Over the past year and a half, Cooper-Young lost a tapas bar that ran almost 15 years, a restaurant that opened in 1998, an Asian bistro after a kitchen fire, and a Central Avenue newcomer that lasted one year. As of this week, one of those rooms has a new tenant serving food. One has a named successor and an estimated date. Two closed with no successor named when they shut.
That sorting matters more than any single opening. Restaurant space near the Cooper and Young intersection does not turn over quickly. When a room goes dark here, it has tended to stay dark for a year or longer before someone new cooks in it. So the closings already on the books largely decide where you'll eat around the corner through most of 2027.
Four Rooms, Four Different Points in the Wait
Here is where each address stands as of mid-October 2026.
| Address | Previous tenant | How it ended | What's next |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2149 Young Ave. | Mulan Asian Bistro | Closed in 2025 after a kitchen fire | Big Bad Breakfast, now open |
| 940 S. Cooper St. | Alchemy | Closed June 2025 after almost 15 years | Basil and Jade, Thai, estimated about six months out |
| 928 S. Cooper St. | Tsunami | Last day announced as Feb. 21, 2026, after opening in 1998 | None named at closing |
| 2155 Central Ave. | No Comment | Final service Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, after one year | None named at closing |
Three of the four sit almost on top of each other. Tsunami's old address at 928 S. Cooper and Alchemy's at 940 S. Cooper share the same short stretch south of Young, and the Holiday Market in December is set for 902 S. Cooper. A walk from the market to the Alchemy room covers most of the neighborhood's current turnover.
The Room That Already Relit Took About a Year
The Young Avenue space shows how long the wait can run even when it goes well. Action News 5 reported that Big Bad Breakfast would open at 2149 Young Ave. on Sept. 29, replacing Mulan, which had closed after a kitchen fire. The chain had been publicly linked to Cooper-Young since spring. The same Action News 5 story links to an April 2026 report that Big Bad Breakfast was eyeing a location there. On Oct. 14, the company announced on its own site that its 29th location had opened, serving breakfast, brunch and lunch seven days a week.
It is the second Big Bad Breakfast in the Memphis area. The first opened at 6450 Poplar Ave. in 2021. Founder John Currence is a James Beard Award winner, and the Memphis Flyer's preview lists the dishes coming to Young Avenue. They include his shrimp and grits, the Cathead Biscuit, the Soul on a Roll, bacon cured in Tabasco mash, and deep-fried brandied French toast. The Flyer listed daily hours of 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
With a 2:30 p.m. close, 2149 Young now belongs to the morning and lunch hours on Cooper-Young.
The Alchemy Room Has a Plan and an Estimate
The second room is further back in the wait. Alchemy served tapas and cocktails in Cooper-Young for almost 15 years before closing in June 2025. Sixteen months later, on Oct. 7, 2026, the Daily Memphian reported that Basil and Jade, a Thai restaurant, should open in the 4,500-square-foot space at 940 S. Cooper St. in about six months, according to owner Lorena Leong.
Six months from early October puts the estimate around spring 2027. If it holds, the room will have been dark for close to two years. That is an owner's projection, not a set opening date.
Leong is not new to Midtown. Edible Memphis profiled her this year as the manager of a family restaurant group. It includes Takashi Bistro in Midtown, Lao Sze Chuan, Akita Sushi & Hibachi Steakhouse and Red Pier Cajun Seafood & Bar in Southaven, Poke World in Olive Branch and Southaven, Kyuramen, and Tous les Jours. She described Takashi to Edible Memphis as "the smallest restaurant we have" and said it is "busy every day." The magazine also laid out how the family opens a restaurant. Her father and uncles scout locations and handle most of the construction, and Leong steps in "when the restaurant is about 80 percent ready" to set the lighting, the menus and the day-to-day operation.
Takashi shows that Leong's group has run a small Midtown room successfully. Basil and Jade will be a much larger one, a few blocks south.
The Two Rooms Still Waiting
Tsunami is the longest-running loss on the list. Action News 5 reported in February that owner and executive chef Ben Smith opened the restaurant in 1998. It won Best New Restaurant in its first year, and the Memphis Restaurant Association named Smith Restaurateur of the Year in 2010. In that report, Smith pointed to rising costs and a gradual decline in business across the restaurant industry over the previous six years. The same story put Tsunami's closing alongside the departures of Alchemy and Palladio Interior Gardens over the prior seven months. The Memphis Flyer gave the address as 928 S. Cooper St.
No Comment ran on a much shorter timeline. The restaurant at 2155 Central Ave. started as a wine bar. In July 2026, the Daily Memphian covered its shift to an Indian-Italian menu that kept its 1980s theme. On Sept. 29 it announced that its last day of service would be Saturday, Oct. 17, after one year in Midtown, according to the Daily Memphian. Its wait began Oct. 17.
If these two follow the pattern of the other two rooms, neither is likely to reopen as something new before well into 2027. That leaves Big Bad Breakfast as the one relit room in the group for most of the coming year, and Basil and Jade as the next one expected.
Where the Corner Still Gathers This Season
The dark rooms haven't emptied the neighborhood calendar. Two recurring events keep people on these same blocks through December.
- CY Night Out. The Cooper-Young Business Association runs it on the first Thursday of each month from April through December, 5 to 8 p.m. The association lists retail and restaurant discounts, sidewalk sales, trivia, two-for-one offers, shuffleboard or pool, and live music around the neighborhood. The two remaining dates this year are Thursday, Nov. 5, and Thursday, Dec. 3.
- Cooper-Young Holiday Market. The first-ever market is set for Saturday, Dec. 5, from 2 to 7 p.m. at 902 S. Cooper St. Plans include cookies, hot chocolate, Santa, and goods from local artisans. The Memphis Flyer's fall festival guide lists the same Dec. 5 date on Cooper Street.
The market's address puts it within a short walk of both the Tsunami and Alchemy rooms. A December afternoon there covers the stretch where the neighborhood's next announced restaurant is headed and where the longest-running one used to be. The Nov. 5 Night Out is the first since No Comment's last service on Central.
For weekday mornings, there's now a full breakfast-and-lunch room at 2149 Young. For dinner on this stretch, the next new option is the Alchemy room once Basil and Jade opens, which its owner currently puts around spring.
Which rooms near Cooper and Young are dark, which are being rebuilt, and when they're expected to reopen all shape what a block feels like to the next buyer who walks it. If you're weighing a move in or around Cooper-Young and want someone who keeps track of the street's calendar along with the listings, the team at Myers Cobb Realtors would be glad to walk it with you. Work With Us.
