Cobblestone streets, the Mississippi River bluff, Beale Street's blues clubs and the loft-and-bar South Main district. The visitor heart of the city.
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's downtown Memphis room pairs Tuscan and Sicilian grandmother cooking with Southern ingredients in the Chisca on Main building.
Signature: House-made pastas, Wood-roasted plates
Order: Whatever pasta they are rolling that night, plus the wood-roasted whole fish.
Tip: Booth seats in the bar mean walk-in dinner on most weeknights; the dining room books two weeks out on Resy.
Charlie Vergos's basement Memphis BBQ room off Second Street has served charcoal-broiled dry-rub ribs since 1948. The signature rub is sold by the bag.
Signature: Charcoal-broiled dry-rub pork ribs, Cheese and sausage plate
Order: Full slab of ribs, dry, with the cheese and sausage plate and a pitcher.
Tip: Enter through the alley off Monroe; closed Sunday and Monday. They cook ribs over charcoal, not in a smoker; dry-rub purists call it grilled.
Central BBQ Downtown in Memphis runs the city's most reliable dry-rub ribs and pulled pork from a casual counter across from the National Civil Rights Museum.
Signature: Dry-rub pork ribs, Pulled pork sandwich
Order: Half slab of dry ribs with a smoked turkey sandwich on the side.
Tip: Lines from noon to 14:00; order online and pick up at the express counter to skip the queue.
The Memphis flagship of Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken on South Front Street downtown runs spicy crisp birds from a tin-roof shack, the chain's 2001.
Signature: Spicy fried chicken, Fried pickles
Order: Three-piece dark meat plate with fried pickles and slaw.
Tip: Counter service, no reservations. Lunch line moves; dinner can run an hour during weekends.
Itta Bena is a hidden upstairs Memphis dining room above B.B. King's on Beale Street, named for the Mississippi town King was born in. Southern.
Signature: Shrimp and grits, Catfish
Order: Mississippi catfish with shrimp and grits.
Tip: Enter through the unmarked Second Street door or a private hall inside B.B. King's. Reservations open on OpenTable.
Tug's Casual Grill anchors the Harbor Town neighbourhood on Mud Island in Memphis with a wide riverside patio, burgers and Mississippi catfish dinners.
Signature: Catfish dinner, Burgers
Order: Catfish dinner with hush puppies; sit on the patio at sunset.
Tip: Wednesday is half-price burger night. The walk from downtown across the Auction Avenue bridge takes 15 minutes.
Curfew is Fabio Viviani's Union Avenue Memphis room on the ground floor of Canopy Downtown, with wood-fired steaks and house pastas served until late.
Signature: Wood-fired steaks, House pastas
Order: Wood-fired bone-in ribeye with whatever pasta is on the daily list.
Tip: Kitchen runs late by Memphis standards (until 23:00 Fri-Sat). The bar takes walk-ins; the dining room books on OpenTable.
Sunrise Memphis on Jefferson Avenue downtown is a colourful quick-serve diner running Southern breakfast and lunch with a full bar daily 07:00-14:00.
Signature drink: Drip coffee with biscuits
Tip: The shotgun building fills fast at 09:00. The Rooster biscuit sammy is the dark-horse order.
Makeda's Homemade Butter Cookies on Jefferson Avenue downtown Memphis is the family bakery famous for the cookies Young Dolph was buying when he was killed.
Tip: Two Memphis locations (Jefferson Avenue and Airways). The sweet potato pie sells out fastest.
Worth the queue: Butter cookies
Chez Philippe inside the Peabody Hotel in Memphis runs a French-classics-led wine list, Champagne flights and a formal pre-dinner pour program at the bar.
Signature pour: Vintage Champagne by the glass
Wine focus: French classics, Champagne
Food: Tasting menu plates
Tip: The lobby Peabody Bar is the easy seat for a Champagne flight before dinner upstairs.
Bardog Tavern on Monroe Avenue downtown Memphis is a long, dark dive with red-brick walls, sliders and subs, and downtown's earliest weekday breakfast.
Signature drink: Bardog sliders and a beer
Food: Italian sandwiches, sliders
Tip: Late kitchen until 02:00 most nights. The Tuesday night $5 Soup of the Day is a Memphis classic.
Hu. Roof sits on the 17th floor of the Hu. Hotel on Madison Avenue downtown Memphis with panoramic Mississippi River views and the city's only all-season.
Signature drink: Whiskey and ginger
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Sunset views west of the Mississippi River are the draw. Reserve a window seat in advance.
B.B. King's Blues Club at 143 Beale Street in Memphis is the flagship of the B.B. Located in Downtown. Order the beer and pulled-pork sandwich.
Signature drink: Beer and pulled-pork sandwich
Food: Southern menu
Tip: Cover charge after 19:00 most nights. Sit upstairs for an easier view of the bandstand.
Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis has run live blues seven nights a week since 1985, with over 200 autographed guitars hanging from the ceiling.
Signature drink: Beer and ribs
Food: Cajun-Southern
Tip: Live blues from 19:00 nightly. The Beale Street Flippers usually take a stage break at 22:00.
Mr. Handy's Blues Hall on Beale Street in Memphis is the only original juke joint left on the strip, a tiny no-frills room with live blues and Beale's rawest.
Signature drink: Beer
Food: None
Tip: Tipping the band keeps the music going. The room holds maybe 40 people. Get there early.
Old Dominick Distillery on South Front Street downtown Memphis runs tours, cocktails and a tasting room from a restored 50,000-square-foot industrial space.
Signature drink: Memphis Toddy
Food: Light bar plates
Tip: Book the tour and tasting on the website; walk-ins welcome at the cocktail bar.
Maciel's Tortas and Tacos on South Main downtown Memphis runs handmade tortas with telera bread, tacos al pastor and house aguas frescas. At 45 S Main St.
Try: Tacos and tortas
Tip: Closed Sundays. The Midtown branch at 820 Cooper runs the same menu and the same lines.
The Rendezvous downtown Memphis serves a cheese and sausage starter that locals order before the dry-rub ribs. Open tue-sat 11:00-21:00. At 52 S 2nd St.
Try: Cheese and sausage plate
Tip: Order it as a pre-meal snack at the bar while you wait for a table downstairs.
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken on South Front Street is the city's defining counter-service fried chicken, a Mason-born spice-crusted bird on butcher paper.
Try: Spicy fried chicken plate
Tip: Lunch line moves; dinner can be an hour on weekends. Three-piece dark plate is the order.
Wiseacre Brewing's downtown Memphis flagship on BB King Boulevard is a 40,000-square-foot brewery with 30 beers on tap and the in-house Little Bettie pizza.
Tip: Cash-free taproom; card only. Take the Tiny Bomb pilsner to the patio first.
Miss Cordelia's in Harbor Town on Mud Island in downtown Memphis is the neighbourhood grocer, with local produce, sandwiches and a small wine and beer.
Tip: Sandwiches made to order. Cross the Mud Island bridge from downtown; takes 15 minutes.
Tastin' 'Round Town's Taste of Downtown Memphis tour walks visitors through downtown stops over three hours, with samples like BBQ nachos, duck fried rice.
Tip: Tours run Monday to Friday with two slots: 11:00-14:00 or 14:00-17:00. Around 3,500 steps walked.
Tastin' 'Round Town's Memphis BBQ Tastin' Food Tour walks through downtown BBQ rooms over four hours, sampling dry-rubbed and saucy ribs, pulled pork.
Tip: Monday to Friday, 14:00-18:00 departure. Around 6,500 steps walked.
Tastin' 'Round Town's Split-Decision Food Tour is a Saturday-only chef-guided walk through the Beale Street area, sampling Memphis BBQ alongside.
Tip: Saturdays 13:00-16:30 only. Around 5,000 steps walked; comfortable shoes essential.
Memphis Sounds of Soul Food Tour pairs downtown soul food stops with the city's music history, walking Beale Street and Main Street with five tastings.
Tip: Tours run Tue-Sat 11:00 and 14:00; book a week ahead for Saturday slots.
City Brew Tours runs an all-inclusive Memphis brewery tour visiting three or four local breweries from a Memphis pool that includes Wiseacre, Crosstown.
Tip: Picks up at hotels downtown. Buy tickets at least 48 hours ahead. The tour pours up to 16 beers with a paired meal or hors d'oeuvres.
Africa in April Cultural Awareness Festival in Memphis runs each April at Robert R Church Park downtown, with food vendors, a parade and music spotlighting.
Tip: Free admission. The food tent area gets busy by 13:00; arrive at 11:00 for first-out plates.
The Cooking Cottage in downtown Memphis is a private cooking school running themed Southern, knife-skills and date-night classes for 12 people in a converted.
Tip: Book groups in advance; private parties take the whole kitchen for the night.
Cozymeal Memphis runs small-group hands-on cooking classes led by vetted local chefs, with pasta-making, Southern comfort, Mediterranean and date-night.
Tip: Pasta-making and Mediterranean Greek mezze are the booked-up favorites; reserve at least a week ahead. The exact venue is provided after booking.
Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken on South Front Street downtown Memphis runs the city's cheap fried chicken plate, three-piece dark with sides under $15.
Try: Three-piece dark meat plate
Order: Three-piece dark meat plate with fried pickles and slaw.
Tip: Lunch line moves fast; dinner can run an hour. No reservations.
Maciel's Tortas and Tacos on South Main downtown Memphis runs handmade tortas with telera bread and tacos al pastor under $13 from a quick counter-service.
Try: Tacos and tortas
Order: Cubana torta and tacos al pastor with aguas frescas.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The Midtown branch at 820 Cooper runs the same menu.
Sunrise Memphis on Jefferson Avenue downtown is a quick-serve diner running Southern breakfast and a full bar daily 07:00-14:00. Open daily 07:00-14:00.
Order: The Rooster biscuit sammy with a side of grits.
Tip: Lines from 09:00 on weekends. The biscuit sammies and the Best Omelette are the regular orders.
Bardog Tavern on Monroe Avenue downtown Memphis runs sliders, Italian subs and beer until 03:00 daily, with downtown's most reliable late kitchen.
Try: Sliders and Italian subs
Order: Sliders and a cold beer at 01:00.
Tip: Kitchen runs late most nights to 02:00. Tuesday $5 soup of the day is a local rite.
B.B. King's Blues Club at 143 Beale Street in Memphis is the flagship of the B.B. King chain, with the Beale Street Allstars in residence and live blues.
Tip: Cover charge after 19:00 most nights. Sit upstairs for an easier view of the bandstand.
Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street in Memphis runs live blues seven nights since 1985, with over 200 autographed guitars hanging from the ceiling.
Tip: Live blues from 19:00 nightly. The Beale Street Flippers usually take a stage break at 22:00.
Mr. Handy's Blues Hall on Beale Street in Memphis is the only original juke joint left on the strip, a tiny no-frills room with live blues and the rawest.
Tip: Tipping the band keeps the music going. The room holds maybe 40 people; get there early.
Alfred's on Beale at 197 Beale St in Memphis is a long-running Beale Street music venue and bar with rooftop patio, live blues and bands and a kitchen.
Tip: Cover charge on weekend nights. The rooftop patio is the seat on warm evenings; live music from 21:00.
Purple Haze Nightclub in downtown Memphis on Lt George W Lee Avenue runs the city's largest dance floor, with DJ nights, hip-hop and R&B until 03:00.
Tip: Friday and Saturday peak. Bottle service on the upper levels.
Paula and Raiford's Disco at 14 S 2nd St in downtown Memphis is the city's most-loved 1970s-style disco, mirror balls, vinyl and the Raiford family hosting.
Tip: Open Thursday to Saturday. Cash bar; arrive after 23:00 for the right crowd.
Hu. Roof on the 17th floor of the Hu. Hotel downtown Memphis runs occasional DJ nights with Mississippi River views and a small dance floor for hotel-bar.
Tip: DJ sets run on select Friday and Saturday evenings; check the venue calendar in advance.
Hu. Roof sits on the 17th floor of the Hu. Hotel on Madison Avenue downtown Memphis with panoramic Mississippi River views, the city's only all-season.
Tip: Sunset views west of the Mississippi River are the draw. Reserve a window seat ahead.
The rooftop bar at the Hyatt Centric Memphis on South Main has Mississippi River sunset views and a small cocktail menu, popular with hotel guests and South.
Tip: Book a sunset table on OpenTable for prime hour. Light bar menu, cocktails by reputation.
The Westin Memphis Beale Street Rooftop on Lt George W Lee Avenue downtown runs a hotel rooftop bar with a Mississippi River view and a small cocktail menu.
Tip: Open seasonally May to September. Hotel guests get priority access; walk-ins fine when not full.
Old Dominick Distillery on South Front Street downtown Memphis runs distillery tours, cocktails and a dimly-lit tasting room in a restored 50,000-square-foot.
Tip: Book the tour and tasting in advance. Cocktail bar walk-ins fine.
Mollie Fontaine Lounge in the Victorian Village in downtown Memphis is a small craft cocktail bar in an 1886 mansion with red velvet walls, jazz piano nights.
Tip: Open Thursday to Saturday. Jazz piano runs from 20:00 most weekends.
Bardog Tavern on Monroe Avenue downtown Memphis is a long, dark dive with red-brick walls, sliders and Italian subs, plus downtown's earliest weekday.
Tip: Kitchen runs late most nights. Tuesday $5 soup of the day is a local rite.
Itta Bena is a hidden upstairs late-night room above B.B. King's on Beale Street in Memphis, named for the Mississippi town B.B. King was born.
Tip: Open daily 17:00-22:00. The unmarked Second Street door is the easy entrance.