Blues City Cafe, Memphis

Blues City Cafe is a long-running Beale Street restaurant where Memphis food, blues, and soul meet in a casual, high-energy setting. Soul musician Dan Penn once captured its appeal in song, singing about taking his old guitar down to Beale, playing the blues, and getting “a real good meal.”

The place opened in March 1991 as Doe’s Eat Place, then became Blues City Cafe in October 1993, after new investors bought the business. Even after the name change, some of the familiar faces from the Doe’s days remained, helping preserve its old-school juke-joint character.

The menu was shaped to suit both Memphis locals and Beale Street visitors, with barbecue ribs, burgers, oven-broiled steaks, fried catfish, homemade tamales, gumbo, and Southern sides. Its best-known order is the “Best Meal on Beale” platter, combining a half-rack of wet barbecued ribs with fried catfish and the fixings.

Music is just as central as the food. The Band Box, Blues City Cafe’s music room next door at 142 Beale Street, has hosted performers and celebrity guests ranging from B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ike Turner, and Kid Rock to Robert Plant, Tom Cruise, Bill Clinton, and many others. The café has also appeared in popular media, with a scene from The Firm filmed there, and has been featured on the Travel Channel, Food Network, and in Bon Appétit.