WEEKEND IN MEMPHIS
- Tom Vrem
- Mar 7, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 8, 2019
A WEEKEND ITINERARY WITH A QUICK SUMMARY OF MUSIC HISTORY HOT SPOTS AND WHERE TO FIND THE SOUL SATISFYING FOOD IN THIS CULINARY SMORGASBORD
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There is a long list of places not to miss in this Southern gem. We will keep a tight schedule to catch as much of this magical city as you can. Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock & Roll, this trip is a music lovers dream!
FRIDAY
Where to start? Hotel. Plenty of good places to stay. Hotels are usually not hard to get, but Memphis in May is always a packed house. Tourism spikes then and tapers after summer is over. I recommend staying close to Beal Street. The Westin is in a great location and the Peabody is the historic favorite. We are starting in Beale street for its history and being a nightlife hot spot for food and some of the best live music in the country. It is also the central location to most of our weekend adventure, plenty of fun during the day as well. We will start by checking in to hotel to get our bearings. Then it is off for drinks and appetizers down on Beale street, Plenty of good places to try. BBQ and fried chicken dominate the food scene, but if you look deeper, Memphis will not disappoint. Kings Palace was an Elvis favorite and there is a famous photo of BB King's tour bus parked in front of Kings Palace early on in BB's career. BB started his musical career in Memphis as a guitar player and radio disc jockey. It didn't take long before BB was gracing the stages all over Memphis. His club BB Kings is still going strong on the western side of Beale street. Virtually every club on Beale street has live music, mainly blues with hints of a little bit of everything. You could spend the whole evening on Beale street, but I recommend hitting a few other joints around town to get a feel for the city. Where to eat at on Beale street? Everywhere is great. Yup, you can say that. This whole city is a culinary Mecca. My top three places to eat on Beale street are Kings Palace Cafe, Silky O Sullivans and Blues City Cafe. At Kings Palace Cafe I usually do the ribs or get a sampler of the BBQ. They are doing a traditional Memphis style dry rub, but no worries you can still get a yummy BBQ sauce. Silky O Sullivans has a great menu. Its right around the corner from the Westin. This is a great place to get seafood. There are few places that are not by the ocean that I will eat oysters and this is one of them. Great Po Boys here as well and the live music here is top notch. Great spot to gather with larger groups too. Blues Cafe is open late late with Memphis favorites and a swell diner menu to boot. The ribs are fall off the bone good, like most places in this region. The whole menu here is a keeper. You will know what Southern food is all about leaving any of these places. The hospitality is contagious. Hit Beale street and have a few drinks or if crowds are not quite your thing there are plenty of little joints to check out around town. The area around the Peabody has quite a few good hangs for brews and amazing food. The Water street area is turning out some great new joints too. One of those Water street food spots is Gus's Fried chicken, which is literally the best fried chicken I have ever had. I first had Gus's in early 2012 while recording at Sun Studio. I was immediately addicted to the subtle heat and truly finger licking good flavor. I eat there almost every time I am Memphis. There are a few other Gus's around town and I heard LA even has one now. You should hit Gus's at least once, if you hit it on Sunday on the way out of town grab some to reheat when ya get home. Seriously, thats how I do it. Have fun! Get some rest, you will need it to get the most out of your Saturday. We wake early so we can grab a great breakfast and have a Saturday full of Rock & Roll and Elvis!
SATURDAY
We start the morning off at one of Elvis's favorite breakfast diners. The historic Arcade Diner is located across the street from the Train Depot which was the center of Memphis city life for most of the 20th century. The Arcade has been featured in many movies and shows throughout the decades. It has that quintessential diner vibe with a classic diner menu of burgers, shakes, and fresh salads and blue plate specials. The one breakfast item I never miss here are the hash browns. Sounds vague, but heres why, they use the same potato grater they have used for almost a century to grate the potatoes and soak them in water overnight so the starch is pulled away and they cook to a tender center with a crispy outer edge when cooked on the flat top. This is the same floor Elvis walked on many a times, we are getting ready for a FULL day of Elvis, so might as well start it where he loved to eat.
After breakfast stroll around the neighborhood and check out some of the great little boutiques and resale shops gracing the neighborhood. The whole area has undergone a rejuvenation in the last few years. This neighborhood has seen tragedy. Just a few blocks away is the location where Martin Luther King was asasination If Elvis isn't quite your thing there are many a spots you could hit that are close by. The Civil Rights Museum is a couple blocks away and the Zoo isn't too far off either. We are working our way to Graceland the home of Elvis Presley, but on the way we will hit Sun Studio the birthplace of Rock & Roll.
Memphis native and recording engineer Matt Ross Spang playing one of my favorite Strats in Sun Studio. Matt was recording one of my bands Planeless Pilots that day in 2012. Easily one of the most historic studios in the world, this is where Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike Turner, Howlin Wolf and countless others recorded for their first time. Not to mention where Sam Phillips set up the historic Sun Records. Memphis Recording Service was what it was known as when Elvis Presley walked through the door the very first time. You can tour the studio everyday from 9am until 6pm. They still do recording sessions here as well. Soak up the room that changed the world of music forever. Hit the gift shop on the way out and grab those gifts and keep sakes. This place is FULL of MOJO! Time for Graceland! Graceland is across town from here and there are multiple routes that can take you there. Graceland closes early so you want to hit it in the early afternoon to make sure you can hit the whole thing. There is a car museum, airplanes, countless gold records, with personal Elvis touches all over the place. Graceland is a slice of time, almost down to the exact way it was decorated the day Elvis died. He died here, upstairs in the bathroom which is off limits. The King is also buried here with his parents in the backyard memorial. There is quite the story told here, from rags to riches, to the King of Rock n Roll. You can easily spend 6 hours going through Graceland, plan accordingly! Time for Dinner!
We still have plenty of amazing culinary hot spots at our fingertips. Gus's fried chicken is still top of the list if you haven't tried it. If steak is more up your alley I highly recommend Folk's Folly Prime Steakhouse. It is hands down the best steak I have had in Memphis and even have a butcher shop attached to bring it home too. If you have not explored the Memphis BBQ scene I recommend doing the Ribs anywhere that offers the Memphis dry rub. Heres my Memphis top 5. Rendevous has been famous for ribs since 1948. It is also where the Rolling Stones had there first Memphis BBQ experience. Paynes Bar B Que is steeped in tradition with my personal favorite smoked bologna or sliced pork. Central is a crowd favorite, Cozy Corner has some really classic Memphis style beef ribs and smoked Cornish hens. Leonard's Pit Barbecue has been dishing it up since 1922, so I'm thinking they have done it right! They have a daily buffet style of service and a full menu so you can really try the Memphis pit BBQ. The BBQ world championship is held during Memphis in May every year. The people here really know BBQ, it's been a tradition for as long as cookbooks have been made in the region. I have found almost 200 year old recipes for pit style BBQ from both the east and west side of Tennessee. It is a family tradition here.
After dinner catch a show in the city, grab a movie, nightlife is abundant, or relax in Hotel. Mississippi casinos are less than a half hour away. A number of large casinos are based in Tunica with a Vegas style atmosphere and regional food with Southern flare. We have
another breakfast gem to try in the morning. Get some rest, tomorrow is a full day of touring historical sights and seeing some of places that brought Memphis into fame.
SUNDAY
We start the morning off at Brother Junipers. Get here early, it is only open until 1pm. This is a gem, put this place in any city in the world and you will have a breakfast hot spot. Classic offerings and some of the best coffee you can find. Nestled in the Memphis University part of town, you will be surrounded by college students here, you will feel the learning LoL I'll say one thing here that inspired me to chase a taste are the cinnamon roll pancakes. Im not a huge pancake fan, but these are impossible for me not to order here. I just have to hope that somebody else orders something else for me to try. After breakfast take a stroll on campus, hit up the WC Handy house or stroll down Beale street. If you haven't hit Tater Reds on Beale its a good time to go. Tater Reds is owned by a Blues radio DJ, it has a very eclectic selection of novelties that I always I find something new or a gag gift that I have to buy. Stax Museum of American Soul Music is just off of Beale and fills in the blanks as to all the music history in town and how it led to the music we hear today. Great summary of where Memphis started the 20th century musically and how it spread to the world. Memphis is a musical Mecca that leaped into pop music stardom of the 50s, 60s ,and 70's, but started on the plantations of yesteryear. It spread the world over, hopefully if you take this weekend trip you will get a glimpse into where so much music began generations ago and see how it deeply affects the music we all enjoy today. AND TRY GUS'S FRIED CHICKEN ! WORTH IT!
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