31. The P&H Café
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 726-0906
Address: 1532 Madison Avenue
Description: The quintessential midtown bar, the P&H (aka “Poor and Hungry”) seems to be everybody’s most beloved watering hole, with idiosyncratic local cartoons, photos, and such lining the walls and ceilings. There’s also first-rate people watching, cheap beer, and pub grub, and the bar’s outrageous proprietress, local celebrity Wanda Wilson. The P&H is the favorite hangout of the local theater crowd. Lately, there has been a lot more live music by local acts. No liquor is served here; it’s strictly a beer joint.
32. R.P. Tracks
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 327-1471
Address: 3547 Walker Avenue
Description: This bar and grill, named after the railroad tracks adjacent to it, serves traditional pub grub and vegetarian and vegan options like a BBQ tofu sandwich, to businessmen during lunch. They also have an extensive menu of shooters and imported beer. Since it’s so close to the University of Memphis, the place becomes packed with students. You can hang out on the train car–inspired patio or at the pool tables. There is an electronic trivia machine inside. But don’t get too distracted: Every time you hear a train go by, shots are $1 off.
33. Side Street Grill
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 274-8955
Address: 35 South Florence Street
Description: This bar in midtown’s Overton Square neighborhood specializes in martinis and other festive cocktails and features a nice outdoor patio with umbrellas, wrought iron, and magnolia trees. Side Street is cigar friendly and employs a powerful fan to keep the indoor air relatively clean. If you’re hungry, you can get a tasty and substantial steak or salmon dinner here for less than $15. Be sure to check out its Red Bar, which has more of a cocktail-lounge feel. Open until 3:00 a.m. on weekends. No cover.
34. Yosemite Sam’S
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 278-3123
Address: 2126 Madison Avenue
Description: This tavern, on Overton Square, has a casual and rustic atmosphere and Friday and Saturday nights are all about karaoke. If you’re not a fan of singing, you can play darts, air hockey, or pool or just enjoy your drink with some pretty good bar food while you watch the sometimes talented but always entertaining performers.
35. Young Avenue Deli
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 278-0034
Address: 2119 Young Avenue
Description: This large bar/restaurant/club in the bohemian Cooper-Young neighborhood rivals the Hi-Tone as midtown’s best music venue. The sound isn’t as good and the atmosphere isn’t as intimate as its crosstown rival, but the bar is bigger and better stocked; the music lineup, both in terms of local and national acts, is similar; and the pool tables are more plentiful at what Memphians just refer to as “the Deli.” The crowd at the Deli tends to be fairly college oriented, and the bar has a reputation as a choice, laid-back meat market even when there isn’t a band playing. The Deli also serves up outstanding french fries and a menu of filling sandwiches.
36. Zinnie’S East
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 274-7101
Address: 1718 Madison Avenue
Description: Zinnie’s East has been a laid-back hangout in midtown Memphis for more than 15 years. This popular bar and grill features live music in its upstairs Full Moon Club and a menu of steaks, salads, and sandwiches, including the off-beat “Zinnie-loney,” made with a thick hand-cut slice of blackened baloney. Zinnie’s has a great front deck, where you can watch the world go by during nice weather. It’s a mixed crowd, depending on when you visit, and it stays open late. The larger Zinnie’s East is actually a satellite of the original Zinnie’s, just a few doors west at the corner of Belvedere. Old Zinnie’s, as everyone calls this basic neighborhood bar, attracts a somewhat younger crowd of 20-somethings and students. Open every day.
37. The Bottom Line
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 755-2481
Address: 1817 Kirby Parkway
Description: This no-frills local hangout, north of Poplar, which has been around for more than 25 years, caters to a yuppie crowd in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. There’s live music Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Lunch and dinner are served, and a happy hour goes from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. It’s a good place to take in a University of Memphis basketball game or just hang out amid the dark wood and memorabilia.
38. The Grove Grill
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 818-9951
Address: 4550 Poplar Avenue
Description: The bar at the Grove Grill, attracting well-dressed professionals of all ages, is one of the hippest places in East Memphis to get a martini or other cocktail. Happy hour is very popular, and you can order the usual array of cocktails and beer as well as fine single-malt scotch and wines from the restaurant’s wine list. It’s a good-looking cherry-wood bar, with walls painted in soothing colors. It can get crowded, though, with a combination of bar customers and people waiting for tables at the restaurant. You don’t have to go to the restaurant to sample Grove Grill’s well-regarded cuisine. Just order fresh oysters, appetizers, or other delectables at the bar. It’s situated in the back of Laurelwood Shopping Center near Davis-Kidd Booksellers.
39. Huey’S
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Description: In recent years this popular local burger chain has opened additional locations in East Memphis, Cordova, and other suburbs, all of which feature free live music on Sunday evenings.
40. Java Cabana
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 272-7210
Address: 2170 Young Avenue
Description: This homey, bohemian hangout in midtown’s Cooper-Young neighborhood has been around since 1992, with live music on many evenings and a comfortable atmosphere for reading and conversation. Every Thursday night there’s an open-mike poetry reading, featuring local writers and sometimes visiting poets, a Java Cabana fixture since it first opened. Listen to a variety of live music on Friday and Saturday nights—folk, jazz, flamenco—and an all-jazz show on Sunday nights. Java Cabana serves up coffee and espresso drinks as well as homemade desserts and sandwiches. There is free Wi-Fi. Open until 10:00 p.m. during the week and until midnight on weekends. Not wheelchair accessible.
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Address: 641 South Cooper Street
42. The Precious Cargo Exchange
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 578-8446
Address: 381 North Main Street
Description: There’s something going on just about every night at this colorful, artsy north Main Street cafe, from poetry readings to reggae to Sunday gospel brunch. The cafe’s owners see this as a haven for visual and performing artists and for people who enjoy their work. Situated at the corner of Overton Avenue near the Pyramid Arena, Precious Cargo serves coffees and espresso drinks as well as salads, desserts, and its special Jamaican jerk chicken. The colorfully painted walls are hung with local artists’ work, and there’s a chess game going most of the time. Precious Cargo serves beer, but it’s BYOB for harder stuff. Open until midnight every night, with extended hours on weekends.
43. Starbucks Coffee
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Description: Memphis has not been immune to the ubiquity of Starbucks, and you can find them all over the city and at the airport. They have all the familiar coffee and tea drinks, and most have both attractive seating areas and drive-through windows for to-go orders. For the location nearest you, check the Web site. If you’re looking for Starbucks downtown, it’s hidden away in Peabody Place Mall at 150 Peabody Place.
44. Fedexforum
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 205-2525
Address: 191 Beale Street
Description: Although it’s primarily the home for the Memphis Grizzlies NBA basketball team, FedExForum hosts major concerts and speakers as well. The five-story arena can accommodate as many as 19,000 for a concert and has plenty of amenities, including on-site parking and state-of-the-art audio and video systems.
45. Mud Island River Park Amphitheater
City: Memphis, TN
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (901) 576-7241, (800) 507-6507
Address: 125 North Front Street
Description: When there is a performance here, you can enjoy a river view along with the entertainment on the stage. Each summer Mud Island River Park hosts “Sleep out on the Mississippi”—a camping night—on the second Friday of the month, and the park’s amphitheater features various pop music concerts and cultural events. From the entrance on Front Street, you take the tram across the river to Mud Island.