So my friend and I got home Sunday after our Memphis trip, we left Woodstock, GA, ate an early lunch at Character's Famous Barbecue in Adairsville, a late lunch at Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur, AL, and on to Memphis where we had dinner at Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous.
Our strategy was to order the combo plate with ribs at each restaurant with different other meats so we could get the most variety from each stop. Basically, that was baby back ribs(dry), brisket, pulled pork, chicken and sausage at almost every stop.
Saturday we had lunch at Melissa Cookston's Memphis Barbecue Co. in Horn Lake, MS(Memphis suburb) and dinner at Central BBQ's midtown location on(you guessed it
) Central Ave..
We left Sunday before any places opened but did grab a very light breakfast at the Waffle House somewhere West of Nashville.(OK, 6 restaurants if you want to call Waffle House a restaurant)
All in all, I'd have to say the best barbecue in Memphis(and of the trip) was in Mississippi at Memphis Barbecue Company. We got in just around 11:00 when they opened, the restaurant is clean, service was fast and friendly and we got to meet and chat with Melissa as well. The ribs were well prepared, just the right texture and the pork wasn't buried under the rub. The pulled pork, brisket and sausage were excellent as well.
I'd give second place to Big Bob Gibson's, everything was good(but not exceptional) and the chicken with the white sauce was very good, not at all what I expected. The sauce is very thin with primarily a vinegar taste with a nice combination of spices.
I was very disappointed with Charlie Vergo's, the ribs were just barely warm and you could tell they were on their second reheat. I expected something different since they grill their ribs without smoke but they were a little tough. The rub was good but there was too much of it for my taste. We just had ribs and sides there, no pulled pork, etc..
Central BBQ was a bit disappointing as well, the ribs had so much rub and bark you got very little pork taste. The brisket was sliced about 1/8" thin and was still tough, the pulled pork was OK and the sausage tasted like Hillshire Farms kielbasa. Jeff chickened out and ordered a barbecue salad so I didn't get to try their chicken. The onion rings were good!
Character's was OK, good pulled pork, average brisket but the ribs had been reheated there as well and had a mushy texture.
All in all it was a great trip except for driving an hour or so through a thunderstorm leaving Decatur. We did go on the Graceland tour(how can you go to Memphis and not see Graceland?), spent Friday night downtown on Beale St. drinking beer and listening to music but there was no traditional blues to be found. I came back full as the proverbial tick and didn't eat anything else until Monday!
That's about it, great trip but now I'm looking forward to the weekend when I'll fire up the SCG and smoke some ribs the way I like them!
Best,
Bill
Our strategy was to order the combo plate with ribs at each restaurant with different other meats so we could get the most variety from each stop. Basically, that was baby back ribs(dry), brisket, pulled pork, chicken and sausage at almost every stop.
Saturday we had lunch at Melissa Cookston's Memphis Barbecue Co. in Horn Lake, MS(Memphis suburb) and dinner at Central BBQ's midtown location on(you guessed it
) Central Ave..We left Sunday before any places opened but did grab a very light breakfast at the Waffle House somewhere West of Nashville.(OK, 6 restaurants if you want to call Waffle House a restaurant)
All in all, I'd have to say the best barbecue in Memphis(and of the trip) was in Mississippi at Memphis Barbecue Company. We got in just around 11:00 when they opened, the restaurant is clean, service was fast and friendly and we got to meet and chat with Melissa as well. The ribs were well prepared, just the right texture and the pork wasn't buried under the rub. The pulled pork, brisket and sausage were excellent as well.
I'd give second place to Big Bob Gibson's, everything was good(but not exceptional) and the chicken with the white sauce was very good, not at all what I expected. The sauce is very thin with primarily a vinegar taste with a nice combination of spices.
I was very disappointed with Charlie Vergo's, the ribs were just barely warm and you could tell they were on their second reheat. I expected something different since they grill their ribs without smoke but they were a little tough. The rub was good but there was too much of it for my taste. We just had ribs and sides there, no pulled pork, etc..
Central BBQ was a bit disappointing as well, the ribs had so much rub and bark you got very little pork taste. The brisket was sliced about 1/8" thin and was still tough, the pulled pork was OK and the sausage tasted like Hillshire Farms kielbasa. Jeff chickened out and ordered a barbecue salad so I didn't get to try their chicken. The onion rings were good!
Character's was OK, good pulled pork, average brisket but the ribs had been reheated there as well and had a mushy texture.
All in all it was a great trip except for driving an hour or so through a thunderstorm leaving Decatur. We did go on the Graceland tour(how can you go to Memphis and not see Graceland?), spent Friday night downtown on Beale St. drinking beer and listening to music but there was no traditional blues to be found. I came back full as the proverbial tick and didn't eat anything else until Monday!
That's about it, great trip but now I'm looking forward to the weekend when I'll fire up the SCG and smoke some ribs the way I like them!
Best,
Bill
