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 at 07:30.
Food program: Italian sandwiches, sliders
Tip: Late kitchen until 02:00 most nights. The Tuesday night $5 Soup of the Day is a Memphis classic.
Address: 73 Monroe Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
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 rooftop.
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.
The Cove on Broad Avenue in Memphis is a pirate-themed oyster bar with a Sazerac on the menu, a wood pirate-ship bar and live music on weekends in the back room.
Signature drink: Sazerac
Food: Oysters and small plates
Tip: Oyster happy hour kicks off at 17:00. The patio fills first on warm nights; the back has live music.
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 rooftop.
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.
Lamplighter Lounge on Madison Avenue in midtown Memphis is the city's defining smoke-stained dive bar, with cheap beer, a pool table and a relentlessly local crowd.
Signature drink: Beer and a shot
Food: None
Tip: Cash preferred. No food. The 03:00 close pulls everyone in midtown when other bars shut.
Loflin Yard on West Carolina Avenue in downtown Memphis is a two-acre beer garden with three outdoor bars, fire pits, a creek and house-smoked BBQ on long tables.
Signature drink: Mojito on draft
Food: House-smoked BBQ and small plates
Tip: The yard runs live music weekends. Game nights and big groups fill the firepit seats first.
Carolina Watershed in South Main downtown Memphis is a bar inside four fluted-metal grain silos with a round building, a terraced patio and two outdoor waterfalls.
Signature drink: Frozen cocktails
Food: Southern bar plates
Tip: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The frozen drink list is fizzy and Instagrammable.
Young Avenue Deli in Cooper-Young Memphis runs over 100 beers, a deep tap list with 30-plus drafts, deli sandwiches and a live-music back room since 1995.
Signature drink: Wiseacre Tiny Bomb on draft
Food: Deli sandwiches
Tip: The patio is the seat in spring. Live music most weekends; check the calendar online.
