The Best Bars in Memphis

Updated October 2026

Music is never far from a Memphis bar. The best bars in Memphis are spread out, from South Cooper Street and Union Avenue to Crosstown Concourse and two hotel bars, The Dame and Hu. Roof. Bar DKDC, chef Karen Carrier's bar and music room on South Cooper Street, pairs specialty cocktails with international street food from a small plates menu that changes every five weeks. Cameo on Union Avenue sums itself up as fancy drinks and party time, with DJs. Art Bar, inside Crosstown Concourse, builds nightly specials on local and foraged ingredients and keeps a separate menu for musicians who played a Memphis show that day. The Dame at Hotel Pontotoc adds a mezcal and ancho chile hot chocolate to a whiskey list of bourbons, ryes and Tennessee whiskeys. Hu. Roof looks over the Mississippi River and the Hernando de Soto Bridge, whose light show starts at the top and middle of every hour after sundown. These are the bars we would start with.