Heading East

Time to make our way back east. Our first stop, less than 15 minutes from our Memphis hotel was Corkey's, which has locations all over Tennessee, but we thought perhaps Memphis should have two BBQ reviews...




Corky's felt like a chain restaurant inside with all their real plates, real silverware, and "service". But they also had Bing's favorite wet ribs so far on our tour--meaty ribs so pink from the smoke you'd think they were raw, and basted with an excellent sauce. Rach had a huge loaded baked potato with pulled pork, cheese, and BBQ sauce. Good pork, but a few dry hard chunks. Portions were enormous (we also got a half-order of onion loaf that was supposed to serve 1-2, but turned out to be about the size of a bloomin' onion). Great food at Corky's, but the ambiance was definitely lacking--you wouldn't have known the difference between it and a Logans or Texas Roadhouse. Jack's still tops that category.


Back to the "open road" this time with Rach at the wheel!

Pretty soon it was time to eat again...




Carl's, the place that raises its own hogs, had some of the best pulled pork we've tried, but being situated way out in White Bluff, TN, it was definitely a bare-bones small town joint in a tight-knit community. Rach likened it to eating at Lindy's back home in Cumberland. The ribs were good, but not the same lean meat we saw at Corky's or Rendezvous. Carl apparently teamed up with someone named Bill and used Bill's sauce, which was a perfect vinegary matchup to the pulled pork, but less so on the ribs. Carl's was good, but probably not worth going more than 30 minutes out of your way. (It was on our way from Memphis to Chattanooga, so we didn't feel bad).

While Rach was driving, Bing discovered the "cool stuff" in Nashville that we had forgotten/missed out on, so we took a brief detour back to the massive Opryland Hotel. Inside we found 9 acres of indoor gardens, complete with San Antonio-style riverwalk weaving in and out of a bunch of walking paths. We were kicking ourselves for missing out on this the first time (considering our hotel, the sketchy one, was RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!) We are now on the lookout for any relevant conferences that will be housed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Conference Center...count us in!