Neil's Bar and Grill

Neil's Bar & Grille

1835 Madison AvenueMemphis, TN 38103901-278-6345

Neils is a large multipurpose bar located in the heart of Midtown that begins what i informally regard as the Madison Strip: a group of bars that begins at Neil's and ends at the P&H Cafe. Neil's attracts a wide range of clientle because it offers a wide range of activities. As a young man with a fake ID i was first dragged here by fraternity brothers to participate in Karaoke night on Wednesday for their entertainment. Thus began my well documented love affair with Karaoke.

Neils also boasts weekly performances by this man:

That's Eddie Smith on guitar. He does skillful country standards every Friday on what Neil's boasts to be the biggest deck in the city. He a attracts a crowd that knows choreography for "Paint Me a Birmingham", has memorized the secret third verse to "Friends in Low Places" and shout out requests for "Freebird" unironically. I can say first hand that he has developed a fanatical if unlikely local following.

Three mouthbreathing rednecks ignore their dates and gawk at Eddie. Pathetic.

Easily my favorite aspect of Neil's is this little beauty in the corner:

So many hours of my life, so many dollars of my pay, so many spots
on my liver...

Neil's boasts a highly competetive (and highly seedy) microcosm of shufflepuck enthusiasts with whom the experienced pucker can test his skill. Beginners will be welcomed with open arms, shown a few of the basics, offered a friendly wager and then hustled out of all of their beer money. Watch your back.

Of course Neil's does have some drawbacks. As foreshadowed above, Neil's attracts a pretty shady crowd of bikers and rednecks, in addition to obnoxious college kids who like to hog the pool table. The atmosphere and staff lack the friendliness you would like from a neighborhood watering hole, especially Neil's son who has a history of being a grade A douche on occasion.

In lieu of an accurate rating i'm rating this two drunk pictures of myself in neils, which are worth about .23 Drunk Zinnie's pictures each.

First Review: OLD ZINNIE'S!

1718 Madison Ave, Memphis,

TN Tel: (901) 274-7101

Zinnie's is certainly no secret to Midtowners and Rhodes students. Zinnie's is a midsized dive bar with a unique atmosphere, friendly staff, surprisingly satisfying menu options and enjoyable amenities such as board games and free popcorn (best with the Tabasco sauce the regulars will insist you pour all over it.) The greatest assets OZ has to offer is the spirit of camaraderie you'll encounter with the friendly and knowledgeable bartenders and the regulars. It's very difficult to enter Zinnie's alone and leave without some new friends. The bar has a limited draught beer selection, consisting solely of Bass, Guinness, Yuengleung and PBR. The bartenders have a wide knowledge of shots and mixed drinks. The authors of this blog have a great deal of history here: Many treasured and misplaced memories between games of spades and connect four. Here are my gripes:

• Lots of underage college kids. Though having an abundance of over 18 and under 21 coeds at a bar is not always something people complain about, they can result in the staff resorting to gestapo tactics to protect themselves from TABC agents.
• LOTS of smoke. don't bring clothes you don't want to smell like an ashtray.
• They used to have a kick ass jukebox, lots of local artists and motown but now they just have one of those internet connected ones that you can find anywhere. Lame as hell, Zinnies.
• I have no longer gone to college with all of the bartenders. We miss you James, Sabbath, Liz, and Rich.
  

I don't have any kind of rating system yet, so i'm gonna give Zinnies one drunk picture of me inside: