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.
Food program: None
Tip: Tipping the band keeps the music going. The room holds maybe 40 people. Get there early.
Address: 174 Beale St, Memphis, TN 38103
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
