Tom's Barbecue & Deli

Nowadays, this is the best barbecue in Memphis (a generation ago, it would have been top-5.) What makes this the best is that the meat, sauce, and sides all are very good, which really cannot be said for any other barbecue place in the city these days. I have had only the pork shoulder plate, and it is excellent. The meat is lean and well-flavored, and if you are lucky, you even get an occasional burnt end. The sauce is probably the best in the city, with a mild flavor that is neither too sweet nor sour...it just complements the meat without distracting from it. As for the sides, I have gotten candied yams, green beans, and turnip greens. If you have gotten these at other places, you know they are hit-or-miss (green beans especially can be very bland.) But all are very good here. The prices are middle-of-the-road. The atmosphere is very spartan, with a dive feel. You order at the counter, and at peak hour the line can get a bit long, but they are very efficient. It is one of those places where you are better off studying the menu online before arriving so that you know what you want and don't have to hold up the line. If you get a plate, you get two sides, but they are not all listed on the website. The ones I have seen yams, green beans, turnip greens, corn on the cob, spaghetti, among a few others. All look very good.

The person taking our order was lovely, and gave us a little sample (unprompted) which was very kind. The sides here were great! The baked beans, sweet potatoes, and Mac and cheese were all great. The rib tips were a little underwhelming and seemed over cooked to me. BUT they had some of the best peach cobbler I’ve ever had. We came here on a road trip, and are stopping at DDD locations! This was a great addition to our trip!

Like any BBQ place I go to I start with the pulled pork sandwich. Besides being cooked and seasoned just right, it had an excellent match of the right kind Cole slaw and sauce. The owner, Adam, dropped some of his bbq lamb on me to try out out and while I can’t claim expertise on lamb, it did taste pretty good. The two fellows sitting behind me were having a special selection of Adam’s other specialties and they were bragging about the lamb. I’m lease look at that picture. Anyhow I clearly got the impression from there diners around us that much more of the menu is top notch besides the bbq. Enjoy.

2 Texas boys stopped in today while we were on a breakdown & our truck was being serviced at the Penske down the street. I wish I had gotten folks names, because they were absolutely wonderful and treated us like family! We traded some jokes about which BBQ is better, Texas or Memphis, but it was all in fun & there were no meanspirited intentions, just to make that clear! It was all good natured, like when family teases each other with love. Anyways, you came here to read about the food, so here ya go! I had the brisket & 2 sides of coleslaw and my co-driver had the baby back ribs, I think. I am getting old, I know they were pork ribs, don't judge me, 😂🤣! The coleslaw was sweet with just a bit of a bite & so good I sopped up the juices with a slice of bread. The brisket had a wonderful smokey flavor & their bbq sauce was kind of sweet and definitely complimented the rub. They brought us a little sampler plate of their other meats & by all that is holy, when my co-driver and I were done eating, we hurt from being over stuffed with such good food! The sausage was amazing, best sausage I have ever had, to be honest. The rib tips were very flavorful & truly complimented the BBQ sauce. The ham was a treat, much better than I could have hoped for (I am burnt out on ham, we have had it the last few holidays, but it was still tasty enough that I wanted more!) Ok, this review has turned into a novel & if you made it this far, do yourself a favor & stop in, you won't regret it!