The rooms worth a reservation in Memphis, from neighbourhood bistros to the new classics.
The restaurants worth the trip in Memphis. bistros, neo-classics, neighbourhood favourites, and the rooms locals book first.
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen runs Italian cooking rooted in Southern ingredients from East Memphis since 2008.
Signature: Maw Maw's gnocchi, House-made pastas
Order: Maw Maw's potato gnocchi with red sugo, a recipe from Hudman's grandmother.
Tip: Open Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. Reserve on Resy two weeks out; the bar takes walk-ins.
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's downtown Memphis room pairs Tuscan and Sicilian grandmother cooking with Southern ingredients in the Chisca on Main building.
Signature: House-made pastas, Wood-roasted plates
Order: Whatever pasta they are rolling that night, plus the wood-roasted whole fish.
Tip: Booth seats in the bar mean walk-in dinner on most weeknights; the dining room books two weeks out on Resy.
Ticer and Hudman's wood-fired pizza and charcuterie room in East Memphis runs a Southern-Italian playbook on a covered Brookhaven Circle patio since 2012.
Signature: Wood-fired pizzas, House charcuterie
Order: The pizza of the night and a board of house salumi.
Tip: Brunch on Sundays runs until 14:00 with biscuits, ricotta and bacon-fat doughnuts. Patio first.
Chef Kelly English's Restaurant Iris in Memphis moved to Poplar Avenue in 2022 with a tighter menu of New Orleans Creole built on Mississippi seafood.
Signature: Crawfish and grits, Pork belly
Order: Crawfish and grits with andouille; a Sazerac to start.
Tip: Lunch service was added with the move; the four-course tasting menu is the steady bet at dinner.
Karen Carrier's Cooper-Young Memphis room sits inside a 1940s beauty salon where Priscilla Presley once did her hair, open since 2002 with a globe-trotting menu.
Signature: Watermelon and wings, Pho
Order: Watermelon wings with feta and the Vietnamese pho.
Tip: Saturday brunch fills the booths fast. Sit at the bar for a faster meal under the dryer hoods.
The Four Way is Memphis's defining Black-owned soul food room on Mississippi Boulevard since 1946. Martin Luther King Jr. ate here; the walls show the guests.
Signature: Fried chicken, Smothered turkey wings
Order: Smothered turkey wings, collard greens, mac and cheese, sweet potato pie.
Tip: Open Wednesday to Saturday for lunch only, 11:00 to 17:00. Cash and card both fine.
Betty Joyce Chester-Tamayo's Pinch District Memphis soul food room has run fried chicken, collards and a hug at the door for over twenty years.
Signature: Fried chicken, Ghetto Aid
Order: Fried chicken plate with greens and yams; ask for a Ghetto Aid.
Tip: Counter service, cash preferred. B.J. greets every table; the experience is half the meal.
Charlie Vergos's basement Memphis BBQ room off Second Street has served charcoal-broiled dry-rub ribs since 1948. The signature rub is sold by the bag.
Signature: Charcoal-broiled dry-rub pork ribs, Cheese and sausage plate
Order: Full slab of ribs, dry, with the cheese and sausage plate and a pitcher.
Tip: Enter through the alley off Monroe; closed Sunday and Monday. They cook ribs over charcoal, not in a smoker; dry-rub purists call it grilled.
Central BBQ Downtown in Memphis runs the city's most reliable dry-rub ribs and pulled pork from a casual counter across from the National Civil Rights Museum.
Signature: Dry-rub pork ribs, Pulled pork sandwich
Order: Half slab of dry ribs with a smoked turkey sandwich on the side.
Tip: Lines from noon to 14:00; order online and pick up at the express counter to skip the queue.
Raymond Robinson's North Parkway Memphis BBQ joint has smoked Cornish hens, bologna and ribs over hickory in a one-room shack since 1977. Idiosyncratic, brilliant.
Signature: Smoked Cornish hen, Bologna sandwich
Order: Smoked Cornish hen with the slab.
Tip: Closed Sundays and Mondays. Cash works best; the bologna sandwich is worth ordering even if you came for ribs.
Frank and Hazel Vernon's Madison Avenue Memphis BBQ room invented BBQ spaghetti and has run dry-rub and wet ribs from a wood-pit smoker since 1987.
Signature: BBQ spaghetti, Dancing Pigs ribs
Order: Half slab of dry ribs with a side of BBQ spaghetti.
Tip: Closed Sundays and Mondays. The Dancing Pigs sauce ships nationally if you want to keep the meal going.
Payne's Lamar Avenue Memphis BBQ counter has run chopped pork sandwiches and mustard slaw out of a converted gas station since 1972. Locals' top chopped pork.
Signature: Chopped pork sandwich, Slaw with mustard
Order: Chopped pork sandwich, mustard slaw, fizzy red drink.
Tip: Lunch only, Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 to 17:30. Cash preferred and the line moves fast.
The Memphis flagship of Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken on South Front Street downtown runs spicy crisp birds from a tin-roof shack, the chain's 2001 original.
Signature: Spicy fried chicken, Fried pickles
Order: Three-piece dark meat plate with fried pickles and slaw.
Tip: Counter service, no reservations. Lunch line moves; dinner can run an hour during weekends.
Soul Fish Cafe's Cooper-Young Memphis original on South Cooper runs fried Mississippi catfish, hush puppies and Gambino-bread po'boys daily.
Signature: Fried catfish, Po'boys
Order: Catfish basket with hush puppies and turnip greens.
Tip: Counter service. The shrimp po'boy is the second-best order; sit on the patio when it cools.
Itta Bena is a hidden upstairs Memphis dining room above B.B. King's on Beale Street, named for the Mississippi town King was born in. Southern, white tablecloths.
Signature: Shrimp and grits, Catfish
Order: Mississippi catfish with shrimp and grits.
Tip: Enter through the unmarked Second Street door or a private hall inside B.B. King's. Reservations open on OpenTable.
Char Restaurant in East Memphis on Highland Street runs USDA prime steaks, crab cakes and a piano bar in a polished modern Southern steakhouse format.
Signature: Prime steaks, Crab cakes
Order: Char's prime filet with the crab cake starter.
Tip: Saturday and Sunday brunch from 10:30; the piano bar starts at 18:30 most weekday nights.
Mortimer's East Memphis neighbourhood room near Walnut Grove has run pub burgers, Greek salads and bread pudding since 1985 at Perkins and Walnut Grove.
Signature: Cheeseburger, Bread pudding
Order: Cheeseburger with onion rings; bread pudding for dessert.
Tip: Open weekdays from 11:00; the bar fills with regulars at 17:00 and the back patio is the seat to grab.
Tug's Casual Grill anchors the Harbor Town neighbourhood on Mud Island in Memphis with a wide riverside patio, burgers and Mississippi catfish dinners.
Signature: Catfish dinner, Burgers
Order: Catfish dinner with hush puppies; sit on the patio at sunset.
Tip: Wednesday is half-price burger night. The walk from downtown across the Auction Avenue bridge takes 15 minutes.
Coastal Fish Company sits on Hyde Lake in Shelby Farms Park in Memphis with day-boat oysters, grilled fish and a long sunset patio over the water. Opened 2019.
Signature: Day-boat oysters, Grilled snapper
Order: Half-dozen oysters and the whole grilled snapper.
Tip: Sunset tables face the lake; reserve at least a week out for Saturday dinner on OpenTable.
Jose Magallanes's family Memphis-area taqueria in Germantown has run tortas, al pastor and braised meats from a strip-mall counter since 2002.
Signature: Tacos al pastor, Tortas
Order: Tacos al pastor with house guacamole; add the cochinita pibil torta if available.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The Poplar Avenue East Memphis branch at 6300 Poplar runs the same menu if Germantown is full.
Curfew is Fabio Viviani's Union Avenue Memphis room on the ground floor of Canopy Downtown, with wood-fired steaks and house pastas served until late.
Signature: Wood-fired steaks, House pastas
Order: Wood-fired bone-in ribeye with whatever pasta is on the daily list.
Tip: Kitchen runs late by Memphis standards (until 23:00 Fri-Sat). The bar takes walk-ins; the dining room books on OpenTable.
Dave and Amanda Krog's Brookhaven Circle Memphis room Dory moved from tasting-only to a full a la carte menu in 2024, with ambitious New American cooking.
Signature: Daily catch, Tasting plates
Order: Whatever the chef sends as the catch of the day.
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday dinner only; reservations on the website fill out weeks ahead for Saturdays.
Belle Meade Social is a Perkins Extended East Memphis bar and restaurant pouring craft cocktails and serving modern American steaks and salads, opened 2023.
Signature: Wood-grilled steaks, Craft cocktails
Order: Bone-in ribeye, dry martini, the seasonal salad.
Tip: Sunday brunch starts at 11:00; the bar takes walk-ins on weeknights and the patio is the seat in spring.
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.