Hickory-smoke dry-rub ribs, soul food, and the city that fed Elvis
Memphis cooks low and slow over hickory and writes the rule book on dry rub. Pork ribs, pulled pork and bologna sandwiches anchor the city's identity, and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest each May draws teams from around the world to Liberty Park. But Memphis is more than smoke. The city's soul food canon runs through the Four Way on Mississippi Boulevard, Alcenia's hugs in the Pinch District and Gus's fried chicken on South Front Street, with hot tamales on the Delta line and Mississippi catfish never far away. New rooms in Cooper-Young, Crosstown Concourse and South Main have given the scene a second act, while Beale Street and the Arcade keep the old story alive.
Every restaurant, cafe, market and bar we cover in Memphis, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
The plates that define eating in Memphis.
Memphis-style ribs are pork ribs coated in a dry spice rub of paprika, garlic, salt and pepper, slow-smoked over hickory and served without sauce. The city's defining BBQ plate.
Where: The Rendezvous, Central BBQ Downtown, The Bar-B-Q Shop, Cozy Corner BBQ
Memphis BBQ spaghetti is pulled pork tossed with tomato BBQ sauce over a pile of cooked spaghetti, a city-only Italian-American-meets-pit barbecue mash-up since 1987.
Where: The Bar-B-Q Shop, Central BBQ Downtown, A&R Bar-B-Que
The Memphis pulled pork sandwich is hickory-smoked pork shoulder pulled, piled on a soft white bun, topped with mustard slaw and a splash of BBQ sauce.
Where: Payne's Bar-B-Que, Central BBQ Downtown, A&R Bar-B-Que, The Bar-B-Q Shop
Cozy Corner's smoked Cornish hen is the city's most singular BBQ plate, a small whole bird hickory-smoked to mahogany skin, served whole with sauce on top.
Where: Cozy Corner BBQ
Memphis hot tamales are corn-husk-tied beef cylinders simmered in spicy broth, a Delta tradition that crossed the river with Mississippi labourers.
Where: Cozy Corner BBQ, A&R Bar-B-Que, Payne's Bar-B-Que
Memphis BBQ pizza is a thin-crust pie topped with shredded mozzarella, sharp cheddar and pulled pork in tomato BBQ sauce. Invented at Coletta's on South Parkway in 1954, it remains a Memphis pizzeria standard.
Where: Coletta's Italian Restaurant, Memphis Pizza Cafe
The Soul Burger at Earnestine and Hazel's is a griddled patty topped with caramelised onions, pickles and the bar's mysterious Soul Sauce, the city's defining bar burger.
Where: Earnestine and Hazel's
Memphis banana pudding is vanilla wafer cookies layered with sliced bananas, vanilla custard and whipped cream, a Southern soul food dessert and BBQ joint standard.
Where: The Four Way, Alcenia's, Central BBQ Downtown
Memphis BBQ nachos are tortilla chips piled with pulled pork, BBQ sauce, sour cream, jalapeños and shredded cheese, the city's defining stadium snack since the 2000s.
Where: Central BBQ Downtown, Central BBQ Midtown, The Bar-B-Q Shop
Memphis fried catfish is Mississippi farmed catfish coated in seasoned cornmeal and deep-fried until crisp, served with hush puppies and slaw. A Southern Memphis lunch standard.
Where: Soul Fish Cafe, The Four Way, Tug's Casual Grill
Memphis Graceland legend: thick-sliced white bread spread heavily with creamy peanut butter, layered with sliced bananas and crispy bacon, then griddled in butter until golden.
Where: Arcade Restaurant, Alcenia's
Where to eat Fried Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon Sandwich (The Elvis) in Memphis →
Memphis-style hush puppies: balls of sweet-savoury cornmeal batter flavoured with onion and a touch of sugar, deep-fried golden in the same oil as the catfish, served in a paper basket with remoulade or honey butter.
Where: Soul Fish Cafe, Alcenia's, Earnestine and Hazel's Soul Burger, Arcade Restaurant
A handful of the places we send friends to when they are in Memphis.
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen runs Italian cooking rooted in Southern ingredients from East Memphis since 2008.
Signature: Maw Maw's gnocchi, House-made pastas
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's downtown Memphis room pairs Tuscan and Sicilian grandmother cooking with Southern ingredients in the Chisca on Main building.
Signature: House-made pastas, Wood-roasted plates
Ticer and Hudman's wood-fired pizza and charcuterie room in East Memphis runs a Southern-Italian playbook on a covered Brookhaven Circle patio since 2012.
Signature: Wood-fired pizzas, House charcuterie
Chef Kelly English's Restaurant Iris in Memphis moved to Poplar Avenue in 2022 with a tighter menu of New Orleans Creole built on Mississippi seafood.
Signature: Crawfish and grits, Pork belly
Karen Carrier's Cooper-Young Memphis room sits inside a 1940s beauty salon where Priscilla Presley once did her hair, open since 2002 with a globe-trotting.
Signature: Watermelon and wings, Pho
The Four Way is Memphis's defining Black-owned soul food room on Mississippi Boulevard since 1946. Martin Luther King Jr. ate here; the walls show the guests.
Signature: Fried chicken, Smothered turkey wings
Cobblestone streets, the Mississippi River bluff, Beale Street's blues clubs and the loft-and-bar South Main district. The visitor heart of the city.
Best for: BBQ, Soul food, Cocktails, Late-night
Memphis's small-room midtown crossroads, with the city's densest cluster of restaurants, bars and indie shops around the Cooper Street and Young Avenue intersection.
Best for: Brunch, Cafes, Hot chicken, Vegan
Midtown's restored arts district along Madison Avenue, with theatres, music rooms and patios. Walkable and chef-driven.
Best for: Cocktails, Music venues, Date night
A converted Sears distribution centre at the centre of Midtown, now a vertical urban village with a brewery, bakery, French Truck Coffee and indie restaurants.
Best for: Coffee, Pastry, Brewery
A revived industrial strip east of Crosstown lined with galleries, breweries, Muddy's Bake Shop, the Cove and creative restaurants.
Best for: Bakeries, Breweries, Cocktails
The historic warehouse district south of Beale, anchored by the Arcade, Earnestine and Hazel's and the South Main farmers market on Saturdays.
Best for: Diners, Soul food, Late-night
Peak food season: April to October. May brings the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest at Liberty Park, June kicks off Mississippi catfish and Tennessee tomato season, and September wraps up with Cooper-Young Festival weekend. The summer is brutal; lean toward indoor rooms by July.
Local dining hours: Breakfast 07:00-10:30, lunch 11:00-14:00, dinner 17:00-21:30. Many BBQ counters close by 19:00. Late-night is mostly on Beale Street, South Main and Cooper-Young after 22:00.
Tipping: Tip 18 to 20 percent at sit-down restaurants. At BBQ counters and walk-up windows, tip jars are standard; a dollar or two on a plate or a few percent at the register is appreciated. Higher-end rooms expect 20 percent at the floor.
Memphis's signature dishes include Memphis dry-rub ribs, Memphis BBQ spaghetti, Memphis pulled pork sandwich, Memphis smoked Cornish hen, Memphis hot tamales. See our signature dishes chapter for where to eat each.
TableJourney editors map Memphis by district. Downtown, Cooper-Young, Overton Square, Crosstown Concourse are among the strongest for food, each with its own guide.
Editor picks in Memphis include Chez Philippe, Erling Jensen, The Restaurant, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, plus the full fine dining chapter on TableJourney.
TableJourney covers 5 editor-picked food tours in Memphis, with what each shows you and how much to budget.
TableJourney's Memphis dietary chapter covers vegan, vegetarian, gluten_free, halal, kosher venues, each editor-picked with what to order and how to ask.