You woke up today and though it was just another Wednesday, but wrong. It's the King's birthday. Elvis Aaron Presley came into this world on January 8, 1935, in Memphis. And 79 years later, the king of rock 'n' roll continues to be celebrated primarily in two ways: impersonation and the culinary combination of peanut butter, banana and bacon. We won't argue with either.
Following are six ways to tip your hat to the King today.
You should start the day with a Jenny's Evil Elvis from Hypnotic Donuts. Their website proclaims that despite impersonators, Hypnotic is the original creator of the Elvis doughnut: a yeast-raised ring topped with peanut butter, bacon, banana and honey. Impersonation might be common, but there was only one Elvis.
The kids at Carnival Barker's Ice Creams at the front of the Truck Yard love Elvis and according to their Facebook page, have the tattoos to prove it. And you can bet your britches that today their freezer is stocked full of flavorful appreciation. Fat Elvis (our favorite version of the man himself) is made with peanut butter and banana ice cream with candied bacon and honey. Today and today only, they'll have cups and pints available.
Scott Reitz wrote about El Ranchito's month-long ode to Elvis earlier this week. Tonight Johnny Rockit performs at 7:30 at the funky little Oak Cliff spot, but the King is there in spirit everyday. Watch for our food critic to take to the stage, as he threatened in his blog post. And yes, it was a threat. We've heard him sing.
While Single Wide on Greenville has the best bust of Elvis along with a velvet Elvis, Double Wide, its bigger sister in Deep Ellum, has a small trailer permanently parked outside serving an Elvis sandwich with peanut butter and banana. If you needed a reason to visit either spot, well, there you go.
The now-national-chain restaurant that originated in Austin, Chuy's (which, like Elvis, has many impersonators, but none have the soul or charisma of the original), is having a big party for the King. Dress up either like Elvis or Priscilla and receive a free entrée. They'll even have some free Elvis-themed temporary tattoos and a souvenir cup with the purchase of a margarita or Blue Hawaiian. There are going to be T-shirts and performances from 6 to 8 p.m.
A call to the Velvet Elvis (3720 Walnut Hill Lane) makes us think the King's birthday sort of snuck up on them, but guarantee they'll be celebrating. They'll just be calling it on the fly, which we're totally down with. The best plans are always the last-minute plans.
