to pull off when they originally opened seven years ago.

"We are excited and extremely humbled by the opportunities City Silo has given us," the Tashies said in a statement. "The support from our community has been incredible. It has made this decision easy for us, while also allowing us to look back and reflect on everything that has gotten us to this point."

The new location will be 3,500 square feet, an increase of about 700 square feet. This means there will be room for nearly 100 extra seats in restaurant, not including the new outdoor patio area.

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The kitchen will also be expanded, given the extra space, meaning City Silo will expand its already extensive menu offerings. The restaurant provides what they describe as "re-imagined comfort food." The current menu encompasses all diets from vegan to carnivore, and includes options such as acai bowls, tacos, veggie burgers, quinoa bowls and far more.

"Every time we add something to our menu, we try to be very purposeful," the Tashies said in a statement. "We are in the process of fine tuning some new menu additions, including breakfast items, more shareable lunch and dinner dishes, craft cocktails, and a new and improved wine list."

As their brand continues to expand, the new location will be no different from the others, continuing to provide "whole, quality ingredients, with no hidden agenda in our recipes," the Tashies said.

"When we opened City Silo seven years ago, we wanted to create a place where people would leave feeling better than they did when they arrived... encompassing satisfaction through food, customer service and the overall atmosphere of the space," the Tashies said in a statement. "The dedication and hard work of our team and the loyalty of our customers are what have made and will continue to make City Silo what it is."

City Silo also has locations in Germantown and Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him atjacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

Memphis football signed 34 scholarship players on early signing day in December.

So it makes sense to expect a much more low-key day on Wednesday, the first day of the regular signing period for college football. Coach Ryan Silverfield will add a few more transfers and high school players to his roster for 2024, but it won't be close to the haul from December.

"Today is a monumental day for the Memphis Tiger football program," Silverfield said on Dec. 20.

It was a day where he signed Keonde Henry, one of the highest-ranked recruits in program history, and transfer running back Mario Anderson, who chose Memphis over USC and Oklahoma.

The Tigers have picked up a few commitments since the early signing period closed, like transfer defensive backs Tahj Ra-El (Old Dominion) and Jordan Grier (Indiana). They're expected to sign on Wednesday.

But it's unlikely there will be massive movement Wednesday. Like many teams around the country, Silverfield and his staff did most of their work during the early signing period, and also will use the spring transfer window to add at areas of need.

The Tigers are coming off a 10-3 season, capped by the AutoZone Liberty Bowl win over Iowa State. There will be plenty of familiar faces on the roster next season, headlined by quarterback Seth Henigan. Already the program's all-time leading passer, he is returning for his senior season and should have a wealth of weapons around him.

Leading receiver Roc Taylor is back, as are receivers Demeer Blankumsee and Koby Drake. Starting tight end Anthony Landphere and running back Sutton Smith also are returning, and the Tigers will add Henry and Anderson to their skill position group.

One area that will look different is the offensive line, and it wouldn't be surprising to see the Tigers add depth in the signing period or in the spring portal window. Memphis is losing three starters, including center Jacob Likes, to a unit that performed well in 2023.

The ramp up to spring practices will set the table for a season of intrigue. The College Football Playoff is expanding in 2024, and the Group of Five will get a guaranteed spot in the field. Memphis figures to be in the mix, especially because the other teams at the top of the American Athletic Conference have dealt with significantly more roster turnover this offseason.

"Obviously 2023 was a special year, and it ended in the right manner" Silverfield told the FedExForum crowd on Saturday at the Memphis-Wichita State basketball game. "The great news is, we have high expectations for next year."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A proposal for a “biomass campus,” or wood processing facility to find uses for dead or dying trees in Shelby County, will wind up in the spotlight Tuesday at Memphis City Council.

Some Memphians strongly oppose the proposal, telling Action News 5 they don’t want it in their neighborhood.

The site between the edge of Midtown and the beginning of North Memphis will be about 10 acres if approved by city leaders.

Lenora Pipkin owns two homes in Memphis’ Klondike neighborhood.

“I can’t move anywhere, so if I don’t want it there or I get upset or something happens, I can’t leave,” said North Memphis resident Lenora Pipkin. “This my life over here. This is where I live.”

She’s one of several North Memphis and Midtown residents concerned about plans to develop the biomass campus at 1230 North Watkins Street.

“What we would prefer to have down there is nothing,” said Vollentine-Evergreen neighborhood resident Jane Jeffrey. “Just let the land be the land.”

Memphis Urban Wood, owned and operated by The Works, Inc. and Urban Wood Economy, would run the site.

They’re looking to recycle trees and turn them into lumber, wood compost, and biochar, which is similar to charcoal.

“We’ve got 38 million trees in Shelby County, those trees die every year,” said Memphis Urban Wood Site Manager Patrick Gridley. “They need to come down. They need to go somewhere. Currently, we estimate, 225,000 tons of those wind up in the landfill every year. We can do better than that. We think here is a great opportunity to do better than that.”

Gridley is the site supervisor, who says they’re committed to keeping the site free of chemicals to protect nearby Cypress Creek.

“We use no chemicals of any kind here,” said Gridley. “There are no dip-tanks. All we’re doing is cutting this fresh lumber, that’s raw untreated wood, into smaller pieces so that it can be shipped and sold and goes on to a further life.”

Gridley says the site hopes to employ ten to 12 employees starting at $20 an hour.

“I’m concerned about those Health Department Pollution Control,” said Stephanie Walker, who lives near the proposed site. “What are they saying right now?”

According to an application to the Shelby County Health Department, the site is expected to generate pollutants below the 10,000 pounds per year threshold.

The application refers to them as “insignificant activities,” saying they emit less than five tons of air contaminants a year, and each regulated pollutant is not hazardous.

The proposal moves to Memphis City Council Tuesday, where Pipkin and other residents hope members will consider their worries about the air, any potential noise, and their health.

“I hope before they vote, Think about it,” said Klondike resident Louise Jones. “Before they make any decision.”

Notices were sent out to neighbors for a public hearing on the issue in October 2023 and January 24, 2024, according to city council documents.

City leaders will take up this item at their meeting Tuesday.

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The planned Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovations are likely to affect the 2025 Memphis football season, athletic director Laird Veatch said Tuesday morning.

Veatch, appearing on Sports56's "Mornings with Greg and Eli," told co-hosts Greg Gaston and Eli Savoie that the delay to the process means the renovations likely will affect both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

"I would anticipate '25 being affected as well, almost for sure," Veatch said. "The question really now is how much of '24 will be affected and in what way."

University officials had hoped to finalize a fundraising plan and begin renovations at the beginning of 2024, but that timeline already has been pushed back. The city had $350 million in state money to allocate toward various stadium renovation projects in Memphis, but discussions about exactly how to divvy that money up had been difficult.

Drawn-out negotiations between officials from the university, city and Memphis Grizzlies hit a breakthrough in November when FedEx founder Fred Smith and his family announced a $50 million donation to help fund the stadium renovations. That money — in addition to $120 million from the city and $50 million the university plans to raise — will give the university $220 million to renovate the stadium.

The next step was to get Memphis City Council to approve the deal — and that also proved difficult, with one meeting devolving into a de facto venting session for councilors about the process and discussions about the future of the Grizzlies in the city. Then there were issues with the deals for some of the stadium's tenants, the Southern Heritage Classic and AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The process finally concluded in January, when City Council formally approved the deal that would transfer ownership of the stadium from the city to the university.

Since then, university officials have been finalizing design plans and working on fundraising.

"There's just a lot of work," Veatch said Tuesday. "A whole lot of work going on behind the scenes, as well as refining the design, starting the fundraising process and those conversations. There's several working groups and a lot of activity happening, but really for the next month or two I think you're going to see us with our heads down just really working hard to get through all that."

While the university has yet to release a formal timeline for the project, Veatch said he expects that to come in the next couple of months.

Veatch also talked about the ongoing negotiations regarding a contract extension for football coach Ryan Silverfield, who has two years left on his current deal.

"We are still in the process there," Veatch said. "I feel good about the process, I feel good about the conversations with his agents and working through that. I would expect something to materialize here before long."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.