You’re in the South now. Enjoy regional specialities like the Slaw Dog, Meat and Three, Fried Chicken and BBQ! Enjoy Grims snacks such as Sweet and Tangy BBQ chips, available at stores throughout the area complete with bible verses on the back.
Memphis, TN
My Quick Memphis List.
- See Graceland, Crystal Shrine Grotto at the Memphis memorial Garden (Isaac Hayes, Jay Reatard, Sun records founded Sam Phillips buried here), Stax Museum, Aretha Franklins Birthplace
2. Fried Chicken at Gus Fried Chicken which is normal and the sides delicious, and Uncle Lous which dips in a sauce called Sweet Spicy Love but the sides are not great. The Cashsaver grocery store has great fried chicken too which is nuts. Update: Gus is now a chain and Memphis now has a branch of Hattie B’s for delicious Nashville Hot Chicken.
3. Get a baloney sandwich, pulled pork sandwich and some tamales at Paynes BBQ which has neon green relish.
4. Get ribs from Central BBQ or the BBQ shop. Get them “half dry/half Wet”. Lots of folks will tell you to go to rendezvous, but they are cooked over charcoal and I think they suck coz they are dry and burnt.
5. Get a soul burger from Ernestine and Hazels, near the civil rights museum. Take a walk upstairs at E & H if you can. This is right near the Civil Rights Museum.
6. Get a greek burger and lots of drinks at Alexs Tavern.
- Get a burger deep fried in 100 year old grease at Dyers Burgers
- See the Memphis Jazz Orchestra 6pm-9pm Sundays at Alfreds on Beale, a 27 piece band with a 21 piece horn section. FREE TOO!
- Party and/or see bands at Hi Tone, DKDC or Murphys
- Get Tamales from the Hatties Tamales trailer at the appliance store parking lot. Find it on Facebook. Not to be confused with Hattie B’s Hot Chicken.
11-go to Arcade-biggest breakfasts in Memphis.540 S. Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103
12. Go to Goner records-2152 Young Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 , 901.722.0095 has Goner records has great music and hosts Goner fest
13. Visit the Bass Pro Shop in the Giant Pyramid
The Local Alternative Weekly for Memphis is the Memphis Flyer. The tourist info page has music listings. Listings of blues clubs. Best of Memphis. Kinda Dated Club listing at Whats Happening.
Live Music-
Hi Tone -412 N Cleveland Memphis, TN 38104-Home of Gonerfest and has two band rooms usually.
B-Side Memphis-1555 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104-new small venue on the next block down from Murphys.
Growlers- 1913 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 278-8663-old location of the Hi Tone, now a sports bar with occasional bands.
New Daisy Theater-330 Beale Street, Memphis, TN 38103.
Bars-
Bar DKDC – 964 Cooper St, Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 272-0830-Small place with occasional live music or soul parties and a hipster menu including a hubcap burger.
Murphy’s -1589 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN 38104 MEMPHIS, TN 38104. 901-726-4193. Indoor outdoor bar that doesn’t have many shows these days.. Very close to BBQ shop and the price chopper supermarket across the street has great cheap fried chicken
Eats: A & R Bar-b-q -1802 Elvis Presley Blvd. Memphis TN (901)774-7444-another storefront BBQ stand in a faded commercial strip, this place has sweet sauces and beans.
Charlie Vergos Rendezvous -52 S 2nd St Memphis TN (901) 523-2746. Large space off an alley. Ribs are the specialty, served Memphis style, that is, dry rubbed with sauce on the side. (Note-I dont like this one but many do. I despise it and DO NOT recommend it. This place and Corkys have the same style, burnt over charcoal)
Coletta’s Pizza, Home of the BBQ pizza, 1063 S. Parkway East-Memphis, TN 38106, (901) 948-7652, one of Elvis’s favorite foods, bbq pizza started here. Pizza with cheese and bbq sauce topped with pulled pork.
Cozy Corner -745 N Parkway, Memphis, TN (901) 527-9158 at Danny Thomas Boulevard-another great rib joint with Dry rubbed ribs and a great bbq Baloney sandwich
Gus’ Fried Chicken- 310 South Front Street, Memphis, TN 38103 , 901-294-2028-Now a Chain.
The Cupboard, 1400 Union Ave., Memphis, TN (901) 276-8015, catfish, fried chicken, greens, fried green tomatoes.
Dyer’s Restaurant-205 Beale St. Memphis, TN (901)527-3937-specializing in deep fried hamburgers cooked in grease that contains elements from the first fried burger done over 50 years ago. I don’t know how to explain it, really, except to say that if you are a foodie, you must have one. Its not great, but you are eating history.
Huey’s burgers -1927 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN (901) 726-4372 & other locations. Said to be the best burger in town but these are not the type of burgers enjoyed by trashytravel.
Jim Neely’s Interstate Barbecue- 2265 S 3rd St, Memphis, TN (901) 775-2304 at Mallory Avenue. BBQ baloney and spagetti mixed with pork and BBQ sauces, among traditional specialties. Much better than it sounds.
Paynes BBQ-1762 Lamar Avenue, Memphis-901-272-1523-The best BBQ sandwich and a Mind altering bbq Baloney sandwich, plus amazing delta tamales. The cole slaw here is made with hot mustard. If I could eat nothing else in Memphis, I would eat here.
Uncle Lous Fried Chicken-3633 Millbranch Rd., Memphis, TN 38116-in a strip mall near the airport, this place makes a secret fried chicken coating, then dips it in hot sauce
Arcade-biggest breakfasts in Memphis.540 S. Main Street, Memphis, TN 38103
Cozy Corner-745 North Parkway at Manassas, Memphis, TN ,-Highest reccomendation from roadfood.com. Best pork sandwich.
Elwoods Shack-4523 Summer Ave, Memphis, TN 38122-Hard to find shack behind a laundrymat on a super busy road with amazing ribs and mind blowing burgers, especially the patty melt. Second location coming to the Cooper Young area in late 2018.
Sweden Kream- 1472 National St, Memphis, TN 38122 (901) 454-5882-You will have the urge to drive right by this joint with amazing burgers and ice cream. Fantastic. Calling ahead is recommended
Record Stores-
Shangri-La, 1916 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38104
Goner Records-2152 Young Avenue Memphis, TN 38104 , 901.722.0095 has Goner records has great music and hosts Gonerfest http://www.goner-records.com/
Donuts-
Gibson’s – 760 Mount Moriah Rd, Memphis, TN 38117-· Open 24 hours (901) 682-8200
Must See-
Duh, Graceland-Elvis.com
Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, downtown Memphis, TN at the corner of historic Beale Street, and legendary Highway 61 (Third Street), also known as “Blues Highway”. The museum is located on the plaza of FedExForum Open daily, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Final museum admission at 6:15 p.m. Museum Holidays: Thanksgiving Day, eve and Day and New Year’s Day (901) 205-2526. $10.00 for adults -discounts available to AARP, AAA and military members
Stax Museum-Dedicated to the classic soul label.
Sun Records-706 Union Ave, Memphis, TN 38103-$14 dollars
Ardent Studios-2000 Madison Ave. Memphis, TN 38104-studios where 2 Big Star albums were recorded. The Kwik Chek market across the street has Korean food like Bi Bim Bop and a Bibimbop burger.
Hotels-
Hostel type-Pilgrim House, 1000 South Cooper St, Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 405-4414 email: pilgrimhouse06@yahoo.com $10-40 UBER-cheap, .. helping out with the hostel required.