Conductor's Club: Central Station Hotel brings a new pop-up bar to Downtown Memphis

Memphis is getting a new speakeasy — at least for the month of May.

Central Station Hotel launched its Conductor's Club speakeasy on Friday, May 3. The pop-up speakeasy will be located in the pedestrian tunnel across from the Central Station trolley station along South Main Street. The walkway connects to the Memphis Farmer's Market.

"We wanted to do something unique for visitors and residents," said Amy Gray, director of sales and marketing at Central Station Hotel.

Gray said the Conductor's Club (which is a two-fold play on train conductors and music conductors) will be open Friday through Sunday during the entire month of May.

The Conductor's Club will feature live entertainment throughout the weekend with local artists on Fridays, DJs on Saturdays and jazz on Sundays. Gray said the speakeasy will feature performers from the Stax Music Academy during Memorial Day weekend.

The speakeasy will also be open Saturday mornings during the Farmer's Market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will feature a brunch cocktail menu including boozy coffee and mimosas.

The tunnel will be outfitted with longue chairs, high tops, satellite bars and new lighting along the tunnel corridor. Gray said the new lighting fixtures will remain in place after the pop-up bar run ends.

"We wanted to bring a little more of Central Station outside," she said.

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Gray said the hotel has been discussing a possible summer and fall pop-up series to complement existing entertainment such as the hotel's Live at the Tracks weekly event. She added there's been a stronger focus on accenting Central Station as "the hub or living room" for the South Main neighborhood. The hotel was originally trying to secure a boxcar to put outside the old rail line near the hotel's main entrance and check-in area, however, the logistics did not work out.

In August 2023, Made in Memphis held a Memphis Maker's pop-up market in the South Main pedestrian tunnel last year during the Memphis Farmer's Market. Gray said the hotel took some inspiration from that event and decided to pivot its pop-up concept to the walkway.

Outside the Farmer's Market morning hours, the club entrance will only be open along South Main Street. The pedestrian tunnel will also remain closed to the public outside Conductor Club's hours of operation throughout the month of May, Gray said.

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Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X/Twitter, @neilStrebig. 

Conductor's Club

Where: 545 S. Main St. | Pedestrian tunnel entrance along South Main across from Central Station trolley station

Hours: Open from May 3 through May 26: Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday mornings (during Memphis Farmer's Market) 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Central Station Hotel in Memphis opens new pop-up bar: What to expect