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Ligeti
Citizen
Username: Ligeti
Post Number: 586
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Monday, February 13, 2006 - 4:30 pm: | 
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Can anyone recommend a good BBQ restaurant in Memphis? Not a chain or tourist trap. A simple, small, family-owned joint with atmosphere and good food.
Any other Memphis food tips would be appreciated. |
eliz
Supporter
Username: Eliz
Post Number: 1321
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 9:21 am: |
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Memphis isn't that big so all the good BBQ places become pretty touristy. My company is hq'd in Memphis so I go a few times a year - my favorite is the Rendezvous but we go to Corky's (it's become a chain) fairly often because it's close to my office - I don't think it's the best but it's certainly good. Cozy Corner is also good. You can get Corky's ribs at the airport which sure beats peanuts for the flight home - just bring some Wet Ones.
Remember- Memphis is famous for dry ribs - that took me awhile to get used to. |
Robert Little
Citizen
Username: Boblittle
Post Number: 316
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 3:24 pm: |
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Where to start in my former hometown? There are over 500 barbecue places.
Rendezvous (closed Sunday/Monday, no weekday lunch) is a huge tourist trap. The volume is much too high to retain quality. There's none other downtown of note. Avoid Mike's. Leonard's is a buffet, which is beyond the Pale. In its defense, Rendezvous has a wonderful atmosphere and the nicest waiters in the world. If your ribs are over/under done, they won't be offended if you send 'em back. Don't order anything other than ribs.
Corky's has become a chain but the East Memphis branch is the first. Not bad, but tries to do too much.
Cozy Corner doesn't serve dinner.
My favorite is Jim Neely's Interstate on Route 51 south toward the Mississippi line. Do not confuse it with Neely's, run by Jim's nephews in Midtown by the county medical center.
The simply named BBQ Shop on Madison Avenue in Midtown by Overton Square is excellent. Best known for pulled (or chopped) sandwiches rather than ribs.
Willingham's burned down (somewhat suspiciously). The Commissary's not worth the drive to Germantown.
If you drive out to the federal prison in Mason, Tennessee, (Exit 35) you'll find Bozo's, litigator of the famous intellectual property case against the clown. The barbecue place won as their name predates the clown. Very good as is their lemon icebox pie. Mason also features Gus's Fried Chicken, the finest purveyor of that product in the world. It's not the same since it burned down (somewhat suspiciously) but it was rebuilt in a little bigger shack and replaced the hanging bare bulbs with fancy florescents strips.
The airport places don't have legitimate barbecue pits. I suspect the product (pork is just called "product" in the Bluff City and all comes from the same meat wholesalers) starts out parcooked at their real restaurants.
Jeffrey Steingarten's "Man Who Ate Everything" reviews several places. Most journalistic overviews go to the best known, Rendezvous and Corky's and skip smaller, better places.
Other food tips forthcoming. You may also private line me. |
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