Restaurant Review of Corky's BBQ in Memphis

Memphis is known for its BBQ throughout the world. As a Memphis resident I have become accustomed to seeing numerous BBQ restaurants every time I leave the house. While I am used to eating the best in the world, my friends from other states are not. When friends visit they usually have one request: to try the best BBQ in Memphis.

Most Memphians could argue for hours over which restaurant offers the best in Memphis. One restaurant that will always come up in the discussion is Corky's. While I have had the BBQ from Corky's before, I had never been to the restaurant before. This review is based on my first visit to the restaurant that offers some of the best Southern BBQ. I visited the Corky's BBQ on Poplar Ave in Memphis, but there are multiple locations throughout several southern states.

A Little Corky's History:

In 1984 Don Pelts opened a restaurant that he had been visualizing in his mind for the last decade. His vision of a Memphis-style BBQ place that served excellent BBQ in a fun, upbeat 1950's style environment. Corky's has been in business since then making Memphis history and opening up multiple locations.

How The BBQ Is Cooked:

How the food is cooked is one of the most important elements of distinguishing Memphis BBQ from all other types. Corky's BBQ is cooked in the old fashioned southern tradition where meats are placed in open and close BBQ pits with hickory chips and charcoal and are then cooked at low temperatures. Corky's takes its time when cooking its meat. Pork shoulders are cooked for 22 hours and ribs are cooked for over 7 hours. The ribs are all trimmed out and the pork shoulder meat is then hand pulled because at Corky's they believe that is better than the automated process many restaurants use.

How It Tastes:

Because of the way Corky's cooks its meat it is always super tender. The meat has a distinctive hickory flavor from the hickory chips used in the cooking process. Corky's BBQ has a special blend of tangy sauces that are used to flavor the meat. You can use the regular BBQ sauce or even different flavors like Apple BBQ sauce.

The Corky's Atmosphere:

The food at Corky's comes out FAST. Despite cooking for almost a day, there is no delay in service. This was fantastic since we were there on a busy Saturday night and had to wait to get a table. The host and waiters are all friendly and outgoing. They all wear bow ties and white shirts that compliment the 50s style the owner envisioned. Also complimenting that fun 50's environment is the music. Since I did not know the history of Corky's before visiting the restaurant I was a little shocked by the music. It didn't seem like the kind of music to be playing in a Memphis BBQ joint. While I went in expecting blues or rock-n-roll, I really enjoyed the mix of the greatest music hits from the 50's and 60's.

Reasons To Visit Corky's:

Why visit Corky's? Because it is the BEST Southern BBQ in Memphis. It has been voted #1 BBQ by Memphis Magazine for 17 straight years, #1 BBQ in Southern Living Magazine Reader's Poll for 3 straight years, #1 BBQ by the Memphis Flyer for 6 straight years. The restaurant has even more endorsements and the walls are covered in pictures and autographs of celebrities who have eaten there.

Everyone loves Corky's and you will too.