BBQ in Memphis

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, Erik88 said:

You'll know if it's mustard based because the sauce is more on the yellow/gold side than red.  

 

 

Which is why I didn’t catch that it had a mustard base as it isn’t yellow or gold. 

[FUJIMO]

3 hours ago, Chucktshoes said:

I’m not a mustard based sauce fan, but they’re far better than that mayo based abomination in Alabama. 

"Based" is an understatement in some AL bbq dives. Why not just put a squeeze bottle of dukes on the table and call it lol. 

Whenever I try a new place I ask whats sauced and what isn't. Many places these days are notorious for saucing up grilled, stewed or baked meat and calling it smoked because the sauce has liquid smoke in it .

[peejman]

8 hours ago, Erik88 said:

This thread makes me wish Knoxville had better BBQ. 

Am I the only one that prefers a mustard based sauce? 

No kidding. You'd think a place this big with so many restaurants would have more than 1 decent BBQ joint. I was crushed when Full Service bailed on us. 

[OldIronFan]

I like my ribs dry rubbed, my pulled pork with vinegar base ( and a little spicy), my brisket heavily peppered with some Memphis style sauce on the side, and hate all you want but a good homemade (tangy) Alabama white sauce on some smoked chicken or turkey is great. 

Memphis is finally turning a corner with BBQ but for a long time they lost their claim as a BBQ Mecca in my opinion. In the 80's and early 90's things were great. Late nineties and well into the 2000's were a sad sad period of time. Any decent place either shuttered their doors or went the way of over commercialized/franchised corporate BBQ. Food costs skyrocketed and margins shrank so corners were cut like lower quality cuts and getting rid of seasoned wood. I left in the mid 90's but family still there kept me coming back 8-10 times a year and honestly we stopped going to get BBQ very often around 1998 or 1999. Anything left was just crap. The last several years (pre covid) were starting to be pleasant surprises. 

In contrast Middle Tennessee really saw BBQ take off and flourish in the same period with some real standouts starting up and gaining traction in the early 2000's. Sadly I am seeing some of the same downward trends in Middle TN that I saw in Memphis in the 90's with over commercialization. I will still choose several spots in Middle TN over anything Memphis has to offer but I fear the lines on the graph are close to reaching an intersection point.