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By Root 644 0

grimy sports bars and abandoned hotels. The neighborhood, an easy walk from busy Beale St, is home to several worthy restaurants. The Arcade, open since 1919, is the oldest restaurant in Memphis and its ultra-retro interior has appeared in a number of movies, including Great Balls of Fire and The Client. Elvis used to eat here, and the Arcade still has a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich in his honor. Have breakfast - country ham and eggs, sweet-potato pancakes, or biscuits with cream gravy - at the counter, or grab a quick lunch in one of the aqua-and-teal booths before the 3pm closing time. The Arcade is still run by the family of founder Speros Zepatos, whose Greek heritage is reflected in the feta salad and Greek-style pizza.

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MEMPHIS IN MAY

The month-long Memphis in May festival (www.memphisinmay.org) is held in Tom Lee Park overlooking the river downtown. First comes the Memphis Music Festival, when 100,000 visitors show up for a rollicking weekend to watch big-name acts from Aretha Franklin to Cat Power. Next is International Week, a food and culture celebration dedicated to a different country each year. Then there’s the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, where hundreds of teams compete in three categories: pork ribs, pork shoulder and whole hog.

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Over on Front St, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken has been written up in Vogue and named by GQ as one of 10 meals in the world worth flying in for. GQ’s right. Gus’s golden chicken skin is shatteringly crisp, yet melts in your mouth with a burst of spice; the meat beneath is fall-of-the-bone moist. You could easily eat a whole chicken’s worth, happily ignoring the dreary tile walls and concrete floor of the dim space. The original Gus’s is in nearby Mason, TN, and the owner still sends buckets of batter daily to the Front St location rather than put the recipe in another pair of hands.

Downtown by the Mississippi, the air is always perfumed with the scent of stale beer and fry grease. The Delta blues were born here on Beale St, now a pedestrian thoroughfare lined with crowded juke joints and Southern-themed souvenir shops. By day the street has a carnival ambience, complete with funnel cakes and bright, plastic yard glasses of daiquiris. More often than not, nice weather brings outdoor mini-fairs of various stripes to the plaza at the corner of Beale and 4th St, with corn dogs, knock-off purses and incense vendors.

On Beale, the place for late-night, post-bar grub is Dyer’s, home of the deep-fried hamburger. Dyer’s claims its “ageless cooking grease” - oil that has been continuously strained and added to since 1912 - is the secret to the burgers’ succulence. When Dyer’s changed locations in the 1990s, the magic grease was transported in a locked box under police escort. Though the patties are not noticeably greasy, they are thin, so go for a triple. Though the restaurant itself is new, it maintains a bright, retro-style ambience, with booths and snappy service. After eating, you’ll be ready to put in another round at the clubs - many are open until 3am or later on weekends.

For another time-honored Memphis meal, find your way to Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous. In a back alley off Third St and down a flight of stairs, just getting to the Rendezvous seems a bit illicit, like you’re on your way to a speakeasy. This cavernous cellar, made cozy with red-and-white checked tablecloths and all sorts of historical memorabilia on the walls, has been serving the quintessential dry-rub ribs since 1948. Gnawing every bit of succulent meat off the bones is a primal experience. Expect big crowds.

At lunchtime, old-fashioned Leonard’s on Main is always full of downtown working stiffs filling up at the lunch buffet, which offers pork barbecue along with yummy Southern sides like turnip greens, maple peaches and banana pudding. Leonard’s mascot, a pig in a top hat and tails, is nicknamed Mr Brown - a reference to the Memphis tradition of mixing in the burnt bits (Mr Brown) from the outside of the pork shoulder with the lighter inside meat (Miss White).