Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Barbecue Heavens
227
A Ribs Tour of Memphis
Aye, There's the (Dry) Rub
Memphis, Tennessee
With more than 100 barbecue restaurants
in town, Memphis has a pretty good basis
for claiming to be (yes, you guessed it) the
barbecue capital of the world. They love
barbecue so much, they even throw bolo-
gna and spaghetti on the grate.
If nothing else, Memphis
is
the world
capital of barbecued ribs—that's the part
of the pig that Memphis barbecuers really
pride themselves on. The local 'cue tradi-
tion calls for rubbing a rack of ribs with dry
seasoning and smoking them over hickory
wood, adding sauce only as a side when
it's served. Down an alley across from the
Peabody Hotel, the
Rendezvous
(52 S. 2nd
St.;
&
901/523-2746;
www.hogsfly.com),
a downtown institution since 1948, has a
well-deserved reputation for the best hick-
ory-smoked dry ribs in town. As you walk
into this huge but cozy cluttered cellar
(upstairs is a bar), you can see the food
being prepared in an old open kitchen,
where owner Charles Vergos first set up
his pit in an old coal chute. Be sure to ask
your server if they still have any of their
delicious red beans and rice—that deeply
Southern side dish is served nightly, but
only until the pot is empty. In midtown, the
Robinson family has been serving up some
equally fine dry ribs for over 25 years at
the counter of cheery, no-frills
Cozy Cor-
ner
(745 North Parkway;
&
901/527-
9158;
www.cozycornerbbq.com); try their
barbecued Cornish game hen, too.
Good-natured, boisterous
Corky's
in
East Memphis (5259 Poplar Ave;
&
901/
685-9744;
www.corkysbbq.com) pretty
much leads the pack when it comes to
smoky-sweet pork shoulder, topped with
tangy coleslaw, in a re-created roadhouse
setting with vintage rock 'n' roll piped in.
And when it comes to delectable pulled-
pork sandwiches topped with a tangy
coleslaw, locals head for a weathered old
gas station down near Graceland, where
Emily Payne has pretty much perfected
the pork sandwich at
Payne's Bar-B-Q
(1393 Elvis Presley Blvd.;
&
901/942-
7433
).
Memphis even has its own barbecue
dynasty, founded by Jim Neely at
Inter-
state Barbecue
(just off I-55 at 2265 S.
3rd St.;
&
901/775-2304;
www.interstate
barbecue.com) and continued by his neph-
ews at
Neely's Bar-B-Q
(downtown at
670 Jefferson Ave.;
&
901/521-9798;
and
in East Memphis at 5700 Mt. Moriah Rd.;
&
901/795-4177
). Just about everything
is good at these bright, friendly, casual
restaurants: the ribs, the pulled pork sand-
wiches, even—why not give it a try?—
barbecued spaghetti and barbecued
bologna.
(
Memphis International (20km/13
miles).
L
$$$
The Peabody Memphis,
149
Union Ave. (
&
901/529-3677;
www.pea
bodymemphis.com). $$
Wyndham Gar-
dens Hotel,
300 N. 2nd St. (
&
901/525-
1800;
www.wyndham.com).
