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BBQ Guide

Best BBQ in
Memphis

Memphis is one of America's great BBQ capitals - and its most diverse. This guide covers the best restaurants in the metro, from century-old institutions to the new generation of craft pitmasters.

53 restaurants featured·5 metro areas

Memphis's BBQ tradition stretches back over a century. What began as a working-class meal has evolved into one of America's most celebrated culinary traditions. Today, the metro is home to dozens of BBQ restaurants, from historic institutions to a new wave of craft pitmasters pushing the tradition forward.

This guide focuses on the restaurants that represent Memphis BBQ at its best — places where the smoke is real, the technique is sound, and the result is worth the drive.

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Ranked List

The Best BBQ Restaurants
in Memphis

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Dish Guides

Best by Category

Dry Rub Ribs

The soul of Memphis BBQ. Dry rub ribs are seasoned with a blend of spices — paprika, garlic, black pepper, cayenne — and slow-smoked or charcoal-grilled without sauce. The bark is everything. These are the ribs that put Memphis on the BBQ map.

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Wet Ribs

The other side of the great Memphis rib debate. Wet ribs are basted with a tomato-based BBQ sauce during and after cooking. The sauce caramelizes on the meat, creating a sticky, sweet-tangy glaze. Interstate Bar-B-Q and Marlowe's are the wet rib temples.

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Pulled Pork

Memphis pulled pork — slow-smoked pork shoulder pulled by hand — is the foundation of the city's BBQ sandwich tradition. From Payne's chopped pork to Central BBQ's pulled pork plate, this is the everyday currency of Memphis BBQ.

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BBQ Nachos

A Memphis original — tortilla chips loaded with slow-smoked pulled pork, BBQ sauce, jalapeños, and cheese. Central BBQ's loaded nachos have become one of the most iconic dishes in the city, inspiring a generation of imitators.

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BBQ Spaghetti

BBQ spaghetti is Memphis's most uniquely local dish — slow-smoked pulled pork folded into a smoky, tangy tomato sauce and served over spaghetti. Invented at Brady & Lil's and perfected at Interstate Bar-B-Q, this is the dish that visitors either love or struggle to understand.

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Rib Tips

Rib tips — the cartilaginous ends trimmed from spare ribs — are a Memphis delicacy that the rest of the country overlooks. Slow-smoked until the cartilage is tender and the fat has rendered, rib tips are fatty, smoky, and deeply flavorful. A true pitmaster's cut.

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Best BBQ inMemphis

In This Guide

The Best BBQ Restaurantsin Memphis

Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

Cozy Corner

Central BBQ

Corky's Memphis

Leonard's BBQ

Payne's Bar-B-Q

Central BBQ

Central BBQ

Central BBQ

The Bar-B-Q Shop

Germantown Commissary

Interstate Bar-B-Q

Memphis BBQ Co.

A&R Bar-B-Que

Bain Barbecue & Bakery

One & Only BBQ

Elwood's Shack

Marlowe's Ribs & Restaurant

Tom's BBQ

Whole Hog Cafe

Neely's Interstate BBQ

Tops Bar-B-Q

Arnolds Bar-B-Que

Corky's Ribs & BBQ

Fat Larry's

Tops Bar-B-Q

Tops BBQ

Tops BBQ

BallHoggerz BBQ

Big Bill BBQ

Leonard's Pit Barbecue

Ray's World Famous BBQ

Smoky City BBQ

Arnold's BBQ & Grill-Memphis TN

Blues City Cafe

Bryant's Bar-B-Q & Breakfast

Hog Wild-Real Memphis Barbeque

One & Only BBQ

One & Only BBQ

Pappy's BBQ

Reese's Bar-B-Q

Three Little Pigs Bar-B-Q

William's Bar-B-Q

Collierville Commissary

Pollard's Bar-B-Que

Captain John's Bar-B-Que

Jimbo's Brickhouse Bar-Be-Que

Old Style Bar-B-Q

Smokin' Hot BBQ

The Wilson's Way BBQ & More

Alex Farms Hickory Smoked Chicken Salad & BBQ

Big Bill's Bar-Be-Que

Stumpy's Backyard BBQ

Best by Category

Dry Rub Ribs

Wet Ribs

Pulled Pork

BBQ Nachos

BBQ Spaghetti

Rib Tips

Best BBQ in
Memphis

The Best BBQ Restaurants
in Memphis