Lamplighter Lounge is a bar in Midtown, Memphis.
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.
Editorially verified May 21, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Food program: None
Tip: Cash preferred. No food. The 03:00 close pulls everyone in midtown when other bars shut.
Address: 1702 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
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.
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.
Bar Hustle on South Main inside Arrive Hotel Memphis is an intimate cocktail bar with a wall of vinyl, seasonal drinks like the Riverfront Spritz.
Signature drink: Riverfront Spritz
Food: Roman-Detroit sourdough pizza and sandwiches from Hustle and Dough
Tip: Happy hour runs 16:00-18:00 daily. The kitchen pulls Roman-Detroit hybrid pizza from a sourdough that ferments at Hustle and Dough across the lobby.
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. 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.
