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.
Food program: Southern bar plates
Tip: Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. The frozen drink list is fizzy and Instagrammable.
Address: 141 E Carolina Ave, Memphis, TN 38126
Earnestine and Hazel's on South Main downtown Memphis is the city's defining dive, a former brothel and pharmacy with a jukebox, Soul Burgers and ghost lore.
Signature drink: Soul Burger and a beer
Food: Soul burgers
Tip: The Soul Burger is the bar food order. The upstairs is where the ghosts are said to live.
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.
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 a full Southern menu.
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 sound.
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.
Earnestine and Hazel's on South Main downtown Memphis is the city's defining dive, a former brothel and pharmacy with a jukebox, Soul Burgers and ghost lore.
Signature drink: Soul Burger and a beer
Food: Soul burgers
Tip: The Soul Burger is the bar food order. The upstairs is where the ghosts are said to live.
