An Irish dueling piano pub with beer-loving goats? Nothing quite compares with what awaits you at Silky O'Sullivan's. Located in the heart of Memphis nightlife on Beale Street, Silky's serves up Southern pub grub and ice-cold beer in a raucous college atmosphere. After that, you'll be ready to buy a beer for the goats out on the patio, who have developed quite a taste for it and will suck the whole thing down. Silky's is also a great place to catch some local bands and later in the evening, the dueling piano show.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: Silky's is a Beale Street institution, and there's certainly nowhere else you can watch a goat drink beer.
Sally's expert tip: Be sure to try the famous "Diver",a gallon of booze that comes in a bucket with straws for you and your friends. Just don't try to drink it alone!
Silly Goose is really more of a hip bar with late night dancing Thursday - Saturday nights, and the occasional themed parties, but definitely worth the visit regardless of what's happening. With its dark, chic interior - think men's club (as in a club for men, not that other kind of men's club) meets upscale bar - the space transforms from an after-work drinks and appetizers hangout for young professionals into a late-night dance fest on the weekends. By the way - weekends do include Thursday as far as we're concerned. Just sayin'. On Thursday nights during the summer, the Goose tends to be the after-party spot following the Peabody rooftop party.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: It's a great, dark space filled with interesting people.
Sally's expert tip: When things heat up, cool off on the outdoor patio, which is open most of the year.
In the ranks of Memphis's most famous nightspots, B.B.'s is one of those rare places that you must visit if you spend any time in the city at all. Featuring an amazing nightly repertoire of blues, along with great food and cold beer, the bar is a popular destination for tourists. The house band is incredible, and count us as the most pleasantly surprised of locals to say that. We were expecting a tourist trap, and discovered a real hometown treasure. A lot of young blues artists find their way to this stage, which we have to point out is nothing like the New York version. However, when word gets around that the man himself is in town (with Lucille), locals know exactly where to head. It doesn't happen often anymore, but it is always a treat.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: B.B. King's house band alone is worth a visit.
Sally's expert tip: This is one or the rare spots when an early show doesn't equal lame — so don't worry about losing your cool factor if you visit during daylight hours. We won't tell, and you won't be sorry.
When they say food / spirits on the Mollie Fontaine Web site, spirits has a double meaning - as in, the kind your drink and the kind who haunt old, Victorian homes. Mollie Fontaine is housed in a gorgeous Victorian mansion, stuffed with a combination of retro and vintage-y chic decor - overstuffed loungers, funky little chairs, and super-cool lighting, from chandeliers to multi-hued, single Edison bulbs. Sometimes, a pro sits at the old piano in the first floor front parlor - sometimes a customer jumps on - not always a good thing - and sometimes there's a DJ mixing it up. There's a full bar, and very often anything wet and cold comes straight out of a cooler tucked behind the bar. Since the lounge is owned by Karen Carrier of The Beauty Shop fame, the small plates served up are always something scrumptious - Fontaine sliders with arugula and gruyere, crispy duck rice rolls, and avocado tempura are all part of the inventive fare, and there's always a creme brulee of the day to tempt the sweet tooth.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: Mollie Fontaine's is pretty much the hippest place in all of Memphis - your cool factor will go way up once you experience it.
Sally's expert tip: Parking's tricky on Adams - there are plenty of 'no parking from here to there' signs, so double check your space before you lock up.
This is one of those spots your mom warned you about - and is, as we say in the South, a hot mess. But we love it anyway! For years, Hollywood Raiford entertained Memphians in a huge old building on Vance, just south of the central business district downtown. A light-up dance floor, a la 'Saturday Night Fever' was the main attraction, after Riaford himself. Fast forward a few years, and the club has re-opened in a two-story space on S. Second, with the same fog machine and disco ball, and Raiford himself. Daughter Paula is in the mix, too, but not much has changed - the crowd is a combination of suburban white folks, hipsters and medical students, plus a few well-heeled Memphians. The beers still come in a bucket, and cash is king here.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: It's a disco with attitude - and the only place in town you can dance on a lighted floor a la John Travolta.
Sally's expert tip: It's only open two nights a week, so if your time in Memphis is short, then be at the doors Friday or Saturday night at 10.
The historic Peabody Hotel is widely regarded as the place to stay when you're visiting Memphis; the grand hotel is elegant and sophisticated, with a huge two-story lobby featuring marble columns and rich decor. Indeed, the hotel's lobby fountain, where its famous resident ducks spend a good portion of their day, is one of the area's "must sees." But for an adults-only experience, wait until the ducks parade out to their rooftop quarters for the evening, which happens every night at 5 p.m. Once the crowds (and kids) clear out, the Lobby Bar becomes a swank, upscale spot to grab a drink. The bar is one of the best places in town to rub shoulders with the Memphis elite, and celebrities and sports figures when they are in town - and to enjoy a good martini while piano music drifts in the background.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: The Lobby Bar is really the most elegant bar in downtown Memphis.
Sally's expert tip: There's a fantastic late-night bar menu from the hotel's Chez Philippe after 9 p.m., with small plates offered —" a perfectly elegant way to end an evening.
Located in the heart of Memphis's nightlife scene (the corner of Third and Beale), Alfred's is one of those places that you need to stop in if you plan on telling people you visited Memphis. Known for its live music, Alfred's offers one of the best cover bands you can dance to on Friday & Saturday nights; Kevin and Bethany Paige serve up a little bit of everything in their performances, and they perform from 10 pm - 2 am. A D.J.takes over for the after-hours crowd. Weather permitting, the upstairs outdoor patio is a bit mellower prior to the dance club scene, with acoustic guitarist Jim Wilson usually setting up in one corner on weekend nights.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: Alfred's offers the only roof-top patio on Beale, and it is a great place to hold court for the evening.
Sally's expert tip: Arrive around 8 and you can lurk in the background for a table opening.
You've got to love a place that was open in the 1930's - and was rumored to be a speakeasy during Prohibition - that's found its way back to being a hip joint in 2012. The Green Beetle (it can't be called anything else, as outlined in the building contract, apparently) was originally opened in 1939, kinda putting paid to the speakeasy idea. But whether it was a secret place to drink or simply a good cafe then, today it is a small, cleaned-up, old-fashioned spot to listen to a local band while chowing down on some large - and we mean large - portions of home cooking. Lasagna that regularly weights in over two pounds per serving, creamy, skin-on mashed potatoes with a twist of horseradish, and perfectly cooked collard greens share are what many come for, staying for the local musicians who take to the 'stage' until midnight or later on weekend nights.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: The Green Beetle is quintessentially Memphis - funky, a little gritty and completely authentic.
Sally's expert tip: Come hungry and thirsty. You won't leave that way.
This gritty club — a former bordello and hotel, is the local go-to for late night drinks and an alcohol-absorbing Soul Burger — a tasty concoction of greasy burger with onions that helps one regain one's sobriety at the end of the evening. Whenever there is a celeb in town - quite often, actually- E&H is always on the list, which makes for fun people watching. And people watching is fun regardless, with an always-evolving mix of young hispters, East Memphis socialites, and young med students. The two-story club offers a small dance floor / space for the bad, counter seating and a scattering of tables on the first floor, with the second floor rooms being a darker, funkier place to hang — but conversation can flow easier upstairs.
Recommended for Downtown Memphis' Best Nightlife because: Ernestine and Hazel's is a Memphis institution, and you never know who's going to show up - especially when big-name acts are in town.
Sally's expert tip: Drop some money in the jukebox - it offers the best selection in Memphis.