Railgarten on Central Avenue in midtown Memphis is an outdoor entertainment complex with three bars, live music stages, ping pong tables and a beer garden by the rail line.
Tip: Live music most weekends. The Central Avenue patio fills at 18:00; covered seats with a roof.
Address: 2166 Central Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
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.
Art Bar at Crosstown Arts in Memphis runs occasional listening nights with curated vinyl and live acoustic sets, paired with natural wine and small plates in the Crosstown space.
Tip: Listening nights are scheduled; check the Crosstown Arts calendar. Closed Sundays.
Loflin Yard on West Carolina Avenue in South Main runs an outdoor stage in the beer garden with acoustic music sets on weekends, a covered terrace and creek-side seating.
Tip: Live music most Saturdays from 20:00. Free to enter; check the calendar online.
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.
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.