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| Home | Memphis |
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– MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE –
Memphis restaurants were chosen based on an excellent program on the Travel Channel
("Food Heavens: BBQ"), supplemented by some additional Internet research.
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Charles Vergo's Rendezvous (www.HogsFly.com)
was the first stop for Saturday night dinner, after a two-hour drive from Little
Rock (Southwest doesn't fly into Memphis). John, one of the owners, totally
hooked us up – we told him we wanted to try everything, but we needed smaller
portions of everything to do it – so he made us a custom sampler platter.
Rendezvous only serves pork ribs, and it's a dry-rub style (vinegar and spices). Best dry-rub
ribs we had on the trip. The cole slaw was a vinegar-mustard flavoring,
not the usual overloaded-on-mayo style. The brisket (sliced) was quite
good, but the chicken was a little dry. The restaurant is more
upscale than some others. Dinner for two, no desserts, no leftovers was
$32. (Note: Closed on Sundays.) Watch "Food Heavens: Barbecue Wars" video clip in
Windows Media
Player (9 MB) or
Quicktime (14 MB). Watch "Ribs Paradise" video clip in
Windows Media
Player (7 MB) or
Quicktime (34 MB). |
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Jim
Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Q
(www.InterstateBarbecue.com)
was the Sunday lunch spot. More of a down-home, family joint. Very unpretentious, and
Jim Neely was actually there. Fall-off-the-bone tender pork ribs, great pulled pork, very tender
beef ribs with no fat at all, and an excellent sauce. (They have dry ribs
too.) Interstate also has a
signature item of BBQ spaghetti. $22 for two, including an average peach
cobbler, and there were leftovers. Watch "Food Heavens: Barbecue Wars" video clip in
Windows Media
Player (23 MB) or
Quicktime (18 MB). We recently learned from "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on The Food Network that Jim Neely's sister owns Jay Bee's Bar-B-Q (www.jaybeesbbq.com) in Los Angeles (Gardena) and uses Jim's rub and sauce. Yum. |
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Corky's BBQ
(www.CorkysBBQ.com)
for Sunday dinner wrapped up our stay in Memphis. Corky's is more of a family-style place, like
a TGI Fridays. Corky's has a unique – and delicious – Apple BBQ sauce; we
didn't have that anywhere else. The pork ribs were good, and they have
both dry and wet style. The beef
brisket (chopped, not sliced) was also very good. $32 for two
(including a great peach cobbler), lots of
leftovers. Corky's has grown into a pretty big chain, and the original
location – in East Memphis – has a drive-thru, in case you happen to be
cruising by on your way home from work. Watch "Food Heavens: Barbecue Wars" video clip in
Windows Media
Player (13 MB) or
Quicktime (10 MB). |
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Video clips are for
teaching and research purposes, 15 U.S.C. § 107, and promotional use only.
These reviews
are my own opinions. I have received no consideration, monetary or
otherwise, from the restaurants reviewed here.
