the best dive bar in the world
The things that make Earnestine and Hazel’s the best dive bar in the country are, and will always be, rooted in Memphis. Located downtown on S. Main Street, Earnestine and Hazel’s welcomes you to enjoy the greatest jukebox in the country, taste our nationally recognized Soul Burger, and check out our ghost tours to see if the sisters are still around…
Since our opening in ‘92, we have been featured in 9 movies, written about in magazines like Playboy and Esquire, visited by many celebrities, and deemed one of the most haunted places in America. To keep the spirit of Memphis alive, our upstairs piano player and live bands play soul, jazz, and blues all night long and our cooks keep enough Soul Burgers warm to keep you going.
But, above all else, what makes Earnestine and Hazel’s the best dive bar is our customers. So if you haven’t been here, swing by and see what we’re about – we promise good times!
History
The building that would become Earnestine and Hazel’s started out as a pharmacy in the late ‘30s. And it ran as any old pharmacy would until the owner, Abe Plough, created a product that could, “straighten the hair out.” His concoction took storm between New York to New Orleans, allowing people to position their hair into the slick styles we’re used to seeing in old, sepia-toned pictures. Abe later went on to make the famous Coppertone suntan lotion and, overwhelmed with his mounting financial success, gave the building to two hair stylists that were using his product upstairs – Earnestine and Hazel.
The two cousins turned the building into a cafe. Meanwhile Earnestine’s husband, a street promoter named Sunbeam, opened a nearby music joint called Club Paradise, which hosted legends like B.B. King, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Motown, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Sam Cook, Chuck Berry, and Jackie Wilson. Throughout the next 20 years, these musicians walked from Club Paradise to Earnestine and Hazel’s each night so they could get food, tell stories, and find action from women upstairs. The good times rolled until the ‘70s, when Club Paradise got boarded up with the rest of downtown Memphis.
Fast forward to 1992: Bud Chittom and Delmer George bought the E+H property. A couple of years later, Bud decided to bring on Russell George (no relation to Delmer), who was dancing and singing his way around the area. George owned another nearby bar at the time and Chittom knew George’s laidback cool was the perfect attitude to rep E+H.
Earnestine and Hazel’s is more that just a cool dive bar, it represents the history of Memphis. It represents the soul, jazz, and blues that echoed into streets and the legends like B.B. King, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin that went there for solace. But most of all, Earnestine and Hazel’s represents what Memphis is all about – great music, great food, and great times.
Family owned and operated for more than 20 years, Earnestine and Hazel’s is now owned and operated by a group of friends that endeavor to keep Earnestine and Hazel’s the same OLD dive bar that we have known and loved for decades!
Bragging rights
Best Dive Bar | Best Burger in TN | Garden and Gun Best Bar in the Mid-South Semi-Finalist
Friends of E&H | Two Broke Bartenders, Wicked Dicey, Young Avenue Sound, and Charles Summers Law