''The pig is truly a wonderful animal.''
Nick Vergos – Rendezvous
Whether it's Memphis-style ribs with dry-rubs massaged in all the right places or the more traditional style with drip-on-your-shirt amounts of special sauce, every Memphian has a different "best barbecue in town" suggestion. Ask 50 people where to find the best BBQ in Memphis, and you'll get 50 different answers.
With over 100 world-renowned and hole-in-the-wall barbecue joints, the city has transformed into a virtual barbecue battlefield. Nearly every eatery in town boasts its one and only, inimitable cooking method and hush-mouth, clandestine ingredients for producing the most delectable hog ribs and pork sandwiches in the Mid-South.
The fun part is trying to figure out your favorite.
Any discussion about Memphis barbeque that doesn't begin with The Rendezvous would be sacrilegious. This back-alley dining room started in 1948 with a slab of ribs and an old coal chute. But the Neely Brothers are closing quickly as they successfully expand their business and reputation.
Memphis also offers Corky's, one of the country's largest franchises, and Tops - proof that, believe it or not, there is a new way to do fast food.
The BBQ Shop is home to one of the most original and distinctive sauces in town - their famous Dancing Pigs sauce. Jump across Midtown to Central BBQ, and you'll find predictably awesome sandwiches and ribs. Cinderblock and fluorescent lighting set the tone at A&R, a no-nonsense dining parlor, just a few blocks north of Graceland. But the Cozy Corner challenges all smokers when it comes to non-traditional Memphis barbeque with their most popular sandwich, sliced beef with a thin, vinegary sauce and the house special barbequed Cornish hen.
From smoked ribs on a slab at A&R to sloppy-sauced pulled, cut and chopped pork sandwiches at the Cozy Corner-Memphis has truly earned a right to call itself America's BBQ capital.
View all Memphis BBQ locations.