Earnestine and Hazel's on South Main downtown Memphis runs Soul Burgers and a jukebox until 03:00 daily, a former brothel and pharmacy and the city's defining late-night dive.
Tip: Cash works fastest. Upstairs the old brothel rooms run quiet most nights.
Address: 531 S Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Bardog Tavern on Monroe Avenue downtown Memphis is a long, dark dive with red-brick walls, sliders and Italian subs, plus downtown's earliest weekday breakfast at 07:30.
Tip: Kitchen runs late most nights. Tuesday $5 soup of the day is a local rite.
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.
Tip: Cash preferred. No food; the 03:00 close draws midtown when other bars shut.
The Cove on Broad Avenue in Memphis is a pirate-themed late-night oyster bar with a wood pirate-ship bar and live music in the back, open Tuesday to Sunday until late.
Tip: Oyster happy hour 17:00. Live music most weekends. Closed Mondays.
Young Avenue Deli in Cooper-Young Memphis runs cold beer, deli sandwiches and live music until 03:00 daily, the city's defining late-night beer and sandwich room.
Tip: Late kitchen until 02:00 most nights. Live music in the back room weekends.
Itta Bena is a hidden upstairs late-night room above B.B. King's on Beale Street in Memphis, named for the Mississippi town B.B. King was born in, with Southern dishes.
Tip: Open daily 17:00 to 22:00. The unmarked Second Street door is the easy entrance.
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 live blues seven nights a week.
Tip: Cover charge after 19:00 most nights. Sit upstairs for an easier view of the bandstand.