Cajun Creole$$east-memphisMon-Sat 11:00-21:00, Sun 09:00-14:00
Owen Brennan's in Regalia on Poplar Avenue is a long-running East Memphis Creole-Cajun room with French Quarter styling, baked oysters and tableside bananas.
Signature: Oysters Brennan, Bananas Foster
Order: Oysters Brennan to start and bananas Foster prepared tableside for dessert.
Tip: Reserve online; the Sunday jazz brunch and the tableside bananas Foster are the marquee orders.
Pizza$midtown
Memphis Pizza Cafe's Madison Avenue midtown room has run thin-crust by the slice and house specialty pies since 1991, a casual midtown standby with a side.
Signature: Pizza by the slice, The Hippie
Order: The Hippie pizza with feta and pesto.
Tip: Open daily for lunch and dinner; the patio is the seat in spring. Multiple locations across Memphis run the same menu.
Memphis Bbq$$midtown
Central BBQ's Midtown Memphis room on Central Avenue is the chain's original, opened in 2002 with dry-rub ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and BBQ nachos.
Signature: Pulled pork, BBQ nachos
Order: Pulled pork sandwich with BBQ nachos to share.
Tip: The patio is the seat; the dining room fills fast at lunch. Online ordering skips the line.
Memphis Bbq$$germantown
Germantown Commissary on South Germantown Road has slow-smoked Memphis BBQ from a converted general store east of the city since 1981. A long porch out front.
Signature: Pulled pork plate, Smoked chicken
Order: Pulled pork plate with the smoked chicken and slaw.
Tip: Open daily; the porch fills first. Drive from downtown takes 20 minutes via Poplar Avenue.
Memphis Bbq$south-memphis
A&R Bar-B-Que on Elvis Presley Boulevard in South Memphis has run Black-owned hickory-smoke BBQ from a converted gas station since 1983: pulled pork, ribs.
Signature: Pulled pork sandwich, Smoked bologna
Order: Pulled pork sandwich with smoked bologna on the side.
Tip: Counter service. The Hickory Hill branch at 3721 Hickory Hill Rd runs the same menu.
Memphis Bbq$east-memphis
Tops Bar-B-Q is a Memphis chain of drive-in BBQ counters since 1952, with chopped pork sandwiches, onion rings and the city's signature cheap drive-thru BBQ.
Signature: Chopped pork sandwich, Onion rings
Order: Chopped pork sandwich, onion rings, sweet tea.
Tip: Drive-thru and counter only, no dining room. The Summer Avenue branch is one of the oldest still standing.