Top 10 BBQ Restaurants in Central Memphis, Tennessee | S. 3rd St. Location

2. Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous

52 S 2nd St, Memphis, TN 38103, United States, +19015232746

About: Memphis is the world’s pork barbecue capital, with excellent joints tucked into every nook and cranny. They  know what they are doing when it comes to nutrition. Although everyone has a preference, few can deny that the Rendezvous is a must-do activity in Memphis. The Vergos family has been serving their signature dry rub ribs in a basement across from the Peabody Hotel for more than 70 years. And, although the world outside has changed dramatically, the alley basement has remained remarkably unchanged. It all began in 1948. Charlie Vergos and his brother-in-law owned Wimpy’s, a meat and three restaurant at the time. But they couldn’t agree on anything, so Charlie decided to set up shop in the basement, selling ham sandwiches and beer. The location was dubbed the Rendezvous by him. To give the ham some spice, he converted an old coal chute into a smoker. Downtown Memphis was the city’s retail and commercial center in the late 1940s. Men worked downtown throughout the week. Men will go to the Rendezvous after work for a snack and a drink while waiting for their wives to pick them up. On weekends, the fellas will take their wives down for a day of shopping and then spend the afternoon at the Rendezvous drinking. Through the early 1950s, Vergos began to clean up the place a bit, and the ladies agreed to pay a visit. By the late 1950s, however, he had realized he had a problem. He wanted to broaden his menu. His butcher approached him with the one thing he had enough of after trying his hand at chicken and oysters. Ribs are a type of meat. Ribs were considered scrap meat at the time. For years, ribs had been a common side dish at backyard barbecues in Memphis communities, but they had never been served in restaurants. So Vergos devised the now-famous method of throwing the racks in 18 inches from the fire and grilling them for an hour and fifteen minutes to lock in the flavor. They were kept moist with a vinegar wash. Vergos also developed a rub using seasonings from his father’s unique Greek chili recipe and cajun spices he found during trips to New Orleans. To give it a more traditional barbecue hue, he added paprika. That’s what there is to it. People were enthralled by them. Over half a century ago, in a basement restaurant in Downtown Memphis, the tradition for “Memphis style” barbecue ribs was created. Come check it out for yourself.