Hotel Napoleon’s bar reopens with same name, different operator
Hotel Napoleon’s Archives Bar & Bistro has reopened — but with a new operator — less than three months after it closed.
The Downtown bar and bistro opened in 2024 under Chef Phillip Dewayne but closed in June.
About a month ago, Hugh Balthrop, owner of Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co., was asked if he was interested in the 179 Madison Ave. bar and bistro. He said he “definitely” was, seeing the restaurant as a way to showcase his other culinary talents not related to gelato.
But it was a quick turnaround. Within three weeks, Balthrop signed a lease, curated a menu and opened his new concept. Luckily, the space was turnkey.
“I had to be very, very, very creative,” Balthrop said. “It was on a fast track. We had to hit the floor running.”
Balthrop kept the hotel bar’s name, because he didn’t want to erase that nod to the building’s history. Before the boutique hotel was developed, the more than century-old building was home to the daily Memphis Press-Scimitar newspaper, which closed in 1983. The “archives” refers to the newspaper’s library of past editions.