Three Little Pigs Bar-B-Q located on Quince Avenue is a small, typical Memphis bbq joint; a simple, down-home diner filled with pig memorabilia. They were busy when we were there, but the service was fast and cordial. The tangy Blue Plate bbq sauce they served us, has become a classic in Memphis and can be found in many bbq joints here. It’s the same sauce you’ll find at Tops BBQ, Brad’s, Showboat, and others. It has a sour pickle taste that works particularly well with pork shoulder. In fact, bits of pickle can be noticed in the sauce. The meat was chopped, “dirty” (with at least some bits of crisp bark mixed in), slightly smoky and was complimented by the sauce and slaw. Ribs weren’t available, but they did have a decent bbq sandwich along with other standard southern fare, such as fried catfish. I hate to play the wolf here, but Three Little Pigs was similar to Tops BBQ, only not as good. Tops has had better smoke flavor for me. Although I’d rather have Tops, if I were near Quince, I’d have no problem grabbing a bbq sandwich from Three Little Pigs Bar-B-Q.
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Three Little Pigs Bar-B-Q
Quick-Fire Guide:
Here are a few notes about the ‘que:
Tenderness-
- Shoulder-was moist and tender with some bits of bark mixed in.
Smoke-
- Shoulder-had slight smoke flavor.
Sauce-tangy-style, sour pickle Blue Plate bbq sauce.
Slaw-finely chopped, slightly sweet slaw complimented the pork sandwich.
Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Comments, rants, raves, disagreements and downright bbq feuds are welcome below. Tim Shirley
Tim, pay attention to the slaw served with the BBQ at Three Little Pigs: it has finely chopped cucumber mixed in. That makes their BBQ sandwich supreme. It is a subtle and beguiling slaw topper to a pork sandwich there. Is the origin from its former life as Loeb’s, or a more recent addition? As is said here in Boston, Whatevah! The slaw with cuke works so well as a condiment.
My late uncle made this place his hangout in his dotage, and for good reason. This place has the finest and best slaw topper to a BBQ sandwich in Memphis, to me anyway.
The sauce used at TLP is Blue Plate, the same one that Tops uses, as well as a few others around town. From what I’ve read, they do all seem to be connected to the old Loeb’s restaurants in some way. I’ve been intending to get back to TLP. When I do, I’ll be sure to look for the cucumber in the slaw, and hopefully get better smoke flavor than I got my last visit. Thanks again for your thoughts. If you have any other bbq memories that you’d like to share, please do. Thanks again for your input!