Growlers

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History

Growlers opened in 2017 at 1911 Poplar Avenue in Midtown, the building that housed the first Hi-Tone Cafe from 1998 to 2013. The Rhee family has owned the property since 1980, when Kang Rhee, Elvis Presley's karate instructor, used it as a studio. Tony Westmoreland owned the new club and brought in Jonathan Kiersky, who had run the Hi-Tone from 2007 to 2014, to work the room. In April 2026 the Commercial Appeal reported the building was listed for $799,000 and that Growlers said a change in ownership would not stop shows in the roughly 500-capacity space. That June, the Memphis Business Journal reported restaurateur Thomas Brownlee was taking over and hoped to widen the menu and the live bookings.