The epic journey to find good BBQ

We wanted to come to Memphis for a few reasons, but to be completely honest, it was mainly to get good barbecue. Or at least that's what we were most excited for. On the ride into Memphis, we spent at least an hour researching restaurants on our iPhones, discussing what we were going to order, and just generally hyping up the meal. The problem with doing this, of course, is that expectations are high and easily let down. This is what happened to me the last time I came to Memphis.

I was vacationing with my family, and we had heard of a restaurant called Interstate Bar-B-Que which received rave reviews from the Travel Channel and travel books. "Must-have Memphis barbecue" was take-home message. We got in late and decided to take the shortcut through downtown, even though it was called "Interstate Bar-B-Que" and, thus, located right off the interstate. Well, downtown became pretty sketchy pretty quickly. We were definitely not in a good part of town, but we did make it there, so it was time to enjoy some good food, right?

Wrong. Unfortunately, this must-have meal was drowning in barbecue sauce, not a single item was fresh, and even the barbecue spaghetti was inedible. Who would've thought? Well, it turned out to be one of the funniest moments of my life, all of us laughing as we were the only customers there and we left most of the food on our plates. With the signed celeb photos on the wall and the specials on the Food Network and Travel Channel, it kind of seemed like we were part of a practical joke.

It looks like even the pig is in on the joke.

Needless to say, with the help of George and Anthony, I needed to change the approach this time around to find some good eats in Memphis. So, on our approach into Memphis, we made sure to take our time with the restaurant decision, look up reviews, make sure it was close to the hotel, etc. We were ready. We found a great place only half a mile away from our hotel and close to Beale Street, the main tourist area and music club scene in Memphis. Perfect, nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong. We left the hotel, which seemed to be in a more business-type district of downtown Memphis. Since it was getting darker, the glow lights under the five suped-up Chevy Camaros looked pretty cool and we thought it was awesome. Then we saw an old Chrysler sedan with huge Hummer-sized wheels. Still pretty cool. Then a little later a homeless guy asked us, out of nowhere, on a corner three blocks away from the restaurant, if we were looking for good barbecue. He even suggested we go to the place we were already going. He then told us to follow him and so that he could show us the way. Unfortunately, there was no way to decline this offer since that's where we were already going. Although the conversation is hard to hear in the video, you can see George lucked out as the person the guy talks to:

We were able to understand maybe 4% of everything he said. The part you can clearly make out is at the end of the video when he asks "Can I ask y'all a favor, brother?" Unsurprisingly, he asked for money. I missed it, but apparently he shook George's hand goodbye (who made sure to wash his hands before eating). Okay, well at least we got through that, and we're here, so that's good, right?

Wrong. The restaurant was closed. On a Sunday at 7pm. I guess a lot of places close early on Sundays in Memphis. No problem, because we did the only logical thing to do in a situation like this: use our iPhones to find another restaurant. However, this time we were rushed and would not be taking as much time on the research phase of the mission. So we decided on one that had decent reviews and was located 0.7 miles away. Sounds good, it's just on the other side of Beale St.

This sign might be the most photographed thing in Memphis.

As we crossed Beale St., we commented on how it looked cool and that there were a lot of tourists and barbecue places. "Well, the other restaurant is only 0.4 miles away, so let's keep going."

Sure, that won't be too bad of a walk, right?

Wrong. That next block we saw a few more of those suped-up Camaros, bringing the total to about 20 since we had left the hotel. The number of spinning rims that we had seen was now in the hundreds. After the second block away from Beale St., we were again asked by a man if "we needed anything."

On the third block, a cop pulled over a car full of men who looked pretty nervous that they had been pulled over. The car in front of that car, similarly full of a bunch of guys, also pulled over. The cop's speakerphone told the front car they could go, and only the first car was pulled over, at which point the front car slowly pulled down the road and stopped on the next block.

At this point, we realized that two and a half blocks were far enough away from Beale for this road trip, and we headed back to Beale. Finally, after this whole mission of trying to redeem my last barbecue in Memphis, George having to shake a homeless guy's hand, and generally feeling out of place, we settled down at a restaurant called Pig on Beale:

It's hard to see, but it's a pig with sunglasses.

We had a great appetizer sampler:

Spicy barbecue chicken legs, onion rings, and the best (only) barbecue nachos I've ever had.

And the meal was great too:

Ribs, pulled pork sandwich, baked beans, and coleslaw.

Actually, I didn't eat the cole slaw, but George and Anthony said it was great. Everything was very tasty, and I highly recommend Pig on Beale if you ever find yourself in Memphis.

What's the moral of the story? I'm not sure exactly. There's actually a lot to learn from Memphis, even though we didn't sightsee as much or have as much late-night fun as Chicago. In fact, by 10:41 PM Anthony and George were passed out:

Sitting still all day in a car is really tiring.

Memphis also wasn't as pretty or appealing as Chicago. But Memphis has taught me a few things. Last time I was there, I learned to never eat at Interstate Bar-B-Que. But I must not have learned how to avoid sketchy parts of Memphis since it happened to us again. And when it was all said and done, our journey to find barbecue was definitely an eye-opening to experience for me, which was good because my eyes have been closed a lot in the car:

Whoever is sitting in the back sleeps. I think it's impossible not to.

I know that encountering dangerous parts of a city is not an exclusively Memphis experience. I know Chicago has places like this, as does every major city. One very cool thing about road tripping is that you get to see so many different terrains, buildings, lifestyles, and people. And because it's in a short amount of time, it makes you realize how many different types of people make up this country, and how many different experiences there are, just in our own country. Some of it isn't good (dangerous parts of Memphis), but of course some is great (true Memphis-style barbecue and great live funk and blues music). The diversity of lifestyles in the U.S. is amazing.

So, in the end we accomplished out mission: good barbecue in Memphis. The three of us have agreed that we will consider Memphis "weird." Chicago was clean and Memphis was weird. Works for me.

I wanted to do a "best of" list for each city, but this one isnt even close. The award for best Memphis food, attraction, thing we did, most interesting moment, etc. has to be the barbecue. It was great. And the worst thing about Memphis was getting to the barbecue place. The end was worth the means in this case.

We just arrived in New Orleans, which has its own feel to it already. I think it's time we find a good po' boy.