The plates that define Memphis: what they are, and where to eat the canonical version.
The plates that define Memphis. what they are, where they came from, and where to eat the canonical version.
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
Price: $22-32 full slab
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
Price: $5-15
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
Price: $10-14
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
Price: $13
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
Price: $2-3 each
Memphis BBQ pizza is a thin-crust pie topped with shredded mozzarella, sharp cheddar and pulled pork in tomato BBQ sauce. Elvis Presley's favourite at Coletta's.
Where: Coletta's Italian Restaurant, Memphis Pizza Cafe
Price: $16-22
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
Price: $8
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
Price: $4-7
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
Price: $10-14
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
Price: $13-18
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.
History: The Rendezvous's Charlie Vergos started charcoal-broiling dry-rubbed ribs in his basement off Second Street in 1948. The technique caught on through Memphis BBQ joints in the 1950s and 1960s. By the time the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest started in 1978, dry-rub Memphis ribs were the contest's defining style. Local pitmasters now split into dry-rub and wet-sauce camps, with Cozy Corner, Payne's and Central BBQ all defending the dry-rub side.
Where to try it: The Rendezvous, Central BBQ Downtown, The Bar-B-Q Shop, Cozy Corner BBQ
Watch out for: Pork
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.
History: The Bar-B-Q Shop on Madison Avenue invented BBQ spaghetti when Frank Vernon adapted a recipe handed down from Brady Vincent at the Brady and Lil's BBQ pit. The Vernons opened the Bar-B-Q Shop in November 1987 and put BBQ spaghetti on the menu as a side. By the early 2000s the dish was on Food Network and on most Memphis BBQ counter menus as a side or full plate.
Where to try it: The Bar-B-Q Shop, Central BBQ Downtown, A&R Bar-B-Que
Watch out for: Pork, Wheat
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.
History: Pulled pork shoulder is the heart of Memphis BBQ alongside ribs. Pitmasters smoke whole shoulders 14 to 18 hours over hickory and pull the meat by hand. The mustard-slaw topping is a Memphis-specific signature, distinguishing it from the vinegar slaw of the Carolinas. Payne's on Lamar Avenue, opened in 1972, codified the cheap-pulled-pork-sandwich form.
Where to try it: Payne's Bar-B-Que, Central BBQ Downtown, A&R Bar-B-Que, The Bar-B-Q Shop
Watch out for: Pork, Wheat, Mustard
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.
History: Raymond Robinson opened Cozy Corner on North Parkway in 1977 and put smoked Cornish hens on the menu as a small-portion BBQ option in a Black neighbourhood with limited spending power. The hens caught on through word of mouth and became Cozy Corner's defining plate, written up by Anthony Bourdain in 2014. Cozy Corner is the only place in Memphis still serving them as a regular item.
Where to try it: Cozy Corner BBQ
Watch out for: Poultry
Memphis hot tamales are corn-husk-tied beef cylinders simmered in spicy broth, a Delta tradition that crossed the river with Mississippi labourers.
History: Hot tamales arrived in Memphis from the Mississippi Delta in the early 20th century, brought by Black field workers exposed to the dish during seasonal migration to Texas and Mexico in the early 1900s. By the 1940s, tamale carts rolled through Memphis neighbourhoods. Cozy Corner sells them today and a few BBQ shops carry them as a side; the tradition is documented by Garden and Gun and Southern Foodways Alliance.
Where to try it: Cozy Corner BBQ, A&R Bar-B-Que, Payne's Bar-B-Que
Watch out for: Beef, Corn
Memphis BBQ pizza is a thin-crust pie topped with shredded mozzarella, sharp cheddar and pulled pork in tomato BBQ sauce. Elvis Presley's favourite at Coletta's.
History: Coletta's on South Parkway claims to have invented BBQ pizza around 1954, two decades after the restaurant opened in 1923. Elvis Presley would order it in the original South Parkway Elvis Room. The dish is now on menus at Memphis pizzerias and a regional specialty across West Tennessee and North Mississippi.
Where to try it: Coletta's Italian Restaurant, Memphis Pizza Cafe
Watch out for: Wheat, Dairy, Pork
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.
History: Earnestine Mitchell and Hazel Jones turned the South Main building into a bar and restaurant in 1949, eventually a brothel. The Soul Burger emerged from the kitchen, griddled and topped with the bar's house Soul Sauce, recipe still guarded. By the 1990s the burger had become a Memphis late-night ritual, written up by Garden and Gun and Bon Appetit.
Where to try it: Earnestine and Hazel's
Watch out for: Beef, Wheat, Dairy
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.
History: 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.
Where to try it: The Four Way, Alcenia's, Central BBQ Downtown
Watch out for: Dairy, Eggs, Wheat
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.
History: BBQ nachos rose as a Memphis stadium snack at AutoZone Park in the early 2000s, paired with pulled pork from Rendezvous and Central BBQ. By 2010 the dish had spread to most Memphis BBQ counters. Central BBQ codified the home version and the dish remains a Memphis road-trip souvenir from the city's parade of BBQ shops, restaurants and bars.
Where to try it: Central BBQ Downtown, Central BBQ Midtown, The Bar-B-Q Shop
Watch out for: Dairy, Wheat, Pork
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.
History: Mississippi catfish farming exploded in the 1960s in the Delta and Memphis quickly became the urban hub for farmed-catfish frying. Most Memphis Southern restaurants carry it; the Four Way and Soul Fish Cafe in Cooper-Young codified the fried catfish lunch plate, and Tug's Casual Grill in Harbor Town does the riverside version.
Where to try it: Soul Fish Cafe, The Four Way, Tug's Casual Grill
Watch out for: Fish, Wheat
Peak food season in Memphis is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
If you only have one meal, eat Memphis dry-rub ribs. It is the dish most associated with Memphis.