Takeout is the way to go during summer

Photo by Kyle Kurlick, Photos by Kyle Kurlick/Special to The Commercial Appeal // Buy this photo

Items available from Buckley's Fine Filets' Grab-n-Go menu include Zesty Grilled Chicken and Rice Pilaf.

When it's still 95 degrees when you get home from work, who wants to cook? Heat waves, also known locally as "summer," call for cool, easy eats and good takeout.

And sure, most any restaurant will pack an order to go, but there are places in town that cater specifically to folks who want homestyle cooking of restaurant quality in the comfort of their own home. Here are some shops where you can just pop in and pick up a quick meal that requires nothing more than a few minutes in the microwave or a reheat in the oven. And you've got a meal for your table, just like that.

Kayla Van Eaton picks up a Grab-n-Go order from Buckley's, and Joe Fain explains to her how to heat up the precooked meal. The steakhouse offers seven entrees, six sides and a salad on Grab-n-Go.

Photo by Stan Carroll, Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal

Owner Michelle Campbell prepares a batch of Chicken Tortilla Soup at the kitchen at Fork It Over in Cooper-Young.

Be sure to check out the websites for full menus and to sign up for weekly e-mails. You can even prepurchase and get your food delivered from some of the places.

Curbside Casseroles (5130 Wheelis Drive; 901-761-0287. Web: curbsidecasseroles.com) is the reigning queen of grab and go.

From a welcoming little shop tucked away on a dead-end street, Bradford Williams and her talented crew cook up a slew of standards and a smaller number of weekly specials for loyal customers.

"Our customers are like family," she said. "They are very faithful. They've been with me from the beginning, back when I was operating out of my house."

There's a steady supply of frozen meals available in three sizes that serve two, four or eight. The most popular items are Chicken Divan ($11, $17 and $32) and Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas ($9, $15 and $26). Rotating specials are available each week. These items, which are refrigerated, not frozen, rotate among a selection of popular and seasonal items. Right now, gazpacho is a big seller.

"We're selling about 50 quarts a day," Williams said.

Curbside Casseroles is open only from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, though cooking goes on throughout the week, and Williams will accommodate loyal customers who can't make it during those hours.

And the name? Well, there is a drive-through.

"That's huge," she said. "You don't have to get kids out of the car; you don't have to get a walker out of the car. You just drive up and tell us what you want."

Buckley's Fine Filets (5355 Poplar; 901-683-4538, buckleysgrill.com) has been serving steaks for close to 20 years, but just entered the to-go market in April.

"We specialize in simplicity," co-owner Ken Dick said. "We have seven entrees, six sides and a salad. All fresh, never frozen."

All the items, such as Delta Shrimp and Grits, Honey Citrus Salmon and Rice Pilaf, and Santa Fe Chicken and Cheese Grits, are on the restaurant's menu and available from 4 p.m. daily.

"We took some of our most popular items, and they're always available; plus, we rotate some other items," he said.

Entrees, which serve two to three people, are $12.95 or $14.95, except for the $16.95 salmon. Sides, which also serve two to three, are all $4.95 except the creamed spinach, which is $6.95.

"It's been very popular," Dick said. "People even buy them for gifts. You don't have to call ahead or anything, either. Just come in, and you're out in a minute."

But the only steak you'll get on the Grab-n-Go menu is smothered steak. The filets are cooked to order, and, sure, you can get one to go, but you'll have to wait on it.

Lucchesi's (540 S. Mendenhall; 901-766-9922, lucchesis.com) is the place to go for take-and-bake pizza in East Memphis; the most expensive, a family size with a heap of toppings, is $13.99, and a smaller plain cheese is just $8.99. You can pick up prepared pizza at a zillion places, but baking your own means you can pick it up on your way home and relax with a glass of wine without worrying about your pizza getting cold. When you're ready to eat, heat it up.

Items such as ravioli ($8.99 for one dozen large or two dozen small) and housemade sauces ($4.59 per pint) are available frozen. Freshly made lasagna and other Italian specialties are refrigerated and come in sizes from single-serving to a 9-by-12-inch pan that serves up to 10; prices start around $7. A variety of fresh salads are $6.49 to $6.99, and though you'll have to have them made to order, you can have sandwiches prepared at the deli. Don't miss the cheese counter, and don't leave without homemade bread, or maybe even a piece of cake or a pint of Bravo gelato. Open 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon- 6 p.m. Sunday.

Fork it Over (2299 Young; 901-278-0028, forkitovercatering.com) provides à la carte items and meals, when preordered, from a little house in Midtown's Cooper-Young neighborhood (in addition to offering a nice little dine-in selection of sandwiches at lunch). There are frozen selections available, including owner Michelle Campbell's grandmother's chicken and wild rice casserole, and a rotating menu of entrees.

"Each week we have a different seafood, pork, beef and chicken dish, and about six sides," said Courtney Chambers, who manages the shop ("It's just the two of us running this thing," he explained).

Entrees such as Steak Diane and a cider-marinated pork tenderloin and sides such as grilled corn on the cob with mint butter and roasted new potatoes with chives are examples of the meals available. Preordered meals for two are $25, which includes two meat selections and two sides. Meals for four are $45.

Delivery is available on Tuesday for preorders, and Fork it Over also has a selection of appetizers, which you need to order 48 hours ahead or pick from what's in the freezer. Open Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. and until 5 p.m. on Friday.

The Uptown Grocer (901-219-8475, theuptowngrocer.com) sells from both the Memphis Botanic Garden farmers market on Wednesday afternoons and the Memphis Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, but it also has a freezer at Palladio, 2169 Central, and plans to have them soon at Capelli hair salon (4615 Poplar, Suite 7) and Bluff City Coffee (505 S. Main).

Owner Jennifer McCullough also prepares a rotating menu of fresh items each week and will deliver.

Meat loaf, which serves four, is $16. Chicken enchiladas come in two sizes for $18 and $25. McCullough also offers a line of dips and spreads and à la carte items, and she's adding different salads each week through the summer.

No Time 2 Cook (662- 236-9456. Web: notime2cook.com) prepares a line of frozen dinners that are sold in several retail locations around town and in Mississippi, including the Midtown Farmers Market (1632 Union) and Country Gardens at Agricenter, in addition to others places in the area (see the website for a full listing, including a link to the Cajun Grocer, where you can order online).

Entrees, which range from $8.95 to $15.95, serve two to three.

Stay cool. Let someone else do the cooking.

-- Jennifer Biggs: 529-5223

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