Memphis is a funky town with some funky facts. Some say it’s a little grungy, gritty and maybe a little hippie and down to earth, but it can offer some of the best times. The food is incredible, the nightlife is hopping and live music is almost always an option somewhere.
It’s a well-known fact that it’s home to some of the best BBQ in the world, the Memphis Grizzlies, Elvis Presley, the blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll. The Bluff City offers something for everyone. Memphis is rich in history, dripping with southern hospitality and riddled in secrets for you to learn.
Memphis facts locals know are true
1. Memphis is known for its BBQ and is one of the top BBQ hubs in the world. While there are loads of BBQ joints offered, Memphis households are usually divided between two popular BBQ restaurants: Team Central or Team Rendezvous.
2. Memphis is home to one of two Peabody Hotels & Resorts locations. Crowds gather around the lobby at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day to watch the march of the ducks. The trained little flock of ducks, accompanied by their Duckmaster, will waddle out of their own private elevator, down their red carpet and hop into the lobby’s fountain for a swim. When they’re done splashing around, they’ll scurry back up the way they came to the hotel’s roof where they stay.
3. Memphis is home to the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is in the Lorraine Motel, the motel Martin Luther King Jr. stayed in whenever he was traveling in Memphis. The same motel where, on April 4, 1968, outside of room 306, King was assassinated.
4. If you’re looking for fun bars without any fuss, Memphis definitely passes muster. Head to Loflin Yard, Railgarten or Carolina Watershed for backyard games, fire pits, good drinks and a dog- and family-friendly environment.
5. Many Memphis residents have scooted themselves home after a night of heavy drinking using one of the city’s electric scooters.
6. Memphis is the U.S.’ biggest distribution center, second in the world only to Hong Kong.
7. A Memphis fact is you can hear one of the following anytime or anywhere: A plane flying overhead, barge warning boats to get out of its way, a train trucking along or a semi barreling through. The latter also causes a lot of backed-up traffic (read: Lamar Avenue). On the flip side, some restaurants make a game out of it, like RP Tracks down near the University of Memphis. If you’re dining while a train comes through, you get a discount.
8. The Mississippi River runs deep and fast in Memphis. It’s a hotspot for river accidents because the current is gnarly. But that doesn’t stop Memphians’ love for it. In fact, they’ve devoted a whole museum to it: the Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island — a walking visual guide of the River’s span with intricate detailing to include the river’s depth.
9. Mud Island is a roughly three-mile-long island accessible by bridge from downtown. At one point, Justin Timberlake (who’s from Memphis) had a house there.
10. On Mud Island, there’s also a well-maintained Greenbelt Park where visitors and residents alike can walk or ride the length of the island with the Mississippi River running alongside. The park is ideal for watching sunsets on the banks, setting up a hammock, enjoying a riverside picnic or even watching firework shows for the Fourth of July. The best part? Parking on the island is always free.
11. Mud Island is popular with the young and social, who rent there because it’s so close to downtown’s nightlife. Otherwise, it’s inhabited by older wealthy people, regularly seen riding golf carts from their million-dollar homes to the banks of the Mississippi, trying to catch the best view of the sunset.
12. Just south of Mud Island is the M Bridge, a.k.a. the I-40 bridge or the Memphis-Arkansas bridge, one of two in Memphis connecting to Arkansas. Engineered to have an M in its design, there is a light show every half hour on the hour at night. It will light up at every 15-minute interval, too.
13. Aside from the light shows, the I-40 bridge is best known for almost causing a State-side Suez Canal fiasco in 2021, when a fracture was found on the bridge and it was closed for weeks. Apparently, experts were so concerned it would collapse, they wouldn’t even let barges cross the bridge down below, causing a massive 200+ backlog of ships waiting to get through.
14. Dyers Burgers, located on Beale Street, has used the same vat of grease to cook their burgers since 1912. It’s strained daily but still makes you wonder. Nonetheless, this old-timey diner is a Memphis staple for sure!
15. The oldest tavern in Memphis is downtown, just a few blocks from Beale Street and worth all the hype. The Green Beetle opened in 1939. The original owner sold it in 1971 with a deed contingency that the name must always remain the Green Beetle. The spot went through several hands until the original owner’s grandson bought it up in 2011 and restored it to its former, Memphis-must glory.
16. If you’re looking for the hipster area, head to the Cooper-Young District. It has some of the best food: Brunch at The Beauty Shop is notorious and the cheese sticks at Young Ave. Deli are the best-tasting secret in Memphis.
17. Memphis is where Elvis called home. Born in Tupelo, MS, about a two-hour drive away, he bought his Graceland mansion in 1957 at the age of 22 and he never left. He died there on Aug. 16, 1977. He and his family members are buried there in the Meditation Garden. Graceland is now one of the most toured private homes in America, second only to the White House. Expect to see die-hard fans visiting from all over the world, impersonators and Memphis residents whose out-of-town guests dragged them there for the umpteenth time.
18. A Memphis fact is this is the most sung-about place in history. It’s scrawled its way into countless songs.
19. Memphis is the birthplace of blues music, soul and rock ‘n’ roll.
20. It’s also home to Sun Records, the label behind big hitters like Elvis, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.
21. Out on Mud Island is an infamous grocery-café hybrid, Miss Cordelia’s Market. It carries household necessities island residents may need, while also offering a smattering of local yummies from Memphis’ favorite eateries.
22. Miss C’s, as locals like to call the market, also offers a selection of various sandwiches, roasted meats and sides made in-house. One of those sides includes some down-home green beans. These green beans are so good that Dave Matthews insists on going out to the island to purchase some for his tour bus anytime his band comes through Memphis. Now, Miss C’s has renamed this delectable side the “Dave Matthews Green Beans.”
23. Beale Street is the second biggest party/drinking street in the U.S., coming in right behind Bourbon Street in New Orleans. People come from all over to experience these few blocks, which are usually as crowded as a can of sardines. Loads of Memphians are there on holiday weekends or after a big Grizzlies’ win.
24. Voted Best on Beale, Silky O’Sullivan’s Irish pub is a favorite, and that’s a Memphis fact. Whether for its food, its gigantic shareable (if you want) drinks, the southern staple vodka-spiked sweet tea, live entertainment or goats roaming in the backyard, Silky’s is a must. Their ticket to fame is making it feel like St. Patrick’s Day all year long.
25. Memphis is home to the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art, which is definitely worth checking out.
26. So is the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange!
27. You can walk to Arkansas from Memphis. A little further south than the I-40 bridge is another bridge with a walkway attached. It allows pedestrians and bikers to make their way over the Mississippi River and into Arkansas. Yes, there’s a special cut out to take a selfie as you straddle the state line.
28. It would be a shame to mention Memphis facts without bringing up the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. Originally, the pyramid was an arena where the University of Memphis men’s basketball and the Memphis Grizzlies played. In 2010, the pyramid reopened as the outdoor extravaganza for sportsmen (and women). It’s loaded with taxidermied creatures, little ponds with various live fish and baby alligators and an outdoorsman’s wildest retail dreams. But what sets this location apart is the inclusion of multiple dining options, a bowling alley, a shooting range, a hotel and, of course, a ride up to the top balconies to view Memphis in its full glory.
29. The coffee scene in Memphis is pretty extensive, not to mention the city’s love for good, old-fashioned breakfast spots, too!
30. Over 100 years ago, Amtrak built a Grand Central Station in Memphis for train arrivals and departures. Since then, a hotel mogul bought and renovated that property into a 123-room boutique hotel. Along with event halls and groovy rooms, the Central Station Hotel houses a restaurant and a record lounge/bar. Whether you stop in for cocktail hour, dinner or you book a night, this hotel should definitely be on everyone’s Memphis list.
31. In downtown Memphis, Paula & Raiford’s Disco encourages partiers to “put your boogie shoes back on.” Smokey, colorful and speckled with light from a disco ball, this bar definitely takes visitors and regulars back in time. It even has the original disco floor!
32. Memphis is home to St. Jude Research Center, a leading organization to help families suffering from childhood cancers. St. Jude’s hallmark is ensuring families don’t pay a dime for their child’s treatment.
33. There’s a lot more to Memphis than Beale Street and downtown. Cordova and Germantown are definitely worth checking out for finer dining and shopping options. If you cross down into Mississippi, Olive Branch and Southaven are practically considered extensions of the city.
34. If you’re going to stick downtown, make sure to ride the completely authentic trolley.
35. Memphis was recently ranked as the second-most dangerous metro in the U.S. In reality, it’s a Memphis fact that it’s mostly safe. As long as you always have a buddy at night, use common knowledge and trust your gut to get out of situations, you shouldn’t have too many issues.
36. Memphis has an extensive brewery scene. Between Wiseacre, Beale Street Brewing Co., Boscos, Crosstown, Ghost River, Grind City, Hampline, High Cotton, Memphis Made and a few others, you’ll never run out of a brew to try in the Bluff City.
37. Need a good bowl of shrimp and grits? Head to Memphis. Dying for some oysters? Memphis. BBQ? Come on — you know where to go. Fried chicken, chicken and biscuits, chicken and waffles or even hot chicken to compete with the Tennessee-sister city? Memphis, my friends. Biscuits? My God, the biscuits. Just trust that all paths and hungry bellies lead to Memphis.
38. Memphis is home to a beautiful and extravagant theatre, the Orpheum. Originally constructed as the Grand Opera House in 1890 and deemed “the classiest theatre outside of New York City,” Memphis refuses to give this one up. Renamed in 1907 to the Orpheum, it burned to the ground in 1923. It was rebuilt in 1927 and succumbed to the Great Depression soon enough after that. Owners converted it into a movie theatre in 1940 and returned it to a stage theatre quite sometime after that. In the ’70s, when most businesses were abandoning downtown Memphis, the Orpheum was brought back to life and added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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Does the Bluff City sound like heaven to you? Check out these apartments for rent or homes to buy in Memphis.
