As a certified bbq judge, I’ve judged Natural Born Grillers as a team at Memphis In May and have been to the restaurant as well at Snowden Grove Park in Southaven, MS, just across the Tennessee state line. The restaurant is closed now, but John Wheeler, the pit-master of NBG created a business partnership and collaboration with Melissa Cookston of another bbq team-Yazoo Delta Q, and opened Memphis Barbecue Co. in Horn Lake, MS, also just outside of Memphis. Read more about both of them here-Memphis Barbecue Co. Both have won the planet’s most prestigious barbecue competition, the Memphis In May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. Until I release the full story of my experience at NBG, see my Quick-Fire Guide of the restaurant below, to get an idea of what I liked or didn’t like about the ribs before it closed. Also, check out full reviews and Quick-Fire Guides of other bbq restaurants from my BBQ Guide.
Quick-Fire Guide:
Here are a few notes about the ‘que:
Tenderness-
- Ribs-were tender, but somewhat dry. The ribs also had a well-formed outside bark, but were a little too sweet for my taste-perhaps from either brown sugar or turbinado.
Smoke-
- Ribs-The pink smoke ring went all the way to the bone, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I enjoy a full wood smoke flavor, but the ribs I had at NBG teetered on the edge of bitterness. These ribs had a full wood smoke flavor, bordering too much. Despite minor problems, I enjoyed the ribs overall.
Sauce-sweet, tangy, spicy, sticky. We liked it.
Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Tim Shirley