The best corporate outings in Memphis stay downtown: throw axes across from AutoZone Park, catch a Redbirds game, see the Peabody ducks, hear live music on Beale Street, or cruise the Mississippi. Each idea below is a complete plan
- an activity, a group-friendly dinner, and the logistics - all within about a ten-minute walk of the ballpark.
We run Craft Axe Throwing Memphis at 344 Floyd Alley, in the middle of everything on this list, so these are the itineraries we watch corporate groups actually use - not a vendor directory written from nowhere.
The five ideas at a glance
| # | Outing | Where | Walk from 344 Floyd Alley |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Axe throwing + dinner next door | Craft Axe Throwing → Los Comales Downtown | Under 1 minute |
| 2 | Memphis Redbirds game | AutoZone Park, 200 Union Ave | Across the street |
| 3 | Peabody ducks + legendary barbecue | Peabody Hotel → Rendezvous or Majestic Grille | ~6–9 minutes |
| 4 | Beale Street music night | Flight or Kooky Canuck → Silky O’Sullivan’s | ~6–10 minutes |
| 5 | Mississippi riverboat cruise | Downtown riverfront | Short walk or ride |
1. Axe throwing, then dinner through the shared wall
Start with the outing that requires the least planning and gets the most buy-in. Craft Axe Throwing Memphis has 13 throwing lanes, a full bar, ninja stars included in every session, ping pong and cornhole between rounds, and a versatile event space that comfortably absorbs everything from a six-person sales team to a company-wide party. Coaches run the safety briefing and instruction, so nobody needs experience - the confident first-timers who walk in talking big are half the entertainment. Free parking in three lots surrounding the building solves the one downtown headache before it starts.
When the last axe sticks, dinner is literally through the wall: Los Comales Downtown (345 Madison Ave) shares a wall with the venue and is where most groups end the night - fajitas, tacos, queso fundido, big margaritas, and rooftop seating with downtown views. It’s open daily and handles large groups well.
If you’re planning during the summer, two seasonal deals (May through August) make weeknights the smart pick: a 4 Lane Special (20 throwers, 1.5 hours, $400, Monday–Thursday) and an 8 Lane Special (40 throwers, 1.5 hours, $750, Monday–Thursday), plus walk-in event tours every Wednesday from 4 to 6 PM - stop by, see the space, and test a lane, no appointment needed. Outside the summer season, custom large-group pricing is available year-round. Details and the inquiry form are on the Memphis parties and corporate events page.
2. Catch a Memphis Redbirds game at AutoZone Park
AutoZone Park (200 Union Ave) - home of the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A club - sits directly across from Floyd Alley, which makes a ballgame the easiest large-group outing downtown: tickets, seats together, and a built-in two-to-three-hour window where nobody has to make conversation happen.
Two ways corporate groups pair it:
- Pre-game throwing session: an afternoon hour on the lanes across the street, then walk over for first pitch.
- Game + pizza: after the final out, walk about 8 minutes to Aldo’s Pizza Pies (100 S Main St) - NY-style pizza with a full bar, the budget-friendly way to feed a big casual group.
3. The downtown classics: Peabody ducks and legendary barbecue
Hosting out-of-town colleagues or clients? Give them the Memphis they came for. The Peabody Hotel (149 Union Ave, about a third of a mile from our door) runs its famous duck march twice daily - the resident ducks parade through the lobby to the fountain, it’s free to watch, and it never fails with a group. Check the Peabody’s site for the day’s times before you build the schedule around it.
Then eat like you mean it:
- Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous (52 S 2nd St, ~6-minute walk) has served dry-rub ribs from a basement off a downtown alley since 1948 and runs dedicated private-event and catering programs. One caveat: it’s closed Sunday and Monday, so this is a Tuesday-through-Saturday plan.
- The Majestic Grille (145 S Main St, ~9-minute walk) is the impress-the-clients pick - an American bar and grill inside a 1913 former movie theater, with silent films playing during dinner and private dining for corporate events.
4. A Beale Street music night
Beale Street’s live-music district is about a 10-minute walk from Floyd Alley and is the standard evening cap for downtown corporate groups. Build it as dinner-then-music:
- Upscale dinner: Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar (39 S Main St, ~7-minute walk) does fine dining built around flights - food and wine both - with private-event options. Dinner only, and reservations are required for parties of six or more.
- Casual dinner: Kooky Canuck (87 S 2nd St, ~6-minute walk) serves Canadian-themed burgers and poutine with a full bar and late hours - and if someone on your team wants to attempt the 4-pound “Kookamonga” burger challenge, that’s team building too.
Then walk to Silky O’Sullivan’s (183 Beale St), an 11,000-square-foot Irish bar and live-music venue with the largest outdoor patio downtown. Dueling pianos run Tuesday through Saturday at 7 PM, and they actively book group events and private parties - call ahead for a big crew.
5. A Mississippi riverboat cruise
For the big-group offsite - the all-hands, the client entertainment night, the “we need something different this year” request - a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi is the classic Memphis answer. Options range from public sightseeing cruises to dinner cruises with live blues and jazz to full private charters, all departing from the downtown riverfront. Book well ahead for private charters, and pair a daytime cruise with dinner at any of the downtown spots above - the Rendezvous and the Majestic Grille are both an easy walk from the river.
How do you pick the right one?
Match the outing to the group, not the other way around:
- Mixed group, unknown interests: axe throwing + Los Comales. Everyone can throw an axe; nobody has to be good at it.
- Big casual group on a budget: Redbirds game + Aldo’s.
- Clients or out-of-town leadership: Peabody ducks + Rendezvous or the Majestic Grille.
- Team that wants a full night out: dinner + Beale Street + Silky’s.
- Company-wide event: riverboat charter, or an 8-lane axe throwing buyout in summer.
And they stack. The whole list sits inside a half-mile of downtown grid, so an afternoon throwing session, a walk past the Peabody, dinner on South Main, and music on Beale is one itinerary, not four. If you want help planning the axe throwing leg - lane counts, timing, food, custom pricing for large groups - the Craft Axe Throwing Memphis events team plans corporate outings every week and will tell you honestly what works for your headcount.