Barbecue Feed.

Occasionally I check out the map to see if I've had a sudden influx of new folks discover it, or if there's been another comment--today I discovered that my map entries now have an RSS feed (clicking that link will bring you to a page of goobledegook if you don't have any familiarity with RSS feeds, by the way. It's not broken). In theory, this means that you can subscribe to the feed, and when I add a new restaurant (probably) or new information about an old restaurant (possibly) you'll automatically get an item in your reader. I'll be running a couple of tests to see how it works, so if you subscribe to my map (which I encourage. Map subscribers = publicity = comments = better, more interesting map = book deal = groupies), you might get some strange items as I try things out.

Does anyone know how long the RSS feed has been available? Has it been there for eons, and I just missed it up until now?

Reese's Barbecue

I probably ought to apologize; I don't get to update this as often as I'd like to simply because of the logistics of visiting every barbecue restaurant in Memphis. One of the difficult parts of this undertaking is that my fifteen-minute lunch radius is a finite area, and lots of barbecue places in Memphis are only open for lunch owing to unprofitable dinner crowds and less-than-savory neighborhoods.

Not so with Reese's barbecue, which is open until 9 most days (not Sunday), but is fortunately right on the edge of my lunch amoeba--areas accessible by interstate form the pseudopods. Now that I've put "amoeba" and "lunch" in the same sentence (TWICE!) and ruined appetites in the process, let's talk about Reese's.

Reese's boasted a pretty good crowd when I walked into it; a lot of construction workers, a couple of cops. I entered the building with a group of similarly-dressed guys, who ordered the same thing as I did, so the lady behind the counter assumed we were together--which (coupled with a security guard coming in to chit-chat for a few minutes) meant that we all got our food simultaneously, a little slower than I would have liked, but not terrible.

The sandwich isn't smoky; I presume the shoulder is roasted as there was no telltale pinkness in the meat and no noticeable smoke flavor. The sauce is both sweeter and spicier (for a mild sauce) than most. The slaw is ordinary, the bun toasted. All in all it's a good sandwich, but indistinguishable from lots of other good sandwiches in town. Beans looked to be cooked in-house and were tasty, fries were nothing special. The menu boasted a wide variety of other barbecue and non-barbecue options--plate lunches, burgers (which looked very good, incidentally), a variety of other sides. Worth a visit if you're in the neighborhood, or if it's somewhere within the perimeter of your lunch amoeba.

Reese's Bar-BQ
4606 Winchester Rd
Memphis, TN 38118
(901) 366-1497

Kelvin's Barbecue: Closed!

From reader Mike comes the sad news that Kelvin's Barbecue and Wings on Austin Peay closed back in August. I hadn't visited that location, but the one location I had visited (on Winchester, now also closed) made a pretty good sandwich.

Don't know if the one at 2675 Frayser Blvd is still a going concern or not.

All my homies!

Or perhaps both of my homies! Or my single homie! Is "homie" still accepted common vernacular?

No matter! You can now follow the Memphis Barbecue Map blog, which I presume will drive traffic to your blogs, where you can in turn add a gadget to list your followers and so on in an endless set of interlinking circles. Since the internet became Ouroboros long ago, it's only a perfunctory matter to make it official, like having a ceremony for a marriage between a long-cohabitating couple.

Anyway--box on the right. If you're reading this on an RSS reader, come visit and list yourself.

Visit: Tastee Barbecue

Stopped by Tastee [sic] Barbecue and had a pretty good sandwich for lunch. Solid, workmanlike. Worth a visit, and worth regular visits if you work in the neighborhood.

Barbecue sandwiches, burgers, plate lunches, and breakfast.

More detail here.

1028 E Brooks Rd
Memphis, TN 38116
(901) 332-3133

Visit: Buck's Smoking Pit

I had an abbreviated lunch hour today, and decided to make the quick trip to Buck's Smoking Pit to give the sandwich a try. I was a little concerned about whether they were open as I saw a padlock on the door and the carry-out window--but the padlock was merely on the open hasp of the door.

The menu's painted over the order counter: I tried the large hot pork shoulder sandwich. The proprietor made a point of saying that they had beef as well, but I like to be consistent the first time I go into a place.

Needless to say, I should have taken his advice. The shoulder was undercooked, with pieces of chewy fat, and no discernible smokiness. The sandwich itself wasn't bad (after I'd taken the pure fat off), but the meat would have benefited greatly from some additional time on the pit.

Buck's has lots of other options available, as well: Beef ribs, pork ribs, rib tips, bologna, sausage, pig feet, pig tails (that's new to me), and a handful of non-barbecue items. I'll have to give it another visit to try something that's not a barbecue sandwich.

Buck's Smoking Pit

On Saturdays when I've got to go into work I usually stop by the Memphis Farmer's Market since it's a little out of the way for a dedicated trip. Then I take some odd route through the city to get from there to work; the better for discovery. Today was down Mississippi Blvd, where I passed a place that hadn't popped up on any of the Google searches for "barbecue" or "restaurants" I'd done, and I might have needed verification to add anyway. In any case, Buck's Smoking Pit exists, is open for business, is on the map, and is going to be visited very soon, because it looks like it has the potential for greatness.

1293 Mississippi Blvd
Memphis, TN 38106
(901) 347-3127

Pollard's Barbecue

Updated map information for Pollard's Barbecue.

Pollard's is little more than a barbecue take-out counter located in a strip mall. Two chairs sit against the wall for folks to wait for their food, and a menu is set on the wall behind the counter.

They make a solid sandwich, however. The meat lacks some smokiness of an A&R sandwich, but with that distinction, the two are virtually identical. Also like A&R, they have warm fried pies available. Being compared to A&R isn't necessarily a bad thing--unfortunately A&R is more convenient to most folks around town, given their multiple locations, and with smokiness and a slightly better pie has an edge in flavor, as well. Still, green is green on the map, and Pollard's is worth a visit if you're in the area.

The sandwich was a little pricey ($4.50 for a regular, in days of $5.00 footlong subs), compared to some other places, but it may just be ahead of the curve on keeping up with a general increase in food prices, and the unavailability of certain economies of scale.

4637 Boeingshire Dr
Memphis, TN 38116
(901) 398-2987

Fat Larry's Barbecue

Visited Fat Larry's Barbecue in Bartlett, and added it to the map. Like most places, it's not bad, but not necessarily worth a special trip.

Most of the customers, from what I observed, were getting steak--I don't know if the menu (or the decor) has changed at all since it was named Stables--but I never visited Stables, so I don't have much in terms of comparison.

Comparison Data!

Memphis is often listed as the Barbecue Capital of the world because of the prevalence of barbecue restaurants around town (and the map's a pretty good indication. By comparison, the greater New Orleans area might have a dozen or so barbecue restaurants total, although they have plenty of other great food).

But perhaps, secretly, we're also number one in another, less publicized category as well.

It's not as if folks actually read this, but IF you do, does anyone care to conjecture about why we have so many Chinese restaurants? That map was slapped together in no time, and is by no means accurate or comprehensive, but that's a lot of Chinese for a city without sizable Chinese community--at least in my opinion. And I left off other Asian ethnic cuisine, so there's no Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, or Korean on the map unless it had some crossover on the menu that I knew of (Pei Wei, for instance).

Old Timers--Millington

Added notes for Old Timers in Millington. Not bad, but expect a crowd if you eat before sundown.

Old Style Barbecue

Added Old Style Barbecue in Olive Branch. I might visit someday, but that day may be years away. I'm sure it offers a stark contrast to the nouvelle barbecue that's all the rage these days.

Memphis Smokehouse

Visited Memphis Smokehouse on Stage (in the location that formerly housed Yazoo's). Pretty good sandwich, they could probably eliminate some of the more Applebee's or Friday's style items from the menu and be more successful in the long run, and they deserve to be successful.

Howdy!

Greetings to folks coming to visit from the Commericial Appeal. A link to the map is over there on the sidebar, or you can just click here to check it out. Feel free to comment either here or on the map itself; I'll try to keep the discussion as open as possible, but try to be civil just in case kids come to visit.

I guess it's better to achieve semi-fame through a combination of gluttony and nerdiness than, say, getting arrested in a prostitution sting or winning a Darwin award.

Bynum's and Memphis Smokehouse

Added Bynum's Barbecue on Airways and Memphis Smokehouse BBQ on Stage (in the former Yazoo's location). Memphis Smokehouse doesn't appear to be a chain, but based on the number of hits for Job Search googling the name provides, it looks like they have money and/or experience.

Tommy Leonard Barbecue

Visited Tommy Leonard Barbecue in Southaven, and added info to the map. Verdict--good, but the sandwich is a little overpriced. Maybe the ribs or catfish are a better deal.

More additions--Southhaven

Added Tommy Leonard, JD's Barbq, and Boss Hogg Bar-BQ locations to the map. Will probably make a visit to them soon.

Also up for a visit in the area: Wiseguy's Chicago Pizza on highway 51 in Horn Lake. Just as a note.

Mission statement

This blog is created primarily to document changes made to the Memphis Barbecue Map, as I visit and compose entries for various restaurants.

Uncle Sam's Barbecue

Added information about Uncle Sam's Barbecue to the map

Dan's Babecue

Added information about Dan's Barbecue to the map.