Bardog Tavern, Memphis, TN

We had just finished a great dinner at S.O.B. and were checking out some menus at various places on our walk back to the hotel.  I have apparently lost what used to be a good sense of direction because I turned down the street one way and Kevin had apparently turned the other when I heard a man ask something about food or drink.  I paid no attention and started walking when he asked, “Are you guys European?”  I guess we looked like we were lost and didn’t understand English.  Turns out it was Aldo Dean, founder and owner of Bardog Tavern.  He immediately offered to buy us some drinks and brought us to the most bustling, laid-back, neighborhood bar… or tavern: Bardog.

I didn’t have my camera, and my phone took really dark photos, so it looks like my hipstamatic app came to the rescue again.  Bardog was absolutely packed.  People were eating, drinking, and being merry.  We were lucky to score a couple seats at the bar when two people left, and we sat there for a few drinks, soaking in the local Memphis bar scene.  This was not Beale St.  Not.Even.Close.

Bardog is a bar with an attitude.  Not a snotty, stuck-up attitude- but a no bullshit attitude.  They proudly let you know there is no Redbull served there.  There’s no live music either.  This is a bar created by a man who had a clear vision of what a neighborhood bar should be, and I would say he had a great idea.

We didn’t get to try their food, but when that many people are eating, it has got to be good.  They have a full menu starting with breakfast at 8 am, as well as snacks, sandwiches, soups, salads, steaks, and desserts that they’ll serve most nights until 2 am.

We thought the bar was packed that night.  We returned the next night and it was wall-to-wall people, upstairs and downstairs.  This is definitely where the locals go.  This is where people gather until early into the morning hours when they don’t want to listen to the bands on Beale and don’t want to deal with a bar full of tourists.  It’s a place to check the pulse of the Memphis scene and I assure you, it is alive and thriving.  

I’d like to personally thank Aldo for bringing us to his bar.  We were just going to go back to our hotel when he convinced us to stay out a little later.  Bardog contributed so much to our overall experience of Memphis, and gave us good topics of conversation as we drove on to New Orleans.