It's time for a girl's night out for me and my friends here in Memphis
It’s time for a girl’s night out for me and my friends here in Memphis, and what better way to celebrate in the home of the blues than with good music and great barbecue! It’s kind of hard to narrow it down since there are so many places to get really good barbecue, so I took some time this week to visit websites and talk to some of my Memphis neighbors who have been around town the longest to narrow down my list. Of course, having so many great barbecue restaurants means we’ll just have to do girl’s night out more often to try them all!
The biggest debate in the Memphis barbecue world is the choice between wet or dry. Wet barbecue comes with barbecue sauce, and dry barbecue is smoked with a dry rub and eaten without the sauce. You can get both styles in pulled pork, ribs or brisket and I think each has its own unique flavor and flare. Some restaurants serve it both ways, but most have their signature blends for either wet or dry. So I started with the Rendezvous Restaurant in downtown Memphis. The Rendezvous is known for their dry rub, which they made famous in 1985 by making it available anywhere. Their toll-free number, 1-800-HOGS-FLY is now famous, and they’re still shipping their ribs overnight anywhere in the world.
The next barbecue place I considered was Neely’s Bar-B-Que on Jefferson Ave. The Neelys started their barbecue empire when their father, Jim Neely, opened Interstate Barbecue on South 3rd Street, close to Interstate 55. The Neelys have gone on to become one of the first families of Memphis barbecue and feature their famous wet barbecue sauce in the restaurant. According to everyone I talked to, everything on the menu comes with their famous sauce, even the spaghetti.
Since we wanted to spend the second part of our girl’s night out at B.B. King’s Club and Restaurant for some great blues after dinner, I chose the Rendezvous since it’s less than two blocks from B.B. King’s. We’ll enjoy our dinner and then walk over to the club to hear the B.B. King Allstars. They get started at 9 p.m. and play until 2 a.m., so we’ll have plenty of time to have drinks and hear some great music. I hear they have great banana bread pudding, so we may have to have a little dessert with our blues.
I’m really looking forward to getting out with my friends and experiencing a real taste of Memphis. Next time we’ll go for the wet barbecue and like rest of the city, join one side or the other.
