Barbecue Trip North of Memphis

Today we took one our frequent barbecue eating trips in the West Tn. area. We drove north of Memphis on Hwy. 51 and visited a few of the eateries specializing in barbecue. THe following stops were on the trip:
MR. BBQ in Covington- A nice little place with just plain good barbecue. The pork, ribs and brisket were very good. The peach cobbler was also excellent. Friedliest people you could ever meet run the place. This is a no frills operation that used to be common in this area before everything became so commercial. A good place to enjoy a quiet feast.

Sparkies -Atoka - another samall operation. We tried the pulled pork sandwich. The price was reasonable and the food was good but not great. They had the hottest sauce I have ever had.

Post Office Bar B Q in Tipton -This place really has atmosphere. It is off the main highway in a rural area. As the name implies it is in an old post office and is a nice place to eat. The pork sandwich was very good and moist like we prefer. They also have a broad menu.
There are several others in the area that deserve visiting that will be another trip. In a twenty mile stretch there our seven or eight barbecue places that could hold there own with any in the country.
There is a lot of wood being burned in north west TN.

Did you make it all the way up to Reelfoot?

I like the northwest part of Tennessee. Area has good BBQ plus a few good places that serve great fried chicken.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Good Job, We need all the reviews of these places we can get. Thanks for reporting in. When we go to Mmephis we like to take the parkways down to U S 51 on one leg of the trip. Your suggestions will help us a lot.

I love west TN as well. if you head north on US 51 you'll go through Henning, the boyhood home of Alex Haley, the author of Roots. His home is a very nice museum.
One of my favorite towns anywhere is Trenton, TN, a few miles east of 51, which claims to have the world's largest teapot collection. A few miles north is Dyer, home of the albino squirrel, and just north of there is Rutherford, where Davy Crockett's mother is buried.
There's lots of good eatin' out this way.
Just a little farther east is Paris, TN, where they have a great catfish festival every year and a giant statue of a catfish in the center of town.

Sundancer- We intended to continue our trip North but there were more barbecue pits than our stomachs could hold. Our trip stopped at Covington which has three that we will have to get to next time. All of the pits we saw have been around you years. I don't know of many other areas where you can experience so many bbq establishments in such a small geographical area. These are mom and pops that are slowly disapearing. We will try to continue the trip north and report back soon. All of the sandwiches we had were huge and were priced in the 3.50 range.

Li'l Porky's in Covington (if it's still in business) used to have some of the best BBQ I've tried. Another good one was right across the street, but I can't remember the name. The two may have been owned by the same family.

Mason, NE of Memphis, is renowned for Bozo's. Don't bother.

Union City, where I lived for about 15 years:

• Bad Bob's: don't bother. It's a chain, and not a great one.
• Corner BBQ: pretty good
• PV's Hut: I didn't know they were listed for their BBQ, but their hand-made and mashed-on-the-griddle burgers with slaw are to die for.
• If you can find it, Nina's was the absolute best. It was owned by Nina and Jim Pierce, a couple who cared passionately about their neighborhood (not good) and its young folk. It may be gone because of its location. Ask around, though, because if it's there, it's a must.

Martin, E of Union City: Damron's is quite good.

Ricks - We will try those you mentioned and give you an update in the near future. That stretch of Hwy. 51 can really compete with the entire city if Memphis.

I have to travel to Savannah, TN on business next week. Know of any place nearby??

quote:

Originally posted by gbailey

I have to travel to Savannah, TN on business next week. Know of any place nearby??

Lexington is only about 30 miles north of there:

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