Memphis On Main

I go here almost every Tuesday after I get done at the day job, to unwind for about 30 minutes before I start my Tuesday night job. It’s some of my favorite 30 minutes of the week. If I had to break down all my 30 minute increments of each week, this one would be definitely in the top 5, and there are (ummm. 48×7 so…) 336 half hour segments in the week, so yeah, that says something.
The usual Tuesday afternoon shift is currently covered by Harley. She’s nice. You will also sometimes find Seth in there doing something, or Kass, doing Kass things.
They always (for the past several months) have a Triptych beer on tap. The beer selection has definitely improved in the past year.
Did you know they have trivia on Tuesday nights? You probably knew that. Did you know Joe Fun does the trivia on Tuesdays, yeah, you probably knew that too. Well, did you know that if you wanted to cheat at the trivia, you could go down the street to Jupiters and see Joe Fun putting together that night’s questions! Bet you didn’t know that!
They also have a popcorn machine. It is probably the best popcorn on Main Street between Chestnut and Walnut.
Apparently there are sometimes live bands there. I’ve been told this happens routinely. I’ve been told I’ve been there a couple of times.

Came here on a Sunday evening:
This was my first time at Memphis and I gotta say I really liked this joint. It’s not a terribly big place but there was plenty of seating at the bar. I had a bloody marry, made with zing zang mix. 4 dollars and made well. Totally a good deal. After the bloody, my girlfriend and I split one of their mason jar drinks. 32 Ozs in a mason jar 8 dollars and they had about 10 – 12 options to choose from. We opted for the green monster. The green monster was amaretto, blue stuff, orange juice maybe something else, what ever went into it, it was great. The bar tender was friendly, the drinks were super affordable and I will surely come back. The only reason why I have to give it 4 instead of 5 because this diveish bar didn’t have any food. They did have pop corn but I just think I would have liked this place a lot more if I could chow down on something a little more filling.

This is a cool scene and went on a Thursday. It was karaōke night. The crowd is mixed with some 20 to 30 year olds. They have specials on mason jar drinks but this time around got a whiskey sour (which was just okay). It felt very fun nonetheless and would check it out again for karaōke and maybe try to sing sometime… hah.

This is my favorite bar in CU. We enjoy just stopping to have a mason jar lemonade shake up. The atmosphere is very laid back. It is nice to go to a bar in Champaign Urbana and it not be all annoying drunk college kids.

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Please don’t review this business if you received If you’re a hipster who enjoys cocktails served in mason jars (mason jars!!!) and an ironic country vibe (without being too country), you’ll love Memphis on Main. I definitely witnessed at least one guy wearing cutoffs and cowboy boots drinking a PBR. This place seems to get really loud on weekends, and with live music, there is sometimes a cover. I almost went once on a Friday night, but didn’t want to pay to stand amidst the cacophony of drunken yelling and mediocre country covers. I did, however, return on a Sunday night when it was almost completely empty, and I enjoyed one of their specialty cocktails served in a 32-​ounce mason jar.
They have a full bar and a number of beers, as you would expect, but the mason jar cocktails are definitely the most interesting thing on the menu. I ordered the long island ice tea, and the menu actually specified that they would only serve one per customer (implying that 32 ounces of this cocktail was about as much as any one person could handle). The marketing gimmick succeeded, and I really did feel like a man as I ordered this high octane beverage. Here’s how they make it: they take a jar, stuff it full of ice, pour in about four shots of well liquors, and then blast it with sour mix until it’s full. I imagine this is what most of their cocktails are like — a few shots of liquor with a ton of sour mix or juice.
If you hate the taste of hard liquor, you’ll love these juicy, sweet cocktails. You barely taste the alcohol because it’s so diluted in ice and mixers. Similarly, if you love the taste of sour mix, you can’t really go wrong here. When I think about it, this is pretty much the best 32-​ounce sour mix mason jar cocktail that $ 8 will buy in Champaign-​Urbana.
I realize that I’m being way too hard on this place. It’s just a bar. The drinks are gimmicky, but kind of fun. I highly recommend coming during off hours unless you really dig a super loud drinking environment.
* Apologies to the friend who brought me here who will almost certainly read this review. He’s a great guy and we had a great time, even though I was being a total cocktail snob the whole time. a freebie for writing this review, or if you’re connected in any way to the owner or employees.

This is a great place to go for really cheap weekly deals. This place used to be known as a biker bar but it’s been under new ownership who have been successful at attracting a younger college crowd. They’re known for serving huge quantities of alcohol in mason jars for a low price. They serve everything in mason jars but the best deals are usually some mixed drink served in a mason jar. They serve pizza but I’ve never seen anyone ordering any so I’m not sure how good it is. They have a pretty decent beer selection — plenty of IPAs but it’s definitely not a destination for beer snobs.

The business owner and karaōke host both messaged me and were very nice and professional and assured me that in the future karaōke night wouldn’t be this way. So yay! I would go back again next time I’m in town.

If you have the green to grease the fingers of this greedy DJ, then, by all means take a trip to Memphis for karaōke. «Capitalist karaōke» sums it up well. If you tip the DJ, you get to sing. If you don’t, you have to sit through the waterboarding that is privileged karaōke queens.

Memphis on Main hosts live local Music as well as a variety of entertainment — The Staff is friendly, the doorman does his job of carding and receiving the cover if there is a cover for the night. The Staff is constantly moving and I have never seen them just hanging out — they work hard the entire time they are on their shift. They greet you coming in and tell you to have a great night as you are leaving (if they see you leaving that is) they generally have a great crowd and everyone seems to have fun and enjoy the Music — I like the lay out of Memphis and the fact that their is seating in the front outside. They have a good dance floor, I would say the only problem is not enough seating. I like Memphis on Main and appreciate that they acknowledge the value of live local Music!

I came here with my guy to grab a few drinks before a concert at The Highdive next door. I found myself wanting to scoot out after one drink for a number of reasons.
This place was not busy at all, but it was SO LOUD. Whoever was running the music kept forgetting to turn on a new song and then would turn it up really loud whenever a song they liked came on. I’m not an old granny who hates loud music, but for how early it was and how empty the bar was there was no need for me to have to shout at my fiancé. They half redeemed themselves by playing some Johnny Cash, but I was still ready to go.
On top of that, there was a rowdy drunk bunch that was seriously annoying. Sure, it’s a bar and you can expect people to be drunk, but this group was screaming and WOOOOing and no one ever asked them to quiet down. It was enough to make us leave after about 45 minutes.
It seems like they have live music here sometimes, and it would have been nice to see that (an act was supposed to be there later that night), but I didn’t want to spend any more time in here. I would definitely give this place a second chance if I was in town again to see if the expereince would be better.

My girlfriend and I are celebrating our Valentine’s Day one day early. We had a nice dinner and thought we’d see the comedy show there tonight afterwards. It being my first amateur comedy show, I didn’t expect a cover charge. I was wrong, and that’s perfectly ok. I asked my girlfriend if she’d like to see the show if we’re paying a cover charge. She didn’t, so I told the door guy (short blonde hair, sitting behind a table near the entrance) «We’ll be back another time.»
And I meant it, I did intend to come back another time. I just couldn’t afford it tonight.
As we were stepping out the door, I heard him say «You’re dressed too nice anyway, get the fuck out of my bar.» My girlfriend had glanced over her shoulder when she heard him speak and saw the words coming out of his mouth.
I’ll be sure to relate this story to whomever I know that might decide to darken your doorstep. We were dressed up because we were on a date. I work with my hands and when I’m not working I try to look nice. That’s no way to treat your customers or run a business.
EDIT: I was contacted by the person managing the comedy show that night. See below for his message. Names and identifying information have been withheld. The gentleman who swore at me and my girlfriend was not an employee of Memphis on Main.
«RE: Memphis on Main Review
«Hi Ryan, my name is J_​_​_​_​_​_​_​, I run _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​Comedy. I was directed to your review by the manager of Memphis on Main who I believe has been in contact with you as well. I want to apologize more so on behalf of myself for having that happen, it’s inexcusable. I was in charge of running the door for my show and at times was short handed and while customers were coming in I had to converse with the performers, help seat people, run sound, or talk to the new patrons who hadn’t been to a show, so sometimes I stepped outside or to a different area for a few moments, which created periods of time when I had to have someone step in and run the door for me. The young man you mentioned in your review offered to do so for a few minutes at a time and now in retrospect it was poor judgment on my behalf. I want to say, he in no way works or is in ANY way associated with Memphis on Main other than performing on some of the comedy shows (which he won’t be appearing on for a while due to this). It was not Memphis on Main’s mistake as they didn’t appoint him to the door, it was a mistake of my own for being short handed that evening and allowing him to do so. I feel bad the establishment is taking the brunt of your very deserved complaint, when the blame ultimately falls on me. I personally go out of my way to ensure a welcoming environment at any show with my label on it and am always so appreciative of anyone taking time to come out to one of our shows that I feel quite terrible that this situation occurred. Almost every show we do is no cover (the rarity was this past Wed when we had a «headline» comic in who required compensation, thus the cover at the door) — While I understand why you would not want to come back after a rather rude experience, if there is something I am able to do to help change that, please let me know, as we would love for you to come out and get a proper night as the staff and _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​Comedy are really friendly people and hope you don’t judge off of one young guy’s mistake and poor choice of expression. You can contact me at
— thanks for reading, Ryan.»

A group of friends and I came in here on a Friday night and there was a live band. The place was very chill which I liked and the band was very good — everyone was dancing the night away! The bartenders were quick and friendly and the prices were decent. Definitely a good place to grab some drinks and go dancing with friends — or just listen to the live music!

The beer selection is good… the staff is great and friendly… some of the live bands are quite good. and the price is reasonable. Can’t do too much better if you like live music in the area. Go, have fun, enjoy…