A new bar is about to take over the ground floor of Downtown Memphis's Hu. Hotel, and it's coming from two names already known in the city's drink scene. Bar Limina owner Josh Conley and Ugly Art Co. owner Anderson Goin are teaming up to launch a pop-up lobby bar at 79 Madison Ave., set to open Thursday, Nov. 12.
The concept, dubbed the Hu. Lobby by Goin, will fill the hotel's ground floor while the property works on a more permanent rooftop lounge, according to the Daily Memphian. The timing lines up with the end of an era on the hotel's roof: Hu. Roof, the hotel's longtime rooftop bar, is scheduled to pour its last drinks on Saturday, Nov. 7, just days before the new lobby concept opens its doors.
A Downtown Hotel With a History of Reinvention
Hu. Hotel has leaned on its food and drink offerings to draw Downtown visitors for years. The 110-room property, which includes 42 suites, is part of the Aparium Hotel Group portfolio and sits at 79 Madison Ave. in the heart of Downtown Memphis. That address has seen plenty of change before: the hotel had been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the area in March 2020, and it reopened on Aug. 12, 2021, as reported by the Commercial Appeal.
At that 2021 reopening, the hotel's flagship restaurant, Hu. Diner, was not yet scheduled to return, so the property leaned on two other dining options instead: Hu. Roof and a casual cafe called Lucy's. Lucy's Cafe was planned as a spot adjacent to the lobby, offering specialty coffees, updated takes on classic cocktails, baked goods, and both sweet and savory small bites, per the same Commercial Appeal report. Hu. Hotel's rooftop bar had also received a makeover ahead of that reopening, according to Downtown Memphis.
What Made Hu. Roof a Downtown Draw
Part of what made Hu. Roof a destination was its view. The rooftop bar offered sightlines of the Mississippi River and the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, and visitors could catch the bridge's nightly light show, which starts at the top and middle of every hour at sundown, according to the hotel's own description on its website.
With Hu. Roof set to close and its replacement still under construction, the new ground-floor Hu. Lobby gives Conley and Goin a chance to keep a bar running at the property in the interim. Conley already owns Bar Limina, and Goin owns Ugly Art Co., giving the pop-up concept built-in credibility among Memphis bar-goers before it even opens its doors next month.
