Top's Bar-B-Q

Yep, it is a chain - 14 Memphis-area restaurants, including over the river in Arkansas and across the border in Mississippi - but all 14 shops offer the same menu and pricing - and delicious pork shoulders, cooked for 10 hours over a combination of green hickory wood, hardwood and charcoal. Most of the locations are small - just a few basic booths or tables, maybe a picnic bench or two out front - and some have drive-thru service, which struck us as funny at a barbecue joint. But it's amazing how efficiently the small staff, especially at the Summer Avenue location, can pull together an order for drive-thru customers. True, this isn't fast food, but simply good barbecue, fast. Side offerings include the usual suspects of beans and slaw, but also chips, fries, potato salad or pudding. Party packs, pork and brisket by the pound are also available.