Whole Hog Café-Closed in Memphis, But Open in Little Rock

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This Little Rock, Arkansas-based chain barbecue restaurant had two Memphis locations, both of which have closed. I made it out to both Quince Rd and Germantown Pkwy locations before they

closed their doors and I also had an awesome bbq sandwich at the Little Rock Airport location. Anyone passing through Arkansas, Little Rock especially, might still be interested to read about my three Whole Hog Café experiences. Note: They weren’t actually serving whole hog bbq when I stopped in. According to one of the managers, the name was created after the bbq competition team the restaurant is associated with won the whole hog category at Memphis In May one year. That’s no small feat. Check back in the future for a full review and don’t miss my Quick-Fire Guide below to find out what I liked and what I didn’t. Also, don’t forget to 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 at both the Quince Rd and Germantown Pkwy locations, but the bark was a little better formed at the Germantown Pkwy store.
• Shoulder-Was tender and moist at all three locations-Quince Rd, Germantown Pkwy and Little Rock Airport. But the two locations in Memphis gave me mostly white meat and little bark (crust). The airport in LR, however, gave me a nice balance of inside tender white meat and exterior bark. It was my best WHC bbq experience.

Smoke-

• Ribs-Had decent smoke at the Quince Rd location and bitter smoke at the Germantown Pkwy location.
• Shoulder-Had only mild smoke at the two Memphis locations and really nice wood smoke flavor at the LR Airport location.

Sauce-Sauces came in a beer six pack box-some sweet, some spicy, some tangy, etc. My family enjoyed all of them and the hottest one could only be picked up by special request at the counter. My favorite was the original thin, tangy, slightly sweet bbq sauce. I enjoyed especially enjoyed combining the original with a spicy sauce.

Slaw-The crunchy, tangy, sweet and slightly creamy slaw complimented the smoked pork sandwich.

Thanks for visiting my Memphis bbq blog! Comments, rants, raves, disagreements and downright bbq feuds are welcome below. Tim Shirley

 

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