The Hi Tone Gets Spicy With A New Hot Sauce
The first thing to know is this:
The first thing to know is this:
The Hi Tone has a new hot sauce, a special garlic habanero recipe. You can purchase your bottle at the bar, and all proceeds benefit the legendary music venue’s pandemic recovery.
The next thing to know is this: the Hi Tone is open every day, from 5 p.m. to midnight at 282-284 N. Cleveland. You enter through the back, just go up the stairs.
While they’re building back up to a busy concert schedule, they have:
- Hot Sauce launch pop-up market on May 29 with Reserving Dirtnaps
- killer food menu - you can order ONLINE and pickup!
- comedy open mic nights and acoustic shows
- Pop-up markets
- Shower Curtain concert series (next one is Heels on May 21)
- weekly Sunday night jazz brunch
Owner Brian “Skinny” McCabe powered through the covid shutdowns, leaning on his Memphis shirt company Dirty Cotton and the Hi Tone's food and takeout menu to support his employees and insurance for them when the music venue was forced to close and cancel shows.
This new hot sauce venture is in the same vein. It’s all about supporting local establishments through this tough time, and doing it creatively.
By the way, if you don’t follow the Hi Tone on Facebook or Instagram, you’re missing out on gems like this:
Sunday Night Jazz Brunch at The Hi Tone
Another way the Hi Tone is keeping things spicy is with NIGHT BRUNCH.
Do you:
- a) work during brunch on the weekends?
- b) crave breakfast food at night?
- c) experience capitalism fatigue on Sunday nights?
- d) desire to avoid the bottomless brunch instagram crowd?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then the Hi-Tone’s Sunday night Jazz brunch is for you. Chef Sleepy Johnson serves brunch specials from 5 p.m. until midnight every week. Last week, he had country fried chicken with jalapeño gravy, fries, eggs, bacon, toast, and a slice of tomato (for health). Wow.
On the third or fourth Sunday of the month, there’s a live jazz band, and in between deejays like DJ Leroy, DJ JJ Wilson (Little Rock), DJ Tree, and DJ Bizzle Bluebland spin tunes. “It’s super chill,” Skinny explains. “It’s unlike anything you’ve been to.”
Hardcore Hot Sauce Pop-Up Party May 29
The Hi Tone will co-host a pop-up market on May 29 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the venue, along with local hardcore band Reserving Dirtnaps. The band won’t perform that day but band member Brandon Pearce will release a new Grizzlies jersey inspired shirt at the event. There will be other hardcore and metal-inspired vendors on site, too.
“Brandon is donating all the proceeds of the limited edition shirt towards the Hi Tone’s recovery. When they do start playing shows again, they’ll have one at the bar,” Skinny explains. Locals supporting locals, you love to see it.
About the Hi Tone Hot Sauce
Skinny and his team tried a ton of sauces before selecting their current recipe. In other words, they went through a lot of pain for this.
“We tasted a ghost pepper sauce that was like being punched in the face,” Skinny recalls. “There was another that was like being pepper sprayed.” For the first release, they went with a relatively mild hot sauce. “It’s still hot, but it has a really good flavor.”
Artist Ronnie Lewis of Harvest Creative made the label. Again, you can pick up your bottle for $9 plus tax at the bar. Stop in, have some dinner and drinks, and get a bottle for all your hot sauce needs.
You can also get your Hi Tone Hot Sauce from the
Our Top Five Favorite Hot Sauce Applications
What foods need your new Hi Tone hot sauce? Skinny and Sleepy offer a few suggestions:
Sleepy’s Top Four
1. Hi Tone’s chicken tenders
2. Hi Tone’s loaded tots
3. Krystal’s chili pups
4. Starbucks egg bites
Skinny’s Top Five
1. Garlic parmesan oysters from Pearl’s
2. Tripa tacos from La Guadalupana
3. Smoked tuna dip from Clay’s Smoked Tuna (don’t sleep on this!)
4. A hotdog with mayo and hot sauce only
5. Hi Tone’s nachos
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