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.
Banana pudding entered Southern home cooking in the late 1800s after bananas became affordable. By the 1940s it was a staple of Memphis lunch counters and church suppers. The Four Way Restaurant has served it as a Sunday dessert since 1946, and most Memphis BBQ joints carry it as the closing sweet. Whipped cream caught on as the topping in the 1960s, replacing meringue.
3 editor picks for Memphis banana pudding in Memphis, ranked by editorial score. All Memphis signature dishes · Memphis banana pudding across every city.
The Four Way ★ 4.6
south-memphis · 998 Mississippi Blvd, Memphis, TN 38126
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.
Alcenia's ★ 4.5
pinch-district · 317 N Main St, Memphis, TN 38103
Betty Joyce Chester-Tamayo's Pinch District Memphis soul food room has run fried chicken, collards and a hug at the door for over twenty years.
Central BBQ Downtown ★ 4.5
downtown · 147 E Butler Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
Central BBQ Downtown in Memphis runs the city's most reliable dry-rub ribs and pulled pork from a casual counter across from the National Civil Rights Museum.