Memphis Barbecue

Memphis barbecue means pork, and specifically two things: a shoulder smoked for many hours and pulled into strands for a sandwich, served with slaw piled inside it, and ribs, which the city argues about endlessly because they come two ways. Dry ribs are coated in a spice rub and smoked with no sauce at all, a style a downtown cellar restaurant made famous; wet ribs are mopped as they cook. Hickory is the wood. The best places are usually plain rooms in ordinary neighbourhoods with a pit at the back and a queue at lunch. Once a year the city holds the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in a park by the river, with hundreds of teams and elaborate rigs.

What you actually see

• Dry ribs - spice-rubbed and smoked, served with no sauce.
• Pulled pork shoulder - the sandwich, with slaw piled inside the bun.
• Barbecue spaghetti - a local oddity that makes more sense than it sounds.
• The World Championship - hundreds of teams by the river each May.

When to go

Year-round, though the championship in mid-May is the single biggest barbecue event anywhere and books the city out. Pits often sell out and close early in the day, especially at the older places, so eat at lunch rather than late. Many of the best rooms close on Sundays.

Honest expectations

Several famous places are tourist-heavy and inconsistent, and the best barbecue in the city is usually in a neighbourhood spot with no sign worth photographing. Queues at lunch are long. Vegetarians will find the menus almost entirely closed to them, sides included, since the greens and beans are typically cooked with pork.

Nearby

Beale Street and Graceland are both in the city; the Mississippi runs alongside downtown.