Since Memphis, TN is right on the border of both Mississippi and Arkansas, it should be no great surprise that the influence of Memphis bbq extends across these borders. Take for example, the old Boss Hog BBQ, a small bbq shop that was in a strip mall on Goodman Road. The atmosphere was typical of Memphis-area bbq restaurants-simple, snug and friendly. In 2009 the boys and I were on our way home from the Snowden Grove Park following some play time on the park’s fun and unique playground, which included a rope play structure we dubbed, “The Spiderman playground.” The boys took great pride in climbing all the way to the top and keeping count of each summit with a loud victorious declaration, both eager to tell mom at home of their conquests. Brett summited 14 times and Blake (little brother) 11.
Discovering a bbq shop we hadn’t been to before, furthered our conquest. Between multiple playground summits and our new bar-b-q find, all that conquering made us hungry, so the next logical stop was at this local bbq joint. The boys had bbq sandwiches and I had ribs. I sampled their sandwiches, of course, and they helped me with the ribs. Both the ribs and the shoulder meat did have some slight smokiness but no bark to speak of. The meat was tender enough to eat without struggle and did have good meaty flavor. The sauce was slightly tangy, slightly sweet and overall ok. I don’t think the “Duke boys” would have been impressed, but Rosco might have liked it. Don’t get me wrong, I thought Boss Hog BBQ was a decent bbq shop, but with so many better ones around, we never made it back. It is now home to Southern Bar-B-Q.
Quick-Fire Guide:
Here are a few notes about the ‘que:
Tenderness-
- Ribs-Tender enough to eat without struggle, but lacked bark.
- Shoulder-Tender, white meat, but lacked the bits of crust mixed in.
Smoke-
- Ribs-slight smoke flavor.
- Shoulder-slight smoke flavor.
Sauce-a little tangy, a little sweet. Overall OK.
Slaw-the slightly crunchy slaw did compliment the pork sandwich.
Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Tim Shirley