Elvis Presley’s Cousin Remembers Sharing Pizza With King During Late Night at Graceland

For Elvis Presley’s cousin, a trip down to the kitchen for a midnight snack once turned into hanging out with The King himself.

That’s right, folks — Danny Smith is Elvis Presley’s second cousin. Boy oh boy, does he have some cool stories to share. He often takes to his YouTube channel — Memphis Mafia Kid — to share his moments from his childhood about growing up around Elvis. His account has nearly 24 thousand followers.

One of those stories involves a 1-on-1 with The King that Smith still remembers to this very day. And to think it all started with a late-night quest to grab a snack from the kitchen.

“I know that when we were out at [the] Palm Springs [house], it was probably three or four o’clock in the morning. I was hungry. Mom and Daddy were all asleep. I thought, ‘Well, you know what? I’m going to get up and make my way to the kitchen and get me something to eat.’”

Sure enough, Smith ran into the one and only Elvis Presley while he was still half asleep.

“When you come out of your bedroom, there’s a short hall and then it cut back and you had to go across the living room to get to the kitchen. I’m bobbing along, like I said, about halfway, half asleep. I’m bobbing I’m going across the living room — and I freeze!”

What Were Elvis Presley’s Go-To Pizza Toppings?

Talk about a wake-up call. Smith, who was still a youngster at the time, was able to hang out and share some pizza with Elvis Presley before he headed off to bed.

“Out of the corner of my eye is you know who. It’s Elvis! He’s sitting on the couch and I’m like, ‘Oh s—t! What do I do?’ So I started on to the kitchen and he said, ‘Come here.’ He kind of patted on the couch and says, ‘Sit down a minute.’ He was eating pizza and said, ‘You want a piece of pizza?’ I’m like, ‘Sure!’ We sat there talking and watching The Flintstones, and shortly after, he just got up and said, ‘Hey, I’m gonna go lay down and go to sleep.’”

Oh, and if you were wondering — the answer is no, Danny Smith didn’t make his way to the kitchen after his encounter with Elvis. All of the pizza the two ate together was more than enough.

“I didn’t ever make it to the kitchen because I finished off the pizza,” he joked.

As for what kind of pizza Elvis Presley preferred, let’s just say he was a simple man.

“Basically Elvis liked pork sausage or just a plain cheese pizza. He didn’t like any of the other stuff on it. [They were] his two favorites, that’s about all he would eat.”