Southern Living just gave visitors another pretty good reason to point their cars toward the Bluff City: the "legendary" Earnestine & Hazel's joint.
Last month, Memphis landed at the top of Travel + Leisure's list of best U.S. road trip destinations. Now, the city's downtown institution has been named one of “25 legendary Southern dive bars worth planning a road trip around.”
For Memphians, that might sound less like breaking news than a particularly enthusiastic endorsement of things we've known all along.
Yes, come to Memphis. And the first place you should hit is Earnestine & Hazel's, according to the magazine.
The timing is worth noticing. Despite separate recommendations from two leading national publications, they actually tell the same story.
Memphis is increasingly being sold to the rest of the country not as a place to simply visit, but as a place to drive toward.
And Earnestine & Hazel’s might be a big reason why.
This is how Southern Living explains it:
“This spooky spot is Memphis’ most infamous haunt. Are there really ghosts here? We’ll leave that for you to decide. Earnestine & Hazel’s has had many past lives since the 1930s—a pharmacy, beauty salon, and restaurant, just to name a few. Over the years, legends like B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Bo Diddley made their way onto the Club Paradise stage, and walked over to Earnestine & Hazel’s after. Today, it remains one of Memphis’ favorite dives, famous for its Soul Burger and great jukebox.”
Its Soul Burger has achieved something approaching local folklore. With its simple bun, patty, onions, cheese, pickle and trademark “Soul Sauce,” it’s often described as the best burger in the world, period.
And the late-night hours only add to its appeal. The fact that most are consumed, historically as late as 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, is part of the magic. This is when a great burger feels especially satisfying, when the rest of the city has called it a night.
No wonder Southern Living thinks it’s worth gassing up your car, putting a few miles on the odometer and making the pilgrimage to 531 S. Main Street.
Though the building itself dates back more than a century to the late 19th century, Earnestine & Hazel’s has operated as Memphis' preeminent modern dive bar since 1992.
As we see in today’s quickly changing culture, plenty of trendy new bars can have a moment. Earnestine & Hazel’s has had many decades. It's outlasted short-lived concepts, fad-driven cocktail menus, owners’ dreams and countless neighborhood watering holes.
This provides a pretty good argument for why it belongs among the South’s best dive bars.
History is on its side – and so is the bar's staying power.
Brian Strickland is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at brian.strickland@commercialappeal.com.
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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Earnestine & Hazel's named one of 25 legendary Southern dive bars
