Skunx Chef’s Pub

Skunx is a restaurant in Cooper Young that has been around for a few years. For some reason, I had never tried it. Recently, I rectified that mistake.
They have a variety of beer. They serve pizza and have some meal specials.
We had a Memphis pizza. It was topped with pulled pork and had barbecue sauce. It was delicious.
I would like to visit again and try their specials. They are open very late. It’s a great late night dining option. It’s even open into the wee hours of the night. It’s a great place to hit up after the bar.

Honestly, I didn’t mind the atmosphere here. I like the dark, dingy, dive bars. We didn’t have the food, so I cannot comment on the menu, we just had a few beers and left. The only reason I’m giving this place 2-​star is because of the bartender. I’ve been in the restaurant industry in the past, so I know the «common courtesies» of the biz, but evidently the bartender here did not.
Just a little advice, when a customer hands you cash to pay the bill, don’t assume you can automatically keep the change for a tip. That’s not how it works. It’s a common courtesy (and the right thing to do) to give the customer their change back and let them leave the change voluntarily for a tip.
The bartender simply kept our money, without saying a word. Not cool.

This is my first review, I signed up just to make this statement. That’s how bad my experience was at Skunx. It had nothing to do with the food, Duncan’s always put some pretty decent food together. But at this point, this review will read as an open letter to him.
Duncan:
If you want to be in the restaurant business, you have to have certain things that people would expect in any restaurant. Like ICE. Yep, ice. From a lowly Cracker Barrel to the now-​defunct El Bulli, every restaurant has it. Except yours. Why? Because you can’t afford it? That was the lame excuse I was given, not by your bartenders, but by people generous enough to you to try to throw an event in your establishment. Sign a lease on an ice machine, because you’ve worn out your welcome with the rest of the neighborhood bars and restaurants by borrowing theirs. Ice is a basic necessity of any restaurant, hell, even any home. People expect it, and if they are feeling charitable enough to grace your business with their presence and hard-​earned money, you need to get it. The amount of money that you are having to spend on bagged ice costs more than the lease would cost. Stop being an idiot if you want your business to survive.
I got ice for your restaurant, by borrowing it (much like you have, endlessly) from a neighboring business. Your paying customers should never have to do that. Ever. They should never even know that this is a concern for you. It’s ludicrous that this even needs to be said to you, and if this doesn’t sink in, your business (once again) is doomed to failure.
So back to it. I got ice for you, because I knew someone else in your bar that worked at one of the neighboring establishments. Your bartenders gave him a medium sized red bucket to put it in. I asked for a trash bag instead, to make sure that they wouldn’t run out of ice again in 30 minutes. Your bartenders didn’t have trash bags. Yep, trash bags. Again, a basic necessity of not just any restaurant, but any business, home, etc. This was a Friday night, and you had a special event being held there, and you shirked your responsibility, AGAIN. We got ice for you anyway.
Next up, I had a friend that had been told by one of the people throwing the event how good your food was, and wanted to try it out. At 10:30 at night, well within your hours of service, she was told she couldn’t have anything. Guido (I guess that is the guy’s name running the kitchen) didn’t feel like cooking anything. Correct me if I’m wrong, but cooking is what a cook is supposed to do. Mind you, this event started at 10:00; shouldn’t your restaurant be able to serve food 30 minutes into an event? I have run many restaurants in this town, and let me tell you, if I had a cook or chef refuse to cook for my guests, I would have thrown them out the front doors so hard that the rivets on their jeans would have made sparks as they skipped across the pavement. That’s an embarrassment that should never happen, but just another in a series for you.
Your bartenders both handled all of this adversity with grace. You should feel very fortunate they didn’t leave while you were missing in action. I would have.
And finally, there’s you. You can cook. But you can’t run a restaurant. And you should never, ever, EVER, be in the front of house dealing with guests. I wanted to bring all this up to you, face-​to-​face, but the guys throwing the event there pleaded with me not to. They said that you wouldn’t take it very well; that you would say some rude and foul things. They also know that I can give much better than I get. Let me tell you something here. If someone is charitable enough after reading this review to darken your door ever again, and they have a problem getting ICE or FOOD, you need to be gracious enough to stand there and take the criticism like a man, and further than that, A PROFESSIONAL. But professionally, your reputation in this town is crap, so maybe that expectation is a little lofty for a guy that yelled, bulled through, and was just plain rude and unaccommodating as you were the entire night. If there is a chemical in your system making you act this way, it’s not doing you any favors. Next time, I won’t listen to anyone else, I WILL DO THIS IN PERSON, and I WILL make you feel about an inch tall.
2 stars for your bartenders, and they are the only thing that gets you 2 stars.

A group of us tried ordering a two pizzas, but Skunx was saying that they only had enough dough for two 14″ pizzas. After which, we tried to order two 14″ pizzas; then Skunx employees were saying that it was a lot to do and it was going to take a while without confirming our order. After they seemed hesitant, we politely asked if they wanted to make our order if they wanted us to go somewhere else to get pizza. Then they said that they decided to not to make any more pizzas for the night. So we ordered food from other places. Later on in the night, we started receiving texts from Skunx employees saying «F%@K your pizza» and «You need to go to Dominos to get it»

This review is for the pizza and the $ 3 can of high life. This place has no beer on tap, but lots of cans in the cooler behind the bar.
I ordered pizza (to go). The large was huge. Really good toppings: I picked my own combination with caramelized onions, smoked mozzerella, and red peppers. How could you really go wrong with those? Sauce was tangy/​sweet, and the crust was crisp, but didn’t have that crispy-​chewy thing you get from a woodburning pizza oven. This is probably the best pizza I’ve had in Midtown, but not the best pizza I’ve had ever.
As for the bar, I didn’t stay long, but it was pretty empty at 9:00 (the bartender said things usually pick up after midnight) and they had a wide range of food on the menu beyond just pizza.

I give the pizza 4 stars and the service 2 stars. Place is a dump that’s trying to be kitschy. Definitely overpriced.

Wow. I wish I could speak to the service on a typical night, but I was lucky enough to end up at Skunx well after hours on a Thursday night while the chef/​owner was entertaining. A friend I was with knew the chef and we basically said, «give us whatever it is you would order,» and were presented with the «Mama Luc,» (I’ll spare you the translation). The pie itself was as good as it gets, and as much as I wanted to knock of a star for breaching the $ 20 mark on a pizza, considering it fed 4 drunk college kids and the obviously high quality of the ingredients, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. If it helps you sleep at night, think of it like this: you’re not paying that much money for a pizza, you’re paying it for all of those fantastic toppings placed upon a bed of home made mozzarella and a perfectly cooked crust.

I will seek out the best pizza in any city, given I have the time to do so. As a result I’ve eaten pizza in about every style and in every environment imaginable. This pizza. What the what??? It’s amazing. I’m actually jealous and embarrassed that my hometown of Houston doesn’t have anything close to this. The crust is amazing but the high grade of the toppings is what sets this place on a whole new level. I recommend the Diavolo, though I didn’t find fault with anything I’ve ever had on the menu.

The pizza is prob one of the best pizzas in Memphis!!!

I’m aware this review will earn me head shakes and snorts. I care not! I am giving this joint the «thumbs down» despite never setting foot inside or tasting the food. Why. Why? Why! Because that very reason.
I was hosting a professional networking function last week and wanted Skunx pizza due to the amount of arm punches and «Dude, you have to eat there!» I have received over the last month or so.
My office is Downtown. To make this happen I elected to driiiive to CY to gather these alleged pies of the gods for my guests. Due to crappy attention to detail and/​or a disregard for basic service based business conduct the sign on the door says Tuesday — Saturday 1130 – 1000. Was I able to order my 3 (turned into 4) 20″ specialty pizza’s + salads? NO. Why. Why? Why! Because no hours posted on the web site advising dinner service only. In fact, no web site.
The ONLY place the seemingly current hours of operation of dinner service only is in Unilocal.Yelp. Unilocal?Yelp! Sorry, but who gives a flurp it’s on Unilocal?
I will stand on my principals and say: this food shall not pass through my lips, nor will I bring it into my home or office ever. Ever. Ever? EVER!
I’m aware I’m only denying myself — that this will (probably) not affect the business but this is how I feel — so piss off.

Despite the fact that I live less than a quarter mile from Skunx Chefs Pub, tonight was the first time that I have had their pizza. I was a little worried at first about ordering from them because I hadn’t really heard much about it.
My husband tried the Diavolo and I got the Quattro (four cheese) with mushrooms added to it. The pizza was great. The crust is hand-​tossed style but still thin (though not TOO thin) and the sauce is classic tomato on the two pizzas that we ordered. The Quattro was so loaded with cheese that the first piping hot slice required a fork. Once it cooled down a little it became more manageable. My favorite cheese on pizza is ricotta and most places kind of skimp on it for whatever reason. Skunx does NOT have that problem! The mushroom slices were fresh and thick — not the puny canned stuff that I have seen on pizzas at at least one well-​established Memphis «favorite» place (ahem, not naming names). The jalapenos on the Diavolo pizza were obviously freshly sliced and POTENT. My lips burned for several minutes after eating one jalapeño slice on one piece of pizza. If you like spicy, this pizza is a must!
Their web presence isn’t very complete or up-​to-​date, although the basics are there via different social/​review sites, including Unilocal.
We decided to give them a try tonight because we aren’t really fans of corporate pizza places but wanted delivery tonight instead of going out. We are pretty sure the owner delivered the pizza himself!
Now I am looking forward to actually going to the restaurant and trying some of the other menu offerings as well!

I love The Memphis. It has goat cheese, caramelized onions, pulled pork, barbecue sauce, oregano and some other stuff and it’s so good I just can’t order anything else because there isn’t a barbecue pizza like this anywhere else in Memphis. I do like the Hi-Tone’s barbecue pizza — as a matter of fact, it’s awesome — but Skunx’s cheese and caramelized onions make this the better pizza.
And Skunx is getting its beer license, finally, on Sept. 19. You can bet I’ll be making it my go-​to place at Cooper-​Young, just a couple doors down from Goner!

Love this place! Chris and I always end up here for a late night pizza. Duncan is a amazing chef and makes some great pizzas and hoagies. My favorite is the pesto pizza! Duncan is working on fixing up the place. it is looking better all the time!

Pizza is good, but not good enough to justify the high prices. Be aware that there are no free refills on soft drinks. You will be charged for each can. Also, if you ask for a to-​go box, you will be charged $ 1 for the box. The pizza is good, but Memphis has plenty of good pizza places that don’t have all the unexpected additional charges.

The girlfriend and I came by on Saturday night, having heard good things. She had a four-​cheese pie which she liked, although she wasn’t a fan of the big chunks of ricotta. She said she’d order it without next time. I had a Stone Hero sandwich, which was outstanding. It had huge piles of cold cuts, fresh pesto and tomatoes that added just a bit of sweetness, and thick crusty bread with parmesan sprinkled on top. I always finish meals, and I ended up taking half of my hoagie home. The menu was dominated by pizza, but if they make hoagies like this, I’d encourage them to expand a bit in the sandwich department.
The service was excellent — our drinks were never empty. It didn’t look finished yet inside, though. There’s still a lot of empty space on the walls and in the big coolers behind the bar. I’m assuming that they’re shaping the place up to be a bar as much as a restaurant, since the sizable bar dominates the interior, and they’ll likely have to do a bit more as far as décor in order to make it a comfortable place to hang out.
They were also playing Prince the whole time we were there, which we were tickled by. We’ll definitely be back.

I ate a Skunx last night for the first time and was thoroughly impressed! Skunx has some awesome pizza choices! They combine delicious ingredients to make a perfect pie! My favorite part, though, is the crust. It’s crunchy and wonderful!
The group I was with ordered two pizzas, the davinci code and the Skunx something or other (please forgive me for not remembering the whole name). The davinci code had grilled chicken and onions, basil, tomatoes, mozzarella and goat cheese with an olive oil/​white sauce. It was wonderful. Seriously. The other pizza (the skunx something or other) had original pizza sauce, pepperoni, ground beef, sliced meatballs, onions, peppers and cheese. It’s basically their everything pizza. And it has everything you need for a delicious experience.
The pizza was amazing and I will definitely be going back. They also have salads and sandwiches and delicious looking desserts. The thought of trying their tiramisu is reason enough to get excited about my next visit.

Duncan makes a great pie. The staff is nice and does a great job making you feel welcome. Keep in mind this is a local owned place with good food and some character. It is not a corporate owned place with a cheesy manager to blow smoke up your butt. I have introduced many people to Duncan’s food through the years and have never heard «I didn’t like it» Try a cool little midtown business, support local ownership and have some great food!

Currently located in what used to be Lou’s Pizza in Cooper-​Young, Skunx is making some pretty tasty pies! The new residents have taken a hole-​in-​the-​wall pizza parlor and made a few improvements that pack a big punch. The addition of the bar has given the space a much-​needed face lift, and I understand there are more to come.
So what’s the big deal about the pizza? The chef at Skunx has been well-​established in the Memphis restaurant scene for years and has worked alongside Memphis’s most highly regarded chefs. So you can get a run-​of-​the-​mill pie, but there are also some really artful selections to choose from too. The crust is perfection, and the ingredients are fresh.
There are also daily specials if you’re in the mood for something other than pizza.
Get on down there and grab a pie — it will not disappoint!