Memphis Recap 1 of 2: The Barbecue

We arrived at Memphis at 1:30 pm Saturday and were on the road out of town by 10 am Monday. In 32 hours we polished off 4 slabs of ribs from 4 different restaurants. Here's the rundown, in ascending order. (As always, click for tasty hi-res detail.)

Blues City Cafe
1:30 am Sunday


The sign boasts "Put Some South In Your Mouth!", so we did. At the time it had been almost 12 hours since our last meal, but we were severely intoxicated and this was the first time we had felt hungry. Located on Beale Street, opposite from BB King's Blues Club, this place served ribs until 3am.


They only offered wet ribs--we each ordered a slab that came with beans, cole slaw and fries.


The ribs were tender, but not that flavorful. Slightly greasy. The beans were good and the fries were okay. The cole slaw was the worst thing I had all weekend. It was literally a tub of tarter sauce that were calling cole slaw.

It was definitely a greasy diner that served lots of other things besides ribs. Later on Matt recalled that he thought that ceiling was canvas, despite it obviously having a real roof. But it did have that sort of unfinished vibe.

Ribs: C+
Beans A-
Cole Slaw: F
Fries: B-

Overall: C

Neely's Interstate BBQ
3:00 pm Sunday


After waking up and heading straight to Graceland, I worked up quite an appetite. Matt and Niraj opted for chicken strips at Checkers, but I held out for Neely's. This place had a reputation as one of the best.

I thought about getting a sampler platter, but settled on the wet ribs as I figured we'd be eating more later on.


The ribs came already seperated, which sorta takes the fun out of it. Also, it made me question if these even came from the same pig. I say that because they varied in tenderness. The sauce and flavor was quite good, and the tender bites were as good as any thing we had, but there were too many chewy sections. The meat just didn't seem as high of quality as we found elsewhere. However, the beans and slaw were the best I had. You can see the big chunks of pork in the beans.


The atmosphere was sketchy to say the least. The iron bars over the windows and doors complemented the tables with holes and dirt trapped in the laminate. You can see Matt's pecan pie beyond the dirty holes.


Ribs: B
Slaw: A
Beans: A+

Overall: B


Rum Boogie Cafe
9:30 pm Sunday


Our last ribs of the trip came on Beale Street. This time we were treated to a clean restaurant though not pretentious. There was live music at the time and hundreds of autographed guitars lined the walls and ceilings.


The atmosphere was great and the food didn't disappoint. Burnsy and I opted for the wet ribs while Matt tried the dry.

The ribs were tender and flavorful, although it did seem like it was slightly less food than we got elsewhere for more money. The beans were fine, but lacked any real meat. The slaw was mediocre, which was still good enough for 2nd place on the trip.

Ribs: B+
Cole Slaw: C
Beans: B

Overall: B+


Corky's
1:30 pm Saturday
This was the first thing we did arriving in Memphis. We exited the car after driving for 3.5 hours from Carbondale and entered the 95-degree heat and humidity.

We started with the BBQ nachos.

Again, I opted for the wet, Matt chose the dry, and Burnsy got a steal of a pulled pork sandwich for 3.49.


These were clearly the best ribs we had in Memphis. The flavor and tenderness was unmatched and they set the bar for the weekend. It worked out quite well that this was the first stop.

The atmosphere felt like it could have been anywhere. It had that suburban, fake rustic feel to it. Not so authentic, but the food was. Our complaints included the nachos were served on a bed of generic corn chips that didn't match the flavor of the toppings and the slaw was terrible. Still, the best place we went to.

Ribs: A+
Slaw: D
Beans: B+
Nachos: C

Overall: A-

So there you go. Four enjoyable meals at four entirely different places. Here's the chronological quick scoreboard:

1st Day
Corky's: A-
Blues City: C

2nd Day
Neely's: B
Rum Boogie: B+