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Lamplighter Lounge
- Hours:
Mon-Fri, Sun 3 pm - 3 am
Sat 5 pm - 3 am
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Smoking:
- Yes
- Coat Check:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Good For Dancing:
- No
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
19 reviews for Lamplighter Lounge
Review Highlights
"...kick ass burgers, a cheap pool table and good old jukebox."
(in 3 reviews)
"One of the best low-key night dive bars for cheap beers."
(in 3 reviews)
"PBR is the beverage of choice for most."
(in 7 reviews)
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19 reviews in English
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Review from Melissa A.
Chicago, IL
10/30/2011
This use to be my I look like hell/ I just got off work/ I'm kind of blue and just want to drink alone in a dark dive kind of place. I may have come alone many a night, but usually made a friend sitting at the bar.
It's a cash only dive, dimly lit and cozy, and they have a 6 ft. tall framed picture of VAMPIRELLA on the wall. You cannot beat that. The week night crowd is polar opposite from the weekend crowd. -
Review from Kerry H.
9/29/2011
Lamplighter is so hipster that it feels like you're drinking in a strangely well-lit version of the basement of those guys in college you were just friends with because they had a pool table--and a really crappy pool table with cigarette burns and scuffs.
Miss Shirley runs the joint and pretty much only serves PBR by the buckets. Cash only. Incredibly smoky. Can bring in your own booze if you buy set-ups.
My two stars are for the jukebox only, which always seems to be playing the perfect song to suit my mood when I'm in Lamplighter--sentimental, a little morose, and longing to find my way back home.Listed in: Memphis
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Review from Ashley W.
Chicago, IL
3/31/2011
This is why you should always carry cash. Because you don't want to get the skull-searing look I've seen Shirley dish up on rare occasion when curious urban explorers attempt to shove a credit/debit/atm card in her face and start a "tab" off with some "shots".
I've always feel half: "I ought to huck this cup of chili in their eyes..."
And half: "I'll just grab your hand and gently help you put that card away, there, dear. Scare up some pocket change and have a PBR. No, really. It's okay, it won't bite. It's just 153 calories and you look starved. Let's get a burger in ya, ok? Why the rush to drunktown, darlin'? We're all just happy plants here that need to be watered with a little lager every night."
Miss you Lamplighter. -
Review from Jolynna M.
Memphis, TN
My name is Jolynna. And I am a dive bar junkie. I don't know exactly why this is, but there is just something amazingly cool about walking into a room where nobody cares what you do or what you're wearing. They are just glad to see ya. I can walk in to the lamplighter after a long run in the park for a cold beer, still in my running clothes and feel perfectly at home. It's just that kind of place.
They patrons are interesting and from all walks of life, but that is one of the things I love about it. It's beer only - and it's cheap. PBR is the beverage of choice for most.
So what are you waiting for? Grab a cold one, a corner table or a bar stool and drop a few dimes in the jukebox. Fun times. -
Review from Adrian W.
Chicago, IL
1/17/2011
Just like drinking in your uncle's basement. But with a jukebox. And other beautiful people. And more beard hairs left behind.
Don't you dare try to steal anything from this place.
(cash only) -
Review from Kerry C.
10/12/2010
The Lamplighter Lounge on is Midtown's living room. So much so that last night, several bedheadded young men came in and ordered bottles of Pabst in their pajamas.
It's the definition of a dive bar, meaning that drinking at the Lamplighter is like drinking in your grandma's basement. There's no liquor at the Lamplighter, only cheap beer. There's food, too - greasy burgers, legendary patty melts, the occasional vat of chili (depending on who's working that night). And don't even think about trying to pay with a credit card.
The weeknight and weekend crowd is about the same - a mix of musicians, Midtowners and the middle-aged, all looking for a quiet drink. No one is a big deal (including the people that are). There is no trivia night at the Lamplighter. They'll probably never do karaoke. You can't pick up a wireless signal there. What they do have is a pool table, a small TV with grainy reception that constantly plays sports, and the greatest jukebox in town.
This is the sort of place where every song that plays on the ancient, cranky jukebox is the perfect song. Don't expect any hipster favorites - just lots of un-ironic country standards, classic ballads and the occasional Meatloaf track. -
Review from Nigel T.
New York, NY
6/16/2011
Nice little dumpy beer bar. If this bar were in Brooklyn I'd hate it because it would be hipster central. In Memphis it's legit. Quality.
-
Review from Tanya T.
Memphis, TN
8/10/2010
Who couldn't love a bar that has the song "You Make My Pants Want to Get Up and Dance" on the jukebox? Seriously? Honestly, I'm not even sure if that's the name of the song, but it is part of the chorus, and it makes me giggle.
The Lamplighter is a dive, plain and simple. But it's a fun place. PBR is the drink of choice, and you'll see alot of regulars, as well as curious first-timers walk through the doors seeking solace from the trendy bars and clubs in the rest of the city.
Shirley the bartender is pretty much legend in this place, and pay attention to the other reviewers- she most definitely will kick you out for dropping the f-bomb. -
Review from Marlin M.
Memphis, TN
3/9/2011
This place was...interesting to say the least. I dig the very laid back atmosphere of it, but I felt like when I walked in, I had taken a trip back in time. My complaint is that when I went in there, they didn't take cards. I only had enough cash on me to get one drink and then leave (I'm more of a card person, not big on toting around cash).
-
Review from Marshall J.
Austin, TX
8/20/2008 1 photo
The day I come back home to Memphis and find the doors of this place shuttered will be the day I break down and cry.
Yeah, this is a "real" dive with colorful regulars, but hipsters don't survive for long in this place. Seems like Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" is always playing on the juke, but I know the place as ground zero for the blossoming rockabilly scene in the mid-90s. Alas, those days are gone, but Miss Anne, Shirley, and cheap PBR seem to still be here.
Edit 10/28/10
Got word that Miss Shirley passed away today. Stomach cancer. God bless her and God bless the Lamplighter.Listed in: Dives for Divas
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Review from David M.
Memphis, TN
5/22/2007
One of the oldest bars in the city, also one of the best dive bars in town. Although 'beer joint' might more appropriate as they don't serve liquor, just cheap beers and good greasy burgers.
Open late, well-lit and a haven for a mix of midtown barflies.
The juke box is well stocked and slightly possessed, seems to spontaneously play selections of its own choosing. Wednesday nights are interesting because of 'goth-night' at the bar next door, (Full Moon Club) the usual crown becomes...more interesting.
DO watch your p & q's as Shirley (the owner) suffers no fools or foul language.Listed in: Midtown (General), Favorite Dive Bars
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Review from Jessica M.
Portland, ME
9/10/2007
Anyone who loves dive bars will understand that walking into Lamplighter is like walking into heaven.
So unassuming and not trying to be anything, LL is the coziest little bar/living room/dive/kitchen Memphis has to offer. When I walked into this place, I stumbled into the most perfectly lit, dive bar I have ever been to in my life. Shirley, the bartender, wore the exact same green tank top she is pictured in in the framed portrait of her behind the bar.
As mentioned, this bar was in a Cat Power video but somehow the video hardly captures the true feeling of the bar. Lamplighter achieves what other dive/hipster bars wish they could be and will never be.
If you are ever in Memphis, do yourself a favor and go to this place. -
Review from Tina m.
9/21/2009
Really divey and very country. There was a trucker on every stool. The great thing about the place: the old jukebox (it's not like those jukebox's in LA that play Kings of Leon. They had Dolly Parton and The Beegees) also, they had pool tables and that's where we spent the majority of the night.
On the bad side, it's nothing special considering that it's far off from downtown Memphis. -
Review from Janice T.
Somerville, MA
3/4/2009
The perfect hole-in-the wall. My friends and I came with bottle of our own gin and split a "set up": enough plastic cups and tonic for you and your entourage....a recipe for good times on the cheap. Take care of your bartender, and she will hook you up with a paper plate of Doritos...... hell yeah!
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Review from Yael G.
Brooklyn, NY
3/17/2010
Stopped there on my road trip from NY to Texas.
If you are looking for something fancy our new this is not the place for you. But in it's own category of diver bar/ local/ simple, this one is 5 stars!
Exactly what you look for if you Wang an "authentic" experience.
Small bar with cheap beers (we drank pitchers of PBR all night), pool table, great jukebox (plays 45 only!) and some snacks like burger, fries or grilled cheese.
Was perfect for us because we were a small group and wanted to taste some of the local flavors.
The owner is super nice.
If your not from around def worth a visit. -
Review from geoffrey e.
San Francisco, CA
1/9/2007
Great old divey midtown Memphis bar. Amazingly cheap beer with kick ass burgers, a cheap pool table and good old jukebox. Mix of friendly younger patrons and older regulars. They also filmed the Cat Power "Lived In Bars" video in there. Just watch your use of the F-word because Shirley will kick you out faster than you can finish your $1.50 PBR.
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Review from Erin K.
Mystic, CT
1/16/2010
Classic Dive Bar! This place is just what you expect when you are looking for dive bar. When we walked in we felt kind of like we were in the basement of our grandma's house. Drink PBR, play the juke box or a game of pool and just hang out.
Oh, they accept cash only (like a true dive bar would!) so make sure to bring some cash!
There is a small parking lot right there so parking was not an issue. A good time was had by all of us. -
Review from Shane E.
Los Angeles, CA
1/1/2011
One of the best low-key night dive bars for cheap beers. You can even manage to have a decent conversation with your buddies without resorting to "HUH? WHAT? I CAN'T---WHAT?". Come in, chill out and relax, order some beer and just enjoy the evening.
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Review from Phil P.
Somerville, MA
10/9/2009
The diviest of all dive bars if diviest is even a word. I'm not sure that it is. But that's besides the point. This is the bar that you only see in the movies, but yet in Memphis it is the real deal. This is the bar that apparently playboy has done several shoots in, God knows why. This is the bar that you can find the occasional dog sitting on a stool looking right at home. This is the bar that you will find the old veteran war heroes and the hopeless drifter all making merry to the tunes of an old jukebox. Apparently there is a room upstairs where they used to throw the drunks who couldn't make it out. Or maybe they still use it. I'm still unclear on that. Shirley the bartender is awesome, and one gets the feeling that she has been there a long time. Like Janice T. said, take care of your bartender and you will be rewarded. Also, if you are adventurous, ask her about the secret patio. I don't know if anyone gets to go out there, but in order to get there you have to actually walk through the back kitchen behind the bar. It's almost an Alice and Wonderland experience depending on what number beer you are on for the evening. This place is a legend in my book. Cash only.
