Yvonne and I had a VERY late lunch (almost 4pm!) yesterday after her medical appointment at Vanderbilt, and I had spotted Central BBQ on the way in, and it was the closest food on our way back out from Vanderbilt. It was literally 1-2 blocks from Vanderbilt Medical Center...
Central BBQ as you know is a mainstay of Memphis BBQ, but has expanded, and they now have a location in downtown Nashville. So this review ONLY applies to the location at 1601 21ST AVE S, NASHVILLE, TN 37212 (I'm not yelling! I pasted it from their website).
Being almost 4pm, there was at most one other customer in there at the time we walked in. We paid via an app to park on the sidewalk right outside.
Being VERY VERY hungry, I had this false notion I could eat a full rack of ribs. It was $20 for a half rack, and $27 for a full rack. I ordered it with onion rings and mac-n-cheese. Yvonne ordered a half chicken platter with slaw and fries. I ordered my ribs just with the dry rub, since I know that is how they make them in Memphis. Yvonne was offered "dry", "wet" or "muddy" for her chicken, and we were told that meant dry rub, sauced, or dry + sauced (muddy). She ordered wet. I considered a beer, but the line you order at doesn't sell the alcohol - you have to go to a separate bar for that, so we just went with water - probably best since I was fixing to hop back on the highway and drive in 5pm Nashville traffic, haha...
About 5 minutes after we got our water and sat down, someone from the kitchen came out told us they had run out of smoked chicken halves, and could offer anything else on the menu. Yvonne went with the pulled chicken platter in lieu of what she had ordered. About 5 minutes later the food came out.
Here's mine:
First - I hate to say it, but the onion rings were the best part of this meal! They were really really good! The Mac-n-cheese not so much. I ate maybe half of that little cup of Mac. It wasn't quite Kraft Mac from a box, but it wasn't much better than that in flavor. I would not order that side again if I went there. The Mac I had on Sunday at Big Bob Gibson's was 1000x better. I could eat a big bowl of that. This - nope. The onion rings were top notch though - hot and fresh from the fryer.
The ribs - I started at the thinner end with the longer bones. The rub was good, and while too spicy for Yvonne's current taste buds (chemo did a number on them), not overly spicy. The ribs at that end were just a bit dry. I almost got some sauce for them in fact, but resisted. As I worked my way towards the middle of the rack of ribs, the ones towards the center were significantly more moist and closer to what I expected. Would I eat these ribs again? Yes. But I've had better in Memphis - at both the Rendezvous and at BB King's, which isn't even considered a BBQ destination.
Yvonne's pulled chicken was also a little dry and she said the chicken half she had at Big Bob's in Decatur was much better. Her slaw, which was mayonnaise based, had no flavor, and while she normally likes slaw, she put it aside. The fries were good, and I tried a couple, but not remarkable.
So, long story short, based on this experience, I would rank Central BBQ in Nashville as maybe a B- or even C+. Good, but they need to pay attention to the details, and not overcook things to the point of being dried out.
Central BBQ as you know is a mainstay of Memphis BBQ, but has expanded, and they now have a location in downtown Nashville. So this review ONLY applies to the location at 1601 21ST AVE S, NASHVILLE, TN 37212 (I'm not yelling! I pasted it from their website).
Being almost 4pm, there was at most one other customer in there at the time we walked in. We paid via an app to park on the sidewalk right outside.
Being VERY VERY hungry, I had this false notion I could eat a full rack of ribs. It was $20 for a half rack, and $27 for a full rack. I ordered it with onion rings and mac-n-cheese. Yvonne ordered a half chicken platter with slaw and fries. I ordered my ribs just with the dry rub, since I know that is how they make them in Memphis. Yvonne was offered "dry", "wet" or "muddy" for her chicken, and we were told that meant dry rub, sauced, or dry + sauced (muddy). She ordered wet. I considered a beer, but the line you order at doesn't sell the alcohol - you have to go to a separate bar for that, so we just went with water - probably best since I was fixing to hop back on the highway and drive in 5pm Nashville traffic, haha...
About 5 minutes after we got our water and sat down, someone from the kitchen came out told us they had run out of smoked chicken halves, and could offer anything else on the menu. Yvonne went with the pulled chicken platter in lieu of what she had ordered. About 5 minutes later the food came out.
Here's mine:
First - I hate to say it, but the onion rings were the best part of this meal! They were really really good! The Mac-n-cheese not so much. I ate maybe half of that little cup of Mac. It wasn't quite Kraft Mac from a box, but it wasn't much better than that in flavor. I would not order that side again if I went there. The Mac I had on Sunday at Big Bob Gibson's was 1000x better. I could eat a big bowl of that. This - nope. The onion rings were top notch though - hot and fresh from the fryer.
The ribs - I started at the thinner end with the longer bones. The rub was good, and while too spicy for Yvonne's current taste buds (chemo did a number on them), not overly spicy. The ribs at that end were just a bit dry. I almost got some sauce for them in fact, but resisted. As I worked my way towards the middle of the rack of ribs, the ones towards the center were significantly more moist and closer to what I expected. Would I eat these ribs again? Yes. But I've had better in Memphis - at both the Rendezvous and at BB King's, which isn't even considered a BBQ destination.
Yvonne's pulled chicken was also a little dry and she said the chicken half she had at Big Bob's in Decatur was much better. Her slaw, which was mayonnaise based, had no flavor, and while she normally likes slaw, she put it aside. The fries were good, and I tried a couple, but not remarkable.
So, long story short, based on this experience, I would rank Central BBQ in Nashville as maybe a B- or even C+. Good, but they need to pay attention to the details, and not overcook things to the point of being dried out.
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