Wiles-Smith Drug Store

A Step Back in Time
This is another Memphis place with a retro feel because it has just been the same for a very long time.
The lunch counter is not a gussied-​up version, but quite practical. The chocolate shakes were fabulous. And the lady making and serving the food was charming and friendly.
We may have even seen Elvis there…

We must have driven past this place at least one hundred times. So glad we finally discovered this amazing gem. Located on Union Avenue, not far outside of downtown Memphis is Wiles-​Smith Drugs, a pharmacy and lunch counter that has been there since 1945. To be honest, it looks like not much has changed since 1945! I mean, you don’t see too many privately owned pharmacies and you see even fewer lunch counters like this one.
The «must order» item here is the chocolate milkshake so, of course, that’s what we ordered. We also decided to try the vanilla as well. These were definitely some of the best milkshakes I have ever had. They weren’t too thick and they weren’t too sweet. They were just right.
I also tried the chicken salad sandwich which was pretty amazing. It was simple and incredibly delicious.
Don’t forget, they only take cash!

one of our local treasures.
excellent food.
best milkshake in town
great burgers

Super good milkshakes in an old diner/​drug store. Not much else to say. If you’re craving ice cream, go here!

I love this place. I love the atmosphere especially. This is a perfect place to plop down after a long morning and get yourself something delicious.
The shakes are to die for– I don’t know what they put in them, but they’re always magnificently creamy. I love the strawberry one. I appreciate the prices a lot as well, where else can you get legit, like-​your-​grandma-​makes food for under $ 3? I’m addicted to the chili hotdog. Just delicious and worth it.
Like everyone else has said, bring your cash! If only they would get a freaking debit card reader. I have one that hooks up to my phone for gods sake, and I got it for free! I have come so close to convincing my friends to eat there with me so many times, up until I tell them they have to have cash. Then they magically change their minds and tell me Burger King will be just as good because its down the street and has frosty’s. No, a frosty comes nothing close to these milkshakes. I admit at times I will be walking by, realize I have no cash, and sadly pass it up.
Moral of the story: debit card reader needs to be had! I know it’s a hassle but if you guys knew how many customers you’ve lost because you don’t have one, you would probably be horrified.

This drug store is Memphis oldest drug store, having opened in 1945. It still has a soda fountain and they make hand dipped shakes.
They only take cash.
Garrett had the vanilla shake. Each shake is $ 3.50.
I had a chocolate shake. Each shake filled the glass twice. They were hand dipped, so of course they were delicious.
They also serve breakfast and sandwiches, which I would like to try this summer.

Cherry Milkshake A++++
mine was just a tiny bit runny pouring it into the glass but that didn’t stop it from being awesome
the grilled cheese with bacon… wow just wow that was a lot of good bacon small with it because it was kraft single with some generic bread, but whatever with all that bacon 3.65 was well worth the price
The place might be old but I really love the feel of it.
Next time though, I might stick to getting just a milkshake

OK, it’s an institution in Memfus. Had to try it. Run down and small. But they do make a very good choc shake. It’ll be a «one-​of».

Really fun to go to. Simple menu and great shakes that you watch being made. Usually slow and crowded but it’s a small price to pay for good food and fun. Try it out for a simple lunch that will really surprise you.

Best milkshakes in Memphis hands-​down, and cheap (think $ 3) sandwiches that are pretty much exactly like one you’d make for yourself at home. Reminds me of the lunch counter my grandparents used to take me to when I was a kid. Whenever I’m showing someone around Memphis, this place is always on my must-​do list.

second visit… ordered a chocolate shake and a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich both times and both times walked away with a smile. there are so few genuine soda fountains left. this is one! waitresses are great.

I ordered a chocolate shake, which came in the metal mixing cup with an empty white plastic cup next to it. According to the super nice woman behind the counter, proper milkshake protocol is to pour the shake into the plastic cup and drink it through a straw. The shake was pretty much perfect — thick, creamy, chocolatey and hand-​made.
If shakes aren’t your thing, you can also order malts, chocolate or vanilla sodas and sundaes. There’s also a small menu of lunch counter food (like sandwiches on toast, egg salad, soup).
Wiles-​Smith is still a working pharmacy and drugstore. While the pharmacy and lunch counter were fairly busy, it looks like most of the store hasn’t been touched since at least the mid-​1980s. The small selection of greeting cards is yellow with age and the shelves are sparsely stocked.
The weirdest thing in the store is the taxidermied critter that’s perched, mid-​stalk, atop a small trophy case in the corner of the store. I asked the woman at the cash register what it was, and she said it was a balding porcupine. «I know it doesn’t really look like one,» she said. «But he’s been up there a while, and his needles are falling out.»
Before you indulge your soda fountain cravings, there are a few things you need to know. Wiles-​Smith is incredibly old-​school, which means that they only take cash and checks. The hours are also a little limited — they’re only open until mid-​afternoon most days. If it’s after 4 p.m., your delicious milkshake will have to wait until the next day.

Wiles-​Smith is dirt cheap, though the menu is basic: BLTs and PB&Js, homemade chili in tiny styrofoam bowls with Saltines, tuna salad, malts ‘n’ shakes. Recently featured on Alton Brown’s Food Network show, ‘Feasting On Asphalt’, the fame does not appear to have gone to anyone’s head. There are still only three booths and ten counter seats, magnificently unhurried (but charming) waitresses, and a sleepy, small-​town feel.
From the boomerang-​patterned Formica counters to the insanely good shakes (served with a stainless steel mixing cup full of the shake that wouldn’t fit in your enormous glass), Wiles-​Smith is good, cheap eats all the way. In the summer– only in the summer– you can even get orange freezes.
It’s important to note that Wiles-​Smith takes only cash. You can’t give them your card and plead that they must have a card machine somewhere in the back. You can’t try to write a check, even if you super-​duper promise that it won’t bounce. All you can do is leave your boyfriend behind as collateral while you make the (long, hot) walk to the corner store for an ATM.

Ever want to travel back in time and have a soda at real drug store soda fountain? Wiles-​Smith has one of the few remaining ‘soda-​fountains’ in the city. Operating inside a real, working pharmacy; the menu is limited to a few basics and ice-​cream and milkshakes. But you might just run into Mr. Gower, right?