Downtown

You can head to Beale Street [1] for a night out, even if you’re not that into blues. Coyote Ugly (326 Beale St., 901/888-8459) attracts a youthful crowd seven days a week. The dance floor here is hot.

The best place to grab a beer downtown is the Beale Street Tap Room (168 Beale St., 901/527-4392). With more than 30 beers on tap, this is a great choice for beer lovers. The service is friendly and low-key, and regulars have their own mug.

Off Beale Street, the Peabody Hotel Memphis (149 Union Ave., 901/529-4000) may be the best place to enjoy a relaxing drink. The lobby bar offers good service, comfortable seats, and an unrivaled atmosphere.

In Peabody Place about a block from Beale Street [1], The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium (130 Peabody Pl., 901/523-7468) draws a lively happy-hour crowd. The bar offers more than 75 draft beers, plus cocktails and wine. Grab a seat along the windows and watch downtown Memphis [2] come alive as the sun sets.

Also in Peabody Place, Dan McGuiness (150 Peabody Pl., 901/527-8500) offers Irish beers and sports on the telly.

In the South Main district, Ernestine and Hazel’s (531 S. Main St., 901/523-9754) is one of Memphis’s [2] most celebrated pit stops for cold drinks and a night out. Once a brothel, Ernestine and Hazel’s now has one of the best jukeboxes in town. Take a seat upstairs in one of the old brothel rooms and watch South Main Street below.

For a departure from the usual bar scene, head to the smoke-free High Point Pinch (333 N. Main St., 901/619-0061). Also in the Pinch neighborhood, Precious Cargo Coffeehouse (381 N. Main St., 901/578-8446) has a lineup of eclectic music every Friday evening starting about 9 p.m.