Prince Mongo's Pizza, Memphis 1980s
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Robert Hodges (1937-2026) was a businessman and a colorful figure in Memphis, Tennessee. An eccentric character, he was known for his ostentatious fashion style and wacky behavior. He called himself Prince Mongo and claimed he was 333 years old and came from the planet Zambodia, nine light years from earth.
He dabbled in local politics and from the 1970s ran in every Memphis mayoral race, once reaching third place. Interviewed about his political ambitions by bemused reporters from local TV stations, he told them he had been beamed down from his home planet to ‘improve’ the city of Memphis and its surrounding areas.
The maverick personality was also a canny businessman who owned a real estate portfolio, ran nightclubs and owned a bar and a popular pizzeria.
Hodges’ quirky traits are evident in this unconventional menu for that pizzeria. It shows a pizza-shaped spacecraft hurtling through space to earth. The menu is full of witticisms, and even the names of the pizzas pick up on the space theme. We’ve found many tributes to the now-closed location online who recall ‘light, crispy and airy’ pizzas made by the friendly chef, Shoney.
The pizzeria, on Highland and Union Avenue, was popular with students from nearby Memphis University and Hodges ran a twice-nightly ‘Zambodian Space Shuttle’ to bring student customers to the restaurant.
We believe Prince Mongo’s Pizza closed in the early 90s. Hodges’ bar Prince Mongo’s Planet closed in 1995 due to unpaid taxes.
After his death at the age of 89, many tributes were paid to Hodges who loved the spotlight. One tribute read: ‘I was a Memphis cop downtown on night shift. Every time I saw him, he’d raise his arm over his head and wave, ‘Hey, spirit!’ Another former customer commented wittily about the self-proclaimed alien: ‘He didn’t die. He just went home.’
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
