Graceland - Memphis, TN

The second Memphis restaurant is located on Elvis Presley Blvd, so is Graceland. That's right, Graceland, of course I had to see it. FYI -if you ever decide to go be prepared because this place will milk you for everything you've got! Parking is $10. Entry is $31. Car museum is another fee. Plane museum is another fee. And the beat goes on.

"I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, in Memphis Tennessee."
- Paul Simon

Posing in front of Elvis' mansion

One of the many living rooms where he entertained his guests.

A hallway decorated with his gold and platinum records.

More of his gold and platinum records

Elvis' resting place

He loved his cars and had over 1000 in his life. The museum owns most of them and so the cars on display change frequently.

Elvis' plane, the Lisa Marie

In conclusion, it is my assessment after visiting Graceland that indeed Elvis Lives.

A & R Bar-B-Que

Unfortunately, Anthony had to head back to DC, so after a quick stop at the Nashville Airport, I set my coordinates for Memphis. Touted as the city with the highest number of BBQ places per capital, picking just 3 was a challenge.

First on the itinerary was A & R BBQ on Elvis Presley Blvd. Travel and Leisure magazine called this "the best traditional Memphis-style ribs ever - flat out sensational."

Pulling up to the place, you are greeted by an unassuming corner building that doesn't do a very good job of convincing you that it serves food. The thick smoke billowing from the pits out back fill your nostrils and tell you otherwise. As you walk in, their unofficial slogan stand tall and proud, "Anyone can put the heat 2 the meat, but only a few can bar-b-q". The furniture hasn't changed since their opening in 1983 and the red and white plastic table cloths, sticky to the touch adorn the tables.

Everything is a sandwich, which similar to Nashville means, they take a slab of meat and put it between 2 pieces of bread. I ordered the ribs sandwich and the waitress was stunned when I also order the pulled pork sandwich. A hilarious conversation ensued when I told her why I was there [read about it in the memorable quotes section below].

The pulled pork sandwich was like nothing I had on the trip because they take their pulled pork, drench it in their sweet sauce, top it with creamy coleslaw and serve it on a bun. As the ratings below will show, each item on the sandwich cannot do without the other, together the slaw, pork and sauce form a flavor sensation in your mouth.

The ribs were very smoky, dry on the outside, but very moist on the inside. I was told that they go into the pit with nothing on them, i.e. no seasoning or sauce. They are cooked in the pit for several hours and close to the end of the cooking time, they slather their hot or mild sauce all over them. The ribs without any sauce are smokey all the way to the bone.

The smokehouse out back - Unfortunately, no tour because the pit master wasn't there.

Ratings:

Ribs - 7 - impressed by the moist center of the ribs, the smoky flavor and taste.

Pulled Pork - 6.5 (7.5) - slaw and pork -cannot do without the other. Alone a 6.5, but together a 7.5.

Slaw - 5.5 (6.5) - same as above, together they are a form a dynamic duo.

Sauces - 7 - they have a hot and mild sauce which are worth mentioning because they are made in the pit. When I asked for details, this request was met with a cold reception, so I have no idea how they make them.

Ambiance - 8.5 - I had to peel my hands from the table cloth after the meal, need I say more.

Overall - 7

Memorable Quotes:

Shingai: "I drove a long way to come taste your BBQ."

Cashier: "You from the other side of town? I think I seen you before."

Shingai: "No, I'm from DC."

Cashier: "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? No you isn't! Say, "if I'm lying, I'm dying."

Shingai: "If I'm lying, I'm dying."

Cashier: "Oh my god! TYREEKA! This guy just drove from DC to eat lunch here."

Tyreeka: "Stop playin'!"

Nasvhille

We had a lot of fun in Nashville. In between our BBQ stops we tried to take in some of the cultural sites including Vanderbilt (no photos) and the following:

The State Capitol Building:

The Parthenon (a 1921 replica of the famed Greek structure) - crazy to think in America we were so cash rich and desperate for culture we actually started building replicas of other countries historic landmarks.

The guy whose idea it was to put up the Parthenon:

A famous locomotive from the Nashville, Chattanooga, St. Louis rail line:

A war memorial:

... and a bunch of homeless people swimming in the war memorial pools (sorry it's a bit blurry we were walking fast):

The real fun started after dinner at B&C Melrose. We headed back downtown to "Lower Broad" to catch some live music at The Stage. It was a great band cover classic 70's & 80's rock songs in a country music bar. The night went a little something like this:

Step 1 - Drink Jack Daniels (you are in Tennessee after all)
Step 2 - Drink Yazoo beer while gorging yourself on heaping mounds of smoky moist pork
Step 3 - Drink more Yazoo beer
Step 4 - Do shots
Step 5 - Anthony knows all the words to the songs, so he sings horribly and very loudly
Step 6 - Shingai doesn't know any words so he just out dances everyone
Step 7 - Take ridiculous pictures.
Step 8 - Hate life the next day

Unfortunately, Nashville was the end for Anthony who flew home on Tuesday morning after 5 days on the road. And frankly he needed the break, all the pork, fat, salt, sugar, beer and lack of sleep was taking it's toll. Overall it was an amazing trip with lots of great memories with a good friend. After 14 spots the top two were Lexington BBQ and Bridges BBQ Lodge, with Mary in a close third.

B&C Melrose BBQ

After our success at Mary’s we hit the Internet to find another hole-in-the wall Nashville BBQ spot. A name that kept coming up was Pop’s, but unfortunately it permanently closed at the end of 2010. So we took the recommendation of our hosts, Susan & Jamie and headed out to B&C Melrose BBQ.

We were a little skeptical when our cab pulled up to a grocery anchored strip mall, but we had already started the party with some Jack Daniels – when you are in Tennessee you have to drink some Jack – so we decided to give this relatively new comer (2008) a try.

Shingai, Anthony, Susan & Jamie

The restaurant consists of a simple counter set-up where you order to take out or dine-in at the  sparsely decorated room next door. Some fellow BBQ fanatics followed us in and recommended the pulled pork, ribs, mac & cheese and garlic cheese grits, which we ordered. We also got their tomato and molasses based mild, hot and sweet heat BBQ sauces.

We were the last customers of the day, but the staff were very friendly and told us about how they smoke the pork and ribs using a spicy dry rub & hickory for 12+ hours.

Ratings:

Pulled Pork – 6 – smoky and juicy

Ribs – 6.5 – good hickory smoke flavor, mild BBQ sauce they were covered in was just OK

Mac & Cheese – 3- cheesy & creamy, ours were cold since it was so late in the day

Baked Potato Salad – 4 – middle of the road

Grits – 7.5 – creamy and garlicky, these were really good, Susan couldn’t stop eating them

Mild Sauce- 4- too sweet without enough flavor

Sweet Heat –4- we were excited about the name but it was nothing special

Hot Sauce – 7.5 – this is the one to order - first you get a little sweetness up front and think to yourself this isn’t hot, then the cayenne and chipotle flavor kick in and make you start drenching your pork with it.

Corn Bread Muffin – cakey and moist on the inside with good corn flavor

Ambiance: 3 – too new and in a strip mall,

Overall – 6 - this is good ‘cue for the masses, staff was very friendly, plus we tried a new good local beer here, Yazoo

Memorable Quotes:
Jamie: "You know these guys are on a BBQ tour"
Waitress: "I heard. Where to next?"
Shingai: "Memphis"
Waitress: "That is really good BBQ"
Anthony: "Where do you recommend?"
Waitress: "I was with my friend and boyfriend, but I don't remember anything"
Anthony: "Lot of drinks?"
Waitress -"Yes, a lot of that and some"

Mary's Old Fashion Pit Style BBQ

"You've tried the rest, now try the best!"

After Jack's we took a trip to a seedier part of town in search of Mary's Old Fashion Pit Style BBQ.

Mary's has been serving BBQ since 1962 and hasn't re-styled the place since.  Inside is like a bare bones diner with a service counter and a simple picture menu.  The only decoration was a memorial picture of Mary and her husband. We were helped by Mae, who has been working there since Mary and her husband died. We got a pulled pork sandwich and a short ribs sandwich, dipped in the medium BBQ sauce. We loved how it says "sandwich", but it's really a whole rack of ribs between two slices of white bread.

The pork was OK alone but really good with the sauce and the short ribs were amazing!!! They were slow smoked perfectly and rub they use gives it a shiny glazed crust. The secret recipe BBQ sauce was unbelievable. It has a distinctive orange hue and the hot sauce immediately made us think "they should bottle this shit". We tried to ask what the base or hot spice came from, but Mae kept telling us it was a secret and wouldn't divulge their recipe. "Mary took the recipe to her grave with her and so will I," she said.

The aftermath

This stuff was so good Shingai would make crazy statements like "these are the real deal, SON!" For some reason eating Mary's made him use the word "son" after every statement. Our original goal was to stop in and taste each dish, because we had eaten lunch at Jack's an hour and a half before, but as you can see from the aftermath this shit was so good we ended up eating everything.

Ratings:

Short Ribs -9 -amazing, plus the presentation is great
Pulled Pork - 6- not memorable but with the sauce it's great
Hot BBQ Sauce - 8 - one of the best we tasted, a little unorthodox with an orange hue

Ambiance - 9.5 - couldn't get anymore hole-in-the-wall, patrons and staff were very friendly. The concrete floor was covered with the paint you use in your garage.

Overall - 8 - "These ribs are da bomb, SON!"

Quotes:

Man (ordering): Can I get my ribs with mild sauce?
Shingai (butting in): If you can take the heat, go with the hot sauce. It's amazing!
Man: I can take the heat. I ain't one of these scared soldiers.
Shingai: We need to put you on the front line then.
Man: In fact hot sauce is good for you. It's good for cancer, good for your insides and it's also an aphrodisiac. If I have a little hot sauce something might just happen. The feeling just takes over.
Man (turns to his wife): How you feeling?
Man (shaking his money maker): In fact, I might just put some hot sauce on a rib and let you suck on it on the way home.

Woman: Where are you boys going next?
Shingai: Memphis.
Woman: Ooo! Now their BBQ is off the bone good.

Different Man (to his wife): What's wrong with you?
Wife: You're getting two slabs of ribs and I'm only getting one. Why is that?
Man: That's easy, Coz I'm da man!

Jacks BBQ

After visiting 11 joints in 3 days, our tour of Carolina BBQ came to a close. We accomplished our mission of starting with the famous vinegary east Carolina BBQ and worked out way west adding more sweetness and tomato to the Q.

We even dipped our toes into South Carolina BBQ to taste their mustard/vinegar style BBQ . Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, so with a heavy heart and even heavier stomachs we left Carolina and headed for Nashville Tennessee, with a true appreciation for the the Carolina BBQ mantra, "low, slow and simple".

"We would drive 500 miles,

and we would drive 500 more.

To be the men who men who drive 1000 miles,

to taste Nashville B-B-Q."

After an exhausting drive, we crossed the 1000 mile mark and arrived in Nashville. We immediately headed for the most famous downtown BBQ spot, Jack's, in the shadow of Ryman Auditorium.

Jack's is a Nashville staple and resides on Lower Broadway, made famous by the four blocks of music venues packed together. This town takes it's live music seriously, bands start playing live music at lunch everyday.

The line at Jack's was out the door, so we waited patiently, and once in side, you can pass the time looking at the walls littered with famous music memorabilia.  Jack's definitely has a fun ambiance, plus you can't beat being served cafeteria style by this guy.

We ordered the pulled pork, brisket and some "bones". Jack's has 6 signature sauces to sample, but we really only liked the Kansas style because of the smokey flavor and sublet sweetness.  The rest were not good.

Ratings:

Pulled Pork -6- cold, harsh deep smokey flavor you could taste afterward
Brisket -4- dry, grey hunk of meat - no smoke flavor
Ribs -8-really smokey almost overwhelming, good char
Beans -7- good not too sweet
Coleslaw -7- rough cut so crunchy, vinegary with lots of pepper, well balanced

Sauces (in order of best to worst):

Kansas - smokey, sweet - paired well with the smokey meat
Texas - sweet tomato based sauce - OK
xxx-911 - supposed to be hot, but pretty much forgettable
Carolina - mustard based - not good
White - mayo horseradish based sauce - looked interesting - tasted horrible
Tennessee - major let down - it almost confused the palate - not good

Ambiance - 7 - Country Music and BBQ definitely pair well together

Overall - 6.5 - this is really because of the ambiance, location, ribs & coleslaw - otherwise skip this place