Top of the Morning, the popular Memphis food truck, is finally getting a set of permanent walls. Owner Valencia Smith has confirmed the truck’s first brick-and-mortar storefront is coming to Hickory Ridge Mall at 6075 Winchester Road, an 803-square-foot space that will let the operation expand its menu beyond what it could offer on wheels.
Smith confirmed the new location to WhatNow Memphis, which reports that the storefront announcement first went out through Top of the Morning’s own social media, where the truck has promised what it calls the best breakfast in the South. Before chasing a physical address, the truck built its following. The business’s Facebook page identifies Top of the Morning and associates it with Hickory Ridge Mall.
Permits Still Pending Before the Doors Open
The move from truck to storefront isn’t just symbolic — it’s a legal threshold. Per the same WhatNow Memphis account, Top of the Morning has a Certificate of Occupancy under review with the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development, and the business is finalizing the permitting required before it can open. The division is reviewing the request while the business finalizes the permitting required before it can open.
There’s also a health-side gauntlet to clear. Opening a retail food service establishment in Shelby County requires submitting two sets of detailed architectural plans and a menu to the county health department, obtaining grease trap clearance from Memphis Engineering and Industrial Monitoring, and passing a pre-opening inspection, per the Shelby County Health Department. It’s a heavier lift than running a truck, and there’s a specific regulatory reason the leap matters: Memphis rules bar mobile food units from connecting to permanent plumbing or electrical utilities, and making those permanent hookups is what legally reclassifies an operation from mobile vendor to full restaurant, according to a guide from StreetLegal.
A Mall That Rebuilt Itself Around Small Business
The address Top of the Morning is moving into is part of Hickory Ridge Mall. Today, sections of the property have been repurposed into the World Impact Center to house local businesses and community services, per World Overcomers Outreach Ministries…