The best date night in downtown Memphis is a park-once night: dinner on South Main, an hour on the axe throwing lanes at 344 Floyd Alley, and a rooftop cocktail timed to the free Mighty Lights show on the Hernando de Soto Bridge. Everything below is one itinerary inside a short walk — not attractions scattered across three neighborhoods.
We run Craft Axe Throwing Memphis down Floyd Alley, across from AutoZone Park, with free parking in three lots around the building. That parking is the reason this whole guide works: leave the car once and the rest of the night is on foot.
The downtown Memphis date night at a glance
All distances are approximate and start from 344 Floyd Alley.
| Stop | What it is | From 344 Floyd Alley | Price band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craft Axe Throwing | 13 lanes, ninja stars, full bar | You’re here | $20–$35 per thrower |
| Catherine & Mary’s, 272 S Main St | Italian, James Beard–nominated chefs | ~13-min walk | $$$ |
| Amelia Gene’s, 255 S Front St | Contemporary fine dining, cheese cart | ~15-min walk | $$$–$$$$ |
| Itta Bena, 145 Beale St (3rd floor) | Contemporary Southern, speakeasy room | ~11-min walk | $$$ |
| The Green Beetle, 325 S Main St | Oldest tavern in Memphis, 1939 | ~15-min walk | $–$$ |
| Wiseacre Brewing HQ, 398 S B.B. King Blvd | Taproom with in-house pizza kitchen | ~13-min walk | $–$$ |
| Hu. Roof, 79 Madison Ave (17th floor) | Rooftop cocktails, bridge views | ~11-min walk | $$–$$$ |
| Makeda’s Cookies, 301 Jefferson Ave | Warm Memphis butter cookies | ~11-min walk | $ |
| Slider Inn Downtown, 363 Mulberry St | Sliders, late kitchen | ~4-min drive | $$ |
| Old Dominick Distillery, 305 S Front St | Tours, tasting room, cocktail bar | ~17-min walk | $$ |
| Loflin Yard, 7 W Carolina Ave | Indoor-outdoor bar on a shaded yard | ~5-min drive | $$ |
| Tom Lee Park / Big River Crossing | Riverfront and pedestrian bridge | ~5-min drive | Free |
Our lanes are open Wednesday and Thursday 4–9 PM, Friday 3–11 PM, Saturday 12–11 PM, and Sunday 2–8 PM — closed Monday and Tuesday, so every plan below is a Wednesday-through-Sunday night.
The classic: South Main dinner, then axes
Catherine & Mary’s (272 S Main St, about a 13-minute walk) is the dress-up pick — Tuscan and Sicilian cooking from James Beard–nominated chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, with dinner served daily from 4:30 to 10 PM and complimentary valet Monday through Saturday. Because it’s open seven nights, it’s the most schedule-proof upscale option downtown.
Amelia Gene’s (255 S Front St — S Front, not S Main, despite what a few older roundups say) is the anniversary version: contemporary fine dining from chef Nate Henssler, a serious wine list, and a signature cheese cart. Dinner runs Tuesday through Thursday 4:30–9 PM and Friday and Saturday 4:30–10 PM, closed Sunday and Monday — so it pairs with our Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Itta Bena (145 Beale St, third floor) is the moody one: a dim, speakeasy-styled contemporary Southern room above Beale rather than on it, open daily 5–10 PM. Reservations are a good idea at all three on weekends.
Then walk back to the alley. A one-hour session is $25 per thrower — about $50 plus tax for two — and includes coaching, the standard axe, and a small ninja star. Go 1.5 hours ($35 each) and the large ninja star and “The Stick All” come with it.
Is axe throwing actually a good date?
Axe throwing is a target sport where you throw a small axe at a wooden bullseye — and the format is quietly perfect for two people. You alternate throws, keep score out loud, and stand face to face for an hour instead of sitting in the dark at a movie.
At Craft Axe Throwing Memphis that means:
- 13 lanes, so a Friday or Saturday night doesn’t feel shoulder to shoulder
- A coach-led safety intro before you throw — first-timers are the norm here
- Ninja stars and premium axes on longer sessions, which is the part most couples end up competing over
- A full bar with cold craft brews and seltzers, plus HDTVs
- Ping pong, cornhole, and other games between rounds, at no extra cost
One of our Google reviewers, Erin Holliday, described the coaching balance better than our marketing does: “Jay was so awesome and super attentive!!! He helped my husband and I on date night!!! He wasn’t overcrowding us, he showed us a few tips, and let us be.”
Book a lane in Memphis — it takes about a minute, and weekend evenings go first.
The rooftop finish: axes, then the bridge light show
This is the sequence nobody else writes down. Mighty Lights is a free nightly light show on the Hernando de Soto Bridge and Big River Crossing. Shows run about 10 minutes, on the hour and the half-hour after sundown, with a finale at 10:30 PM. You can watch from anywhere along the riverfront — Tom Lee Park, Beale Street Landing, River Garden — for exactly zero dollars.
The upgrade is watching it from a bar. Hu. Roof sits on the 17th floor of the Hu. Hotel at 79 Madison Ave, about an 11-minute walk from our door, with indoor and outdoor seating, Mississippi River views, and a straight sightline to the bridge — they promote the Mighty Lights view themselves. Hours are Monday–Thursday 5–9 PM, Friday–Saturday 5–11 PM, and Sunday 2–9 PM.
One heads-up worth planning around: Hu. Roof has a casual-but-trend-forward dress code — no workout wear, tank tops, spandex, sweatpants, sheer clothing, graphic tees, house shoes, athletic or beach flip-flops, or large backpacks. Dress for the roof, not the lanes. Throwing axes doesn’t require gym clothes anyway; closed-toe shoes and something you can move your shoulder in is the whole requirement on our end.
The cheap date: under $60 for two
Start at The Green Beetle (325 S Main St), the oldest tavern in Memphis — founded in 1939 and reopened by the founder’s grandson in 2011, still family owned. Burgers, po’boys, and bar classics, open Monday through Thursday and Sunday 11 AM–10 PM and until 11 PM Friday and Saturday. It’s the rare cheap dinner that comes with a story attached.
Then throw. In summer we run a Wednesday couples deal — “Sharper Date Night,” $30 for two one-hour sessions plus a blade upgrade — but it’s a seasonal offer, so check the Memphis promotions page for what’s live before you plan the night around it. Seasonal half-off throwing before 6 PM on Wednesdays and Thursdays shows up there too.
Finish free: walk or drive down to the riverfront and catch a Mighty Lights show. Dinner, an hour of axes, and a light show on the Mississippi — under $60 for two in a downtown that usually costs more than that in parking and cover charges.
And if the date happens to fall near a birthday, our Birthday Club sends a free one-hour session voucher good for the seven days on either side of the day.
The laid-back version
Not every date needs a reservation. Wiseacre Brewing Co. HQ (398 S B.B. King Blvd) is a big taproom with roughly 30 taps and an in-house pizza kitchen, open from the afternoon into the evening and later on weekends — their hours shift, so check wiseacrebrew.com before you go. It’s card only, no cash.
If your session runs to 11 PM on a Friday, Slider Inn Downtown (363 Mulberry St, about a four-minute drive — it’s a long walk, not a short one) is one of the few real kitchens still serving, with sliders, a Maine lobster roll, a deep local draft list, and a pet-friendly patio. Kitchen runs to 10 PM Sunday–Thursday and later on weekends.
When the weather cooperates, Loflin Yard (7 W Carolina Ave, about a five-minute drive) is the “we’re not ready to go home” stop — an indoor-outdoor bar and restaurant on a big tree-shaded yard south of downtown. It’s closed Monday and Tuesday, which happens to match our closed days exactly, so it’s an easy one to remember.
Simplest option of all: we share a wall with Los Comales, so dinner is sometimes just a walk around the corner of the building.
The daytime date
Make it an afternoon. Old Dominick Distillery (305 S Front St) runs about 45-minute grain-to-glass tours with guided tastings inside a restored 100-year-old building, plus a craft cocktail bar and tasting room — book tours and check current availability on olddominick.com, since times vary. The bar is open Monday–Tuesday 12–7 PM, Wednesday–Thursday 12–9 PM, Friday–Saturday 12–10 PM, and Sunday 12–7 PM.
From there it’s a short hop to Tom Lee Park — 30 riverfront acres open daily 6 AM–10 PM, with the best sunset benches in the city — and Big River Crossing, the free pedestrian bridge over the Mississippi, nearly a mile across and also open 6 AM–10 PM.
Want dessert in the mix? Makeda’s Cookies downtown at 301 Jefferson Ave (not S Front St, a common mix-up; there’s a second shop on Airways Blvd) sells the warm Memphis butter cookies the city is known for — but it closes at 7 PM and is closed Sunday, which makes it a before-axes stop on most nights, not an after. Grab a bag on the way in.
Then finish on the lanes when the sun goes down.
Rainy or cold? The whole night still works
Every core stop here is under a roof: dinner at Catherine & Mary’s, Amelia Gene’s, Itta Bena, or The Green Beetle; 13 indoor lanes plus ping pong and cornhole at our place; indoor seating at Hu. Roof. Only the riverfront leg needs weather. If you want more all-indoor options across the city, we keep a separate list of indoor things to do in Memphis.
What’s closed when
The single most useful thing to know before you plan:
- Craft Axe Throwing Memphis — closed Monday and Tuesday; open Wednesday from 4 PM
- Amelia Gene’s — closed Sunday and Monday
- Loflin Yard — closed Monday and Tuesday
- Makeda’s Cookies (Jefferson Ave) — closed Sunday, and closes at 7 PM daily
- Open daily: Catherine & Mary’s, Itta Bena, Slider Inn, The Green Beetle, Old Dominick, Wiseacre, Hu. Roof, Tom Lee Park, Big River Crossing
Hours change; a quick check of each spot’s own site the day of is never wasted.
Build the night around your lane time
Pick your dinner, then work backward from the lanes — that’s the one reservation with a fixed clock on it. Sunset sets the light show, our session sets the rest. Reserve your axe throwing lane in downtown Memphis and the rest of the evening is a walk.