Memphis-style barbecue is one of the four predominant regional styles of

barbecue in the United States Barbecue is a tradition often considered a quintessential part of Culture of the United States, American culture, especially the Southern United States. First introduced to the lands which would become the United States by the Taíno to Christ ...

, the other three being Carolina,

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders, though many restaurants will still serve beef and chicken. Memphis-style barbecue is slow cooked in a pit and ribs can be prepared either "dry" or "wet". "Dry" ribs are covered with a

dry rub Spice rub is any mixture of ground spices that is made to be rubbed on raw food before the food is cooked. The spice rub forms a coating on the food. The food can be marinated in the spice rub for some time for the flavors to incorporate int ...

consisting of salt and various spices before cooking and are normally eaten without sauce. "Wet" ribs are brushed with sauce before, during, and after cooking.

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...

-style barbecue has become well known due to the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest held each May, which has been listed in ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' as the largest pork barbecue contest in the world. The event is regularly covered by national and international television networks such as

The Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both speci ...

and the

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and attracts over 100,000 visitors. Many of Memphis' barbecue restaurants have become nationally known and can ship their products anywhere in the country overnight due to the proximity of

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

's Memphis Superhub.

History

After World War II, barbecue became a viable commercial venture in Memphis. Small restaurants, known as "joints", began to open with a purpose-built pit for slow-cooking the meat. Many small neighborhood joints in low-income areas, such as Payne's, Leonard's and Interstate, have gained notoriety as they reflect the roots of Memphis barbecue. Many regional chains also developed from Memphis, including Tops, Neely's, and Corky's. As Memphis-style barbecue became more popular across the country, restaurants such as Corky's and The Rendezvous began shipping orders overnight to customers.

Notable establishments

Jim Neely's Interstate Bar-B-Que

Interstate Bar-B-Que was founded in 1978 by Jim Neely in a rundown grocery store in the low-income neighborhood of

South Memphis South Memphis, one of the oldest portions of Memphis, Tennessee, is a community stretching from Riverside Drive and E. H. Crump Blvd just south of Downtown south and east to Pendleton St. & Ketchum Rd. , south of Orange Mound. In its early days, ...

. Though never a restaurateur, Neely learned how to slow cook ribs in a pit and created a secret sauce based on various local family recipes. Interstate rose to prominence as one of the premier barbecue restaurants in the city, and was featured nationally on

and

The Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with offices in Silver S ...

. Neely's brother and sister-in-law operate another location in

Gardena, California Gardena is a city located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 61,027 at the 2020 census, up from 58,829 at the 2010 census. Until 2014, the U.S. census cited the City of Gardena as the ...

. Interstate has been voted the #2 barbecue restaurant in America by ''People'' magazine.

Neely's

Jim Neely's four nephews, brothers Gaelin, Tony, Mark and Patrick, founded Neely's BBQ in

Downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee, and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south, and Interstate 240 (Tennessee), Interstate 240 to the east, where ...

in 1988, though it operates as a separate business from the other Neely's and does not carry the Interstate name. In 2008,

Pat Neely Pat Neely (born July 20, 1964) is an American restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is the co-owner of Neely's Bar-B-Que restaurant in downtown Memphis, Tennessee. He and former wife Gina hosted two Food Network television program ...

and his wife Gina debuted a cooking show on The Food Network called '' Down Home with the Neelys'', which is highly rated on the network. The couple has also released a cookbook eponymous with their first show. In 2012, the Neelys permanently closed their Memphis-area restaurants.

Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

Rendezvous was founded by Charlie Vergos in 1948 in a back alley of Downtown Memphis. Originally the basement of his diner, Vergos discovered a coal chute and turned it into a barbecue pit. Eventually, Vergos converted his diner to a barbecue restaurant and moved the entrance from the street to the alley. Rendezvous is one of the older and more storied barbecue joints in Memphis due to its many decades of operation and "hole-in-the-wall" atmosphere. The Memphis City Council voted to name the alley where Rendezvous is located "Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous Alley", though the address remains 52 South 2nd Street. One of Rendezvous' signature dishes is a barbecue shrimp skillet which must be ordered a full day in advance.

References