Where to sit, sip and slow down in Memphis.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places Memphis lingers in over a cortado.
Otherlands Coffee Bar in Cooper-Young Memphis has run shabby-chic seating, full breakfast and bottomless drip coffee since 1995, with a side patio.
Signature drink: Drip coffee with Counter Culture beans
Tip: Sundays the brunch line stretches; weekday mornings are the easy seat.
French Truck Coffee at Crosstown Concourse in Memphis is the New Orleans roaster's flagship, with single-origin espresso and a co-working seat on the atrium.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso
Tip: Weekend mornings fill fast; sit at the high counter facing the atrium.
City and State on Broad Avenue in Memphis is a hybrid coffee shop and small-goods store, with pour-over from rotating local roasters and a curated retail wall.
Signature drink: Pour-over single-origin
Tip: The light back room is the work seat; the front counter is for grabbing and going.
Belltower Coffee on Highland Street near the University of Memphis is a tall converted bell-tower café with a honey-lavender latte and study-friendly loft seats.
Signature drink: Honey lavender latte
Tip: Tuesday to Sunday open until 18:00; the loft seats up top are the best spot to work.
French Truck Coffee Highland is the second Memphis branch of the New Orleans roaster on Highland Row near the University of Memphis with espresso, drip and pastry.
Signature drink: Espresso
Tip: Crowds run on student schedules; mid-mornings and afternoons are emptiest.
Sunrise Memphis on Jefferson Avenue downtown is a colourful quick-serve diner running Southern breakfast and lunch with a full bar daily 07:00 to 14:00.
Signature drink: Drip coffee with biscuits
Tip: The shotgun building fills fast at 09:00. The breakfast Po' Boy is the dark-horse order.
Brother Juniper's near the University of Memphis on Walker Avenue has run breakfasts in a tiny house behind a white picket fence for over 30 years. Lines form.
Signature drink: Drip coffee with omelettes
Tip: Tuesday to Sunday breakfast only; closes 13:00 weekdays, 12:30 Saturdays. Get there by 08:30.
Art Bar at Crosstown Arts in Memphis runs coffee by day and wine, beer and cocktails into the evening, doubling as a cafe and bar in the Crosstown Arts complex.
Signature drink: Espresso, wine by the glass
Tip: Closed Sundays. The afternoon switch from coffee to wine happens around 16:00.
Cxffeeblack in Memphis is Bartholomew Jones and Renata Henderson's coffee roaster and cafe with an Ethiopia-direct supply chain, serving single-origin pour-overs.
Signature drink: Ethiopia single-origin
Tip: The roastery doubles as the retail cafe; weekend hours are limited so check the site.
Vice and Virtue Coffee on South Main inside the Arrive Hotel in Memphis runs a micro-batch roaster, pour-over coffee and pastry from a sun-flooded lobby cafe.
Signature drink: Pour-over
Tip: Cooler and quieter on weekday afternoons; the long counter doubles as workspace.
Belltower Coffee's Cooper-Young Memphis branch on South Cooper runs the signature honey-lavender latte and pastries from a small bright storefront opened in 2023.
Signature drink: Iced honey lavender latte
Tip: Less crowded than the Highland flagship; a great between-meal stop in Cooper-Young.
Java Cabana on Young Avenue in Cooper-Young Memphis is the city's longest-running indie coffeehouse, open since 1992 with poetry slams, Elvis kitsch and big cups.
Signature drink: Espresso
Tip: Open until 22:00 most nights; the late-evening crowd is regulars and writers.
Peak food season in Memphis is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Memphis rewards trust.