Memphis barbecue: Meet the man on a mission to find the best BBQ in the Bluff City
For someone who didn’t grow up eating a whole lot of barbecue, John Dooley is becoming quite the aficionado on Memphis 'cue.
In fact, Dooley, 25, said he didn’t eat his first plate of ribs until he made a visit to Memphis in 2016. That first taste took place at Rendezvous, famous for its dry rub spices.
Since then, Dooley and his wife, Jennings, moved to Memphis from their previous home in Nashville. Dooley likes to tell people they moved for the barbecue. Truth is, they moved to the Bluff City for his wife to attend medical school at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. But nonetheless, his quirky retort makes for an easy opening in conversation in a city where it seems everybody has an opinion about barbecue.
“We moved to Memphis in December of 2018,” Dooley said. “I am a chemical engineer, and I accepted a position as a project manager at Chemours, a chemical factory that makes cyanide.”
Dooley said he thinks it’s the scientist in him that made him decide to launch his own barbecue journey in January 2019.
“I felt a need to try as many places in town as possible to be able to decisively say which is the BEST barbecue in Memphis,” Dooley said. “To start, I searched Google to get a list of barbecue joints to help me. And I referenced memphisbbqguide.com, another exhaustive list. Some places were closed, and others I found just by driving by. I have no food background whatsoever, so my approach was very much trial-and-error tastings.”
Dooley began his quest by scouting out eateries in Frayser that were near his place of work. Then he began targeting other parts of the city. The more he ate, the more it fueled his passion for barbecue.
“I credit my quest for barbecue with helping me learn my way around the different parts of town,” said Dooley, a Nashville native. “I’ve now visited over 30 different places, some of them multiple times."
As Dooley mounted his campaign to seek out the best barbecue in Memphis, whenever his friends or family came to town, they started asking for his recommendations.
“That’s what led me to start my blog, #paydaybbq,” Dooley said. “I didn’t want to just put down recommendations. I wanted to add my thoughts about the atmosphere and include pictures. I thought a blog was the best way to do all that, and the information could easily be shared on Facebook or Instagram.”
To standardize his reviews, he tends to order ribs.
"You can usually find a rack of rib for a standard price," he said. "And although pulled pork sandwiches are certainly a hometown favorite, they tend to vary based on the bread and the toppings that are used. But that said, I have tried several variations of barbecue, including barbecue spaghetti, barbecued bologna and barbecued wings.”
Dooley said he usually eats barbecue at least every other week and sometimes as frequently as three times per week.
"In fact, I’ve eaten barbecue for breakfast, lunch and dinner," he said.
Despite all the variations in preparation methods and even spelling, Dooley said he's certain of one thing: "Pit-smoked pork over wood is the way to go.”
Beyond the food itself, Dooley said he has discovered a philosophical aspect of barbecue — one that deals with race issues and inequality.
“We all tend to live in our own little bubbles. Week to week, we go to work along the same routes, interact with mostly the same people, etc. But barbecue offers a real mixing ground," he said. "Many of the best barbecue restaurants and joints are in the poorer parts of town. My quest helped me get outside of my own shell — and it’s amazing how much you can learn by doing that.”
As far as trying his hand at cooking ribs, Dooley acknowledged he had made several attempts, but had not achieved his desired results.
“I’ve gotten a grill, but I’ve discovered that I’m not much of a cook,” he lamented. “However, I’ve proven to myself that I am an excellent eater. The scientist in me still wants to know how different cooking methods yield different results — that’s actually next on my list. I want to add to the depth of my tastings and learn how to get more smoky flavor.”
When asked if he intended to continue to feed his barbecue passion, Dooley said, “The list of places is forever changing. Old places close and new places open. It’s the kind of list that keeps refreshing itself.”
Memphis barbecue
Recommendations from John Dooley:
BallHoggerz BBQ, 1404 Airways Blvd.: Best pulled pork in town
Bar-B-Q Shop, 1782 Madison Ave.: Sauces and barbecue spaghetti
Central BBQ, (all three locations): Great ribs
Cozy Corner, 735 N. Parkway: Cornish hen and bologna
Crutchfields BBQ, 2661 N. Hollywood St.: Wings and dry rub are some of the best — very, very smoky (Wear an old shirt because the restaurant is very smoky too.)
Elwood’s Shack, 4523 Summer Ave.: Shaq Attack
Mr. Oby's BBQ Wagon, food truck in lot near 2692 N. Watkins: Anything on the menu
Payne’s Bar-B-Que, 1762 Lamar Ave.: Pulled pork sandwich and all-around great ribs
Tom’s Barbecue, 4087 Getwell Road: Uses rosemary on the ribs and has a Guy Fieri obsession (Fieri came to the restaurant once to shoot a segment for his “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” television show.)