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Zepol87

By Zepol87
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Brew

Brew 3049

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Memphis Made, High Cotton, and Wise Acre are the best of the breweries to hit up.

You may as well hit up Beale if it’s your first trip, it’s not what it once was but there are still some decent bars around.


You also have the Stax and Sun Studio tours as well as Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum if any of those are your thing.

If you want a decent burger and beer, find a Huey’s.

Edited by Brew
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mdleast

mdleast 8295

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I hit up Hattie B's Hot Chicken twice while passing through Memphis to and from Nashville this summer and it didn't disappoint (and without the crazy long lines I saw in Nashville).

 

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As others have mentioned, you also have Stax Records, Sun Studio, Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum and of which Stax was my personal favorite followed closely by Graceland (hey it's really unique if nothing else).

 

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TexasMan

TexasMan 10915

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Do not veer far from Beale Street. Once started walking southbound past the FedEx Forum, about 3 blocks down, a dude looking like the pimp in Vacation yelled at us from an intersection away. "What y'all doing here? This a ni***r neighborhood! You gon git SHOT!" 

But yea, The Pig has a good pulled pork sandwich. 

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Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12469

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Don't get the Memphis hate at all.  Went in '17 for the Liberty Bowl and had a blast.  It's a greasy shit hole in spots, but a lot of fun in others.  Driving between our Airbnb and the stadium it seemed like every block alternated between genteel mansions and bombed out third world shit.

Beale is fun, even if it's touristy.  Silky O'Sullivan's is a real good time, especially if the goats are out climbing in the trees.

Central is decent, but Gus's was far and away my favorite food there.  We gorged multiple nights on fried chicken and spicy greens after getting boozed up on Beale.

If you go to the original Central, the Lorraine Motel/Civil Rights museum is across the street.  It's a well done, and sobering experience.

I never had any concern for my safety whatsoever, but also always traveled with a fairly large group.

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CooterBrown

CooterBrown 18015

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Grab some tamales.  For real.  Mexican migrant introduced them in the early 1900s.  African Americans working beside them took a liking and turned them into soul food.  

The original Gus' is great.  It's way spicier and better than the toned down outlet in Austin.

Edited by CooterBrown
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Brew

Brew 3049

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10 hours ago, TexasMan said:

Do not veer far from Beale Street. Once started walking southbound past the FedEx Forum, about 3 blocks down, a dude looking like the pimp in Vacation yelled at us from an intersection away. "What y'all doing here? This a ni***r neighborhood! You gon git SHOT!" 

But yea, The Pig has a good pulled pork sandwich. 

Fed Ex is pretty much the end of Beale St at this point when walking from the river. It’s a 2-3 block stretch now. You are better off heading up 2nd or South Main. There is a Kooky Canuck and a Huey’s right there, a number of bars and restaurants, and Paula and Raiford’s Disco which is always interesting. High Cotton and Ghost River are right there as well as several of the museums mentioned above.

If it’s an early game I would go do one or two of the tours after, hit a brewery after that, and then end the night on Beale at Silky’s or one of the others right there or somewhere else through that area if you’ve never been and the weather is nice. If it’s shit weather, don’t bother.  There are plenty of nice restaraunts (Folk’s Folly being #1) that rank up there with anything in other cities, but I assume that’s not on your list of things to do.

For the record if you just hit up Beale, the airport, and the Liberty Bowl, you’ve pretty much seen the shittiest parts of Memphis all at once. 

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Viking

Viking 301

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I lived in Memphis for 8 years and still travel there regularly for business. I'll just echo some of the good suggestions made so far: Gus, Central bbq, Wiseacre. I'm not a fan of fried chicken but I fucking love Gus'. The original location downtown is by far the best. Just be prepared for really slow service. There's been a restaurant boom in Memphis in the last decade. Lots of really good food beyond bbq and fried chicken.

If you want a great steak then Folk's Folly is badass.

Los Tortugas Deli Mexicana is great. Get the torts and not the tacos.

Cooper-Young and Cooper-Madison have some good restaurants. Alchemy and Robata Ramen and Yakatori are good.

 

Kudos for no one recommending Rendezvouz. That place sucks.

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Al_4_ISU

Al_4_ISU 12469

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42 minutes ago, Zepol87 said:

I have spent plenty of time in unsafe cities, not really worried. Thanks for all the tips guys. 

@Al_4_ISU glad you chimed in as I will be in Davenport for 4 days before Memphis, not sure if there is anything worth a damn there either. 

I wouldn't call Davenport a destination, but it will likely exceed your assumed low expectations.

I don't get there a ton, but have been a few times.  Front Street Brewing downtown is a cool place, and the Village of East Davenport has some fun bars and a kind of a funky, quirky vibe.  11th Street Precinct and the Stockade are good bets as bars go.  Happy Joe's taco pizza is the Quad City culinary gift to the world, and pizza in general is pretty good there.  The Iowa Mississippi River towns have a completely different vibe than anywhere else in the state.  More eastern US/Rust Belt feel in their architecture, but they tend to be on the way back up.

Rock Island has a few good bars downtown as well, but in general the Illinois side of the Quad Cities is shittier than the Iowa side.

Edited by Al_4_ISU
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Brew

Brew 3049

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57 minutes ago, Don Johnson said:

Stay at Redneck Heaven

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Outside of the Westin, it’s actually probably one of the nicest most expensive hotels in Memphis. I know people that have stayed there and they have had nothing but positive reviews about it.

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McCroskey

McCroskey 1504

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Flight is a damn good restaurant downtown.

I also like drinking beer and watching sports at the Flying Saucer, it's about a block from Beale heading back towards the Peabody.

You can also go to the Peabody around 11am or 5pm (I think) and watch in awe and laugh at how many people actually travel in from around the world and cram in to see the duck ceremony/march.

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Brew

Brew 3049

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Grizzlies are playing the Suns that night, so you can get some cheap tickets (I mean really cheap) to a basketball game. With a Grizz game and SMU ranked and in town, downtown will be a little more lively than other nights I would bet.

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Walden Ponderer

Walden Ponderer 12639

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Iconic burger at Dyer's, if you're into that sort of thing.

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They're deep fried, is why they are different (same vat of grease for, like, a century, which is weird, but whatever). Personally, I thought it was a bit overpriced, since the quality is roughly what you'd get at Dirty's back in the day.

Edited by Walden Ponderer
"Thye're" deep fried? So am I, evidently.
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closetojumping

closetojumping 62746

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On 10/22/2019 at 10:09 AM, Brew said:

Outside of the Westin, it’s actually probably one of the nicest most expensive hotels in Memphis. I know people that have stayed there and they have had nothing but positive reviews about it.

My in-laws live in Memphis, so we visit regularly. We've stayed at the Pyramid, mostly for grins for the kids and a little because it looked like a cool novelty. We thought it was fun, but if you don't have kids, it might not be as cool. 

I've eaten at all of the BBQ joints up there and can say that any of them not named Rendezvous are pretty fucking terrific. 

Whoever mentioned Folk's Folly named a good one. I mean, it's a steakhouse, but I like their sides and such as well as any steakhouse I go to with some regularity. 

All of the museums are excellent and worth it.

Beale is overrated. Graceland is cool.

That's about the extent of the place, really. Those posting here have covered it really well. If you were taking kids, I'd say the zoo and the giant city park called Shelby Farms or something like that are both cool, as well as some other park that is like nothing I've seen elsewhere that I can't remember the name of, but since you're not taking kids, it ain't worth looking up. Have fun.

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GHOSTUSER

GHOSTUSER 361

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Make sure to see the Civil Rights Museum. It is one of the best museums I have been to and spent nearly 4 hours going through there. The Lorraine Motel, where MLK was assassinated, is next to the museum and is included in the ticket. Rosa Parks' bus is there too. They discuss the different sit-ins and other non-violent forms of civil disturbance that was successful in overturning Jim Crow. Peabody Hotel seeing the ducks waddle in is kind of cute. You can get a drink and see them prance in. I did like the Memphis style wet ribs I had at Central, I would't get any of their brisket. Gus' fried chicken is damn good too. I went to Dyer's after seeing it on the Food Channel. The 100 year old grease was transported to their location on Beale Street with a police escort. It was interesting but not a great burger.

Edited by Iconoclast Texan
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Zepol87

Zepol87 9188

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Earnestine and Hazel's.
Possibly the best day drinking dive bar I have ever been to. Don't expect a big crowd, when we were there, it maybe had 15 people in the whole place but all of them were a bunch of fucking characters. 

This fucking place was cool as hell. Upstairs is great. Met some cool people there last night and walked into a room with a dude doing coke on a coffee table, he was not happy lol. I'll update more when I get home
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Also stayed at the exchange building across from Paula and Raifords. That place was badass last night. Highly suggest it
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StassneyHorn

StassneyHorn 6616

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Did a quick Memphis/Nashville road trip the last week. Loved Memphis, Nashville was great too. Don’t understand some of the hate in the thread.

Food was better in memphis, Gus’s and Central BBQ already listed. Gus was more life changing to me than Hattie’s. Best pulled pork sandwich was at a place called Payne’s. Really liked the Cooper Young area, hip small neighborhood that’s walkable to bars and restaurants. Beale Street is good for a quick drunk with blues music. South Main is a fun walk with great bars dotted along. Sun Studios was a great time, wish I had about ten more minutes upstairs to take in the history. Lorraine Motel as the Civil rights Museum was a must stop.

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