Entry No. 53 — the Memphis file — filed under: korean
Kwik Chek
On paper it's a Midtown corner store: beer coolers, lottery tickets, a wall of chips, people in and out for a single tallboy. The deli counter at the back is the actual business, and it runs a menu that has no business fitting in a convenience store — bibimbap and bulgogi on the Korean side, Greek-leaning gyros and salads, banh mi, burgers, wraps, and an unusually deep vegetarian column. The sandwiches have names locals use without irony: The Turk, The Ninja, the Fireball of Freedom. Choose901 files the kimchi burrito under Memphis bucket-list eating, alongside the city's fried chicken and barbecue, which tells you where it sits in the local hierarchy. You order between the snack aisles and mostly take it away.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
Young Choi opened Kwik Chek on Madison Avenue in 1988 as a Korean-owned convenience store, and from the sidewalk it still reads as exactly that: beer coolers, lottery, a wall of chips, 24-ounce cans going out one at a time. Sue Reyna took over running the place in 1991 and has been there ever since. “We're the last of the [Korean-owned, stand-alone] convenience stores open in Memphis,” she told Edible Memphis in 2020 — a strange thing to be known for when what people actually come for is the bibimbap.
The deli exists because another restaurant died. Reyna ran Petra, a Middle Eastern restaurant that moved something north of 50,000 orders of bi bim bop before it closed in 2011; when it did, she moved the cooking into the corner store, pulled out shelving to make room for tables, and kept the sign. “We didn't change the name, because that's what our customers know us as.” What came out the other side is a menu with no unifying theory: bibimbap and bulgogi steak sandwiches beside gyros and dolmas, muffulettas under a spicy garlic habanero sauce, kimchi burritos, and hoagies called The Turk, The Ninja, Hey Zeus and the Fireball of Freedom. Reyna's read on the crowd: “The younger generation likes it to be really spicy.”
Memphis has quietly ratified all of it. Choose901 files the kimchi burrito on its city bucket list alongside the barbecue and the fried chicken; the Commercial Appeal's Jennifer Chandler named the muffuletta one of her favorites in town in a 2021 Fat Tuesday column. In June 2025 Reyna filed a federal trademark application for “Kwik Chek Pizza” — the corner store is apparently not finished expanding sideways.
What it's like
You come in past the coolers, walk the aisle between the snack racks, and order at the deli counter at the back — not the front register, which is for beer and lottery. Nothing about the room prepares you for the wait times of real cooking, so expect ten to twenty minutes for anything hot, and use it to shop: the drink and snack selection is genuinely deep, and you pay for all of it at the front. There are a few tables and some counter seating, but most orders leave in a bag, and the operation is built that way. Staff are patient with first-timers who need the sandwich names explained. If you want to eat sitting down with a view, Overton Park is five minutes north and the food travels fine.
The move: The move: hit the deli counter around seven, order one bibimbap, one banh mi, and the kimchi burrito to split three ways between two people, then drive five minutes up to Overton Park and eat on the Greensward while the light goes. If it's raining, Midtown bars are a short walk in either direction on Madison and nobody will mind the takeout bag.
📍 Before you go 2013 Madison Ave, (901) 274-9293. Deli hours have been listed at Mon-Sat 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.-7 p.m., but the store's hours and the kitchen's are not the same thing and there's no official website — call before you drive over, especially late. Order at the counter in the back, not the front register. Seating is minimal; this is a takeout operation with a small lot on Madison.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2013 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Shangri-La Records — Same block of Madison, one minute on foot; the shop closes at 6, so dig through records first and eat after.
- Lucyja Hygge — A few doors east at 2075 Madison — tarot and crystal-bowl meditation on the same walk, for maximum tonal whiplash with a kimchi burrito.
- Growlers — Half a mile north on Poplar, where a local bill usually runs ten dollars: eat cheap, then spend the evening cheap.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
Where is it, and is there parking?
2013 Madison Ave, on the Stonewall stretch of Midtown, with a small lot on Madison. Phone is (901) 274-9293. It's a one-minute walk from Shangri-La Records at 1916 Madison, so pairing the two costs you no driving at all.
What do I order the first time?
The bi bim bop has the longest history behind it, going back to Reyna's old restaurant Petra. The kimchi burrito is the one Choose901 put on its Memphis bucket list, and the muffuletta with garlic habanero sauce is the one the Commercial Appeal singled out. If you want the deli side, ask for The Turk or The Ninja by name; nobody says it ironically.
Is there anything for vegetarians?
More than the storefront suggests. The pita-and-hummus plates and the vegetable-stuffed pitas are built without meat, the Greek salad is a real salad, and the kitchen is used to being asked. Both the Korean and the Mediterranean halves of the menu leave room to work with.
What are the hours, and can I trust them?
Listed hours are Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., but there is no official website, and the store's hours and the kitchen's are not the same thing. Call before you drive over, especially near closing. The delivery apps carry the menu if the counter has shut for the night.
How much seating is there, and is it comfortable to eat in?
A handful of tables and a counter, all on one level, in a room that is still mostly retail shelving. It works for a quick sit-down, but this is a convenience store with a serious kitchen, not a dining room — plan on takeout if you want quiet or a conversation.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: styleblueprint.com · choose901.com
last checked: 2026-08-26