Mary’s Bar of Tropical Escapism — Restaurant in Memphis

Edit 3/5/25: It's seems like it's becoming hit/miss depending on the bartenders.

I saw they had a $13/14(unsure?) daiquiri of the day with the 16yr Isautier, so I figured I could try a neat pour of that rum, but they told me it would be ~$24 (iirc). I asked what the daiquiri measurements were, 2oz;1oz;1oz and they replied yes... So I asked if I could just get the daiquiri of the day, hold the lime, sugar, and ice and they said no. It seems like it would be a good opportunity for less mess and easier work. They don't serve their daiquiris up, either anyway. Confused, I left. I asked another bartender later outside of BOTE about it and they were equally confused by my experience, and then told me a story on how they visited one time with an expired ID... They understood they had to leave, but thought the delivery of the news to them from BOTE bartender could have been handled better.

I had one experience where I went in, and they didn't have one rum, had run out of another rum(RL Seal), and couldn't give food combo because they ran out of pizza. Not a bartender thing, but the stars weren't aligned so I bounced. Can't remember when that was. But except for the stock/inventory, it was just bad coincidences.

Just observing a lot of mixed experiences. Would genuinely nonsarcastically love to understand more from the owner/bar program manager about the 16yr, and why a daiquiri, rum-only hold-the-lime, -sugar, and -ice, would be a problem. I really like the place, but I keep collecting weird or odd stories and experiences.(Edit 5/17/25, i did reach out and got a reply about it in 24 hours. I disagree with the policy, but I sincerely appreciate the fast reply and candor.)

One evening I did hang out when it was nearly empty. A green out-of-town bartender was visiting with his girl, and had some conversation with them and the BOTE bartender(different than the above one). We had a great time, and the different bartender was great. So it just seems it's dependent on the bartender, which can happen a lot at bars, too.

Edit 1/26/25: forgot to add, auto 20pct gratuity. Not my jam, but I get it. Waiting for Angostura rum and amaro 🤞

Edit 11/17/24: they have more than 1 gin! 2, which is enough. The Saturn was great with the better gin. Bartenders were great. I'll be coming back to try many rums. Their mai tai is a real mai tai.

Cool tiki bar in Memphis. Great tiki cocktail selection. They will flame up drinks that call for flames. I was going to get a Saturn, but only Gordon's gin. Massive rum selection, but at least 2 cocktails call for gin, and only Gordon's. So I got something different. The pizza was a lot smaller than it looked in the photos. The crust and or sauce is indeed interestingly a little sweet, but I thought it was good. Just wished there was more pizza for $8. Crust thickness was maybe a 3.5/5 (thickness, not quality. Crust was tasty and quality.) No table service makes it a little awkward. Great decor. A little dim for myself, but I like brighter areas. Music volume perfect, and good tiki music.

It's similar to other classic high end bars in that you would have no idea if you walked or drove past it. Nondescript on the outside. Very tiki on the inside.

It was $30 for one person, pizza, 1 cocktail, and tip, so a little expensive, but cool. Also the cherries are the neon red ones not lux nor Rex etc. Would go again, hoping for one or two gin options.

Also, I think people are smoking a little too close to the front door and that the bar is a low pressure environment, so it's pulling the smell of smoke in. I was wondering that when I was sitting in there and then when I left I saw people smoking out front. It's such a small place that a little bit of smoke...

We saw this place on the memphis 901 restaurant page and decided to check it out for date night, drinks and decomposing from the work week. Beginning to end, it was horrible. We stood outside for 30 mins in the memphis heat for no reason, the door lady said it was full inside; we entered and FIVE tables were open and clean for seating.

You stand at the bar to order drinks (only drinks bc the kitchen was closed until 8pm... it was 7:56 pm 😑). The young lady taking my order from the behind over talked me the entire time, i literally had to fight verbally to place my order as she explained rules to everything we tried to order." Can't order this", "we out of that", "mfer this or that".... she definitely seemed like she was coming down off something and was behind testy... both guest seated at the table next to us ask "what's her problem when seated after placing orders?" Both adding their experiences were nothing like what's advertised.

Behind the horrible customer service, one male bartender peeped what happened and tired to damage control by asking how he could help; greatly appreciated. We (all 3 tables) concluded we won't be back... I hate...

This was my second time at Mary’s , the 1st time was a much better experience, the young lady was very nice ,the man was not friendly at all , asked him for water and it took forever, although the young lady took care of us , the not so friendly man closed out tab and selected 18% tip(I had to reselect the tip of my choice) on top of the 20% gratuity, only the total appeared on the signing pad the LBD tax , sales tax and gratuity was not included , that’s very sketchy!! I selected for the receipt to print and it never printed , the not so friendly man just stared like I was the problem and BTW he had already walked off before I finished the transaction ,so I had to ask him for the receipt that was never printed . I was not aware of the 20% gratuity until after I received the receipt! The first two rounds for us great, the third round not so great as if the drinks had no liquor added and you can feel nothing going on with...