Best BBQ places in Memphis
 

It looks like my husband and son may be spending a night or two in Memphis in late March. My son has seen the Travel Channel special on rib joints in Memphis. But I'm curious what Fodorites would recommend as the best places for barbecue in Memphis.

While I'm at it, anyone have any suggestions for inexpensive places to stay? They won't be spending much time in their room. So a clean chain motel in a safe, convenient area would be fine.

Thanks!:)

Pull up my trip report from last July. We used Priceline and got a really great price on the SpringHill Suites in downtown Memphis.

Not barbecue, but one place that left an impression on us is Gus' fried chicken in downtown Memphis. Great great fried chicken.

Thanks so much for your very quick response, mah1980!

Gus's Fried Chicken WORLD FAMOUS for lunch and RumBoogie for dinner (best music in town).

I've think I've been to just about every Q spot in Memphis, some tourist traps, some not. I like Leonards, Central BBQ, Germantown Commissary and The Rendevous for ribs. I like Interstate, Tops, The BBQ Shoppe and Brads for Sandwiches. I especially like Cozy Corner for the BBQ cornish game hen. I think Corky's has gone down hill over the years.

The Rendevous for ribs.

Tops for sandwiches.

Read tripadvisor for the rooms. Memphis hotels leave a lot to be desired imho. We stayed at the Extended Stay by Wolfchase Galleria in December and it was the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. Even DH agreed it was the worst and he has stayed in some dumps during his years of lots of business travel.

The best hotels are downtown. The Marriott Residence Inn is wonderful and has fabulous free breakfasts. There's a Doubletree across from the Peabody and a Holiday Inn also across the street. I've stayed at both, and while the Doubletree is much nicer, the Holiday Inn is fine. The Hampton Inn at Peabody Place occasionally has good deals, but not often - it's most frequented hotel in the Hampton Inn chain. If they stay there, tell them to NOT get a room on the Beale Street side, which can be impossibly loud. The Springhill Suites get very good reviews, though I've never stayed there. Rendezvous gets VERY mixed reviews...some love it, others think it's a tourist trap with inferior food.

Susan is right about the Rendevous. I love it! My sister hates it!

The Rendezvous has ribs that fall off the bone and melt in your mouth. I HATED them. I like ribs you can chew. Go figure.
My niece who went to Rhodes College took us to a real joint in an eastern suburb. The pit pork sandwiches were spectacular. Sorry, I wish I knew the name of it.

The Rendevous has dry ribs which I had never had before. Tasty, but I think I like the moist better.

Thanks so much for all the replies! You've given them lots of options!

My DH is generally a "wet" ribs kinda guy. He alsways asks for extra sauce. But he loved the dry rub ribs at the Rendevous. For lodging, he has stayed at Comfot Inn downtown (I think he paid $80/ 90 ish 2 years ago), and said it was great for the price.

Sorry, Comfort Inn.

Corky's has great BBQ and the ribs are the best! They even FedEx!

And, you can buy Corky's ribs in the frozen food section of the Kroger store where I shop. They are very good...but, not dry like The Rendevous.

Corky's has excellent pulled pork in addition to ribs. The Rendezvous has great character and history. I prefer Corky's BBQ.

Thanks again, everyone. I'll definitely look in to that Comfort Inn, Trippin.

I thought Corky's was great. I had the yummy "wet" ribs, but a member of our party had the "dry" which were also tasty. My nephew scarfed down the BBQ spaghetti. I've had their items Fedexed and they don't quite live up to the Corky's in person experience.

By the time I made it to the Germantown Commissary I was craving greens and ordered the BBQ salad which was huge and topped with pulled pork.

Oh, how I love Memphis. I'm hoping to go back next year and visit the Rendevous. I remember driving into the city and being hungry. The smell of BBQ in the air was torture.

When I went home for Christmas, my sister had gone and bought a pork shoulder and it was sooooooo good. Caph, they won't have any problems finding good Q all over Memphis.

The Rendevous is the most famous, but it is the city's worst. But as the saying goes, our worst is better than anyone else's best. For real barbeque that is downtown, go to Cozy Corner. Interstate is close to downtown too, and they have some of the best 'que around. It's deep in the ghetto, though. For a cheap place to stay, try the Sleep Inn downtown. No place in downtown is that cheap, though.

Personally, I love Corky's and hated Rendevous.

There's a Hampton Inn near Beale Street that's your typical HI and fairly new.

we loved Rum Boogie Cafe for the music and atmosphere. The food was good too.

Thanks very much, everyone!

The Hampton was booked. I got them a room at the Sleep Inn. As you said tenreb, it's not "cheap" either! But definitely the best we could do. All in all, we've had pretty good luck with places in the Choice Hotels chain.

This one sounded like it's a pretty good location. Would you agree with that? Is it walking distance to Beale Street? They probably won't be out and about very late as my son wants to be back in the room to watch the NCAA game that night.

I'm going to print this thread and give it to them along with their hotel confirmations!

We stayed at the Sleep Inn about 5yrs ago. At that time they had a good complimentary contininal breakfast. There was also a trolley that ran right behind the hotel down to Beale. Beale Street is not far away and I would walk it in daylight but we walked back to our hotel at night and I was a little scared. We were pretty much alone on the sidewalks.

Thanks, cd! Very good info. Was this a tourist type trolley or part of the public transportation system? If it was a tourist thing, do you know whether it'd be running yet at the end of March? I'll see if I can pull something up on Google.

I kind of figured that, even if they felt they should take a taxi back that evening, it shouldn't be a long enough ride to be very expensive. But, of course, the trolley would be even better!

CAPH
I am pretty sure the trolley runs year round. It is something like a buck. I am sure you can bring it up on Google.
We had no problem with the Sleep Inn except the desk clerk gave us a room with someone in it. They were in bed when we opened the door! Ratings for this hotel are all over the board. It seems like many people rate the front desk and staff very low.

Thanks again, cd! Maybe I'd better tell my husband and son to knock before they enter!:D

We're not 5 star hotel people. (If we were, we'd never be able to afford to travel!;))So, unless it's dirty or in a bad neighborhood, I'm sure my husband and son will be fine with it! Although, as I said, it's more than we're used to paying for a hotel in the Choice Hotels chain. But, of course, you have to consider the location. It's considerably less than some of the others I checked.