Known as the “Super Bowl of Swine,” the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is a four-day competition held in Memphis, TN and has since helped to solidify Memphis’s place as a barbeque powerhouse. Pitmasters from all over the world come to Memphis each year hoping to become the next BBQ World Champion. The Contest features championship pork categories of Ribs, Shoulder, and Whole Hog, as well as the ancillary competitions of Hot Wings, Sauce, and “Anything But Pork.”

Since Horton and Flora Payne opened Payne’s Bar-B-Que in 1972, the restaurant has become a local obsession. Housed in a humble white cinderblock building (which happens to be a former gas station), Payne’s Bar-B-Que smokes its meats in a custom pit built right into the wall. They’ve been doing barbeque the same way for decades – and that’s just how the people of Memphis like it. One of the most popular dishes, the jumbo chopped pork sandwich, is made with slow-roasted pork shoulder slow-roasted in the recessed pit over hickory charcoal. Payne’s is also known for their tangy, mild barbeque sauce spiked with mustard and slow-simmered in-house. There’s no doubt the food is delicious, but it’s Payne’s family-run track record that makes it an ideal representative of Memphis BBQ culture.

You can’t come to Memphis without making the trek to Helen’s in Brownsville! Helen Turner flipped the BBQ scene upside down when she became owner of Helen’s BBQ in 1996, after years of working in the same building as an employee for another restaurant. Helen took this opportunity and ran with it, creating a cult-classic restaurant where history meets in-your-face flavor. Helen is famous in the barbeque community because of the way she prepares her meat, using an “open pit” method that’s as old as American barbeque itself. All she needs are bricks, metal fencing, hot coals, plenty of smoke, and some slabs of meat. You’ll be able to find Helen on most days, raking hot coals with a shovel in her screened-in porch-turned-smoker. It’s this commitment to tradition and excellence that makes Helen’s such a special place.

Since 1977, Cozy Corner BBQ has not only served the fam some fantastic BBQ, but a true taste of Memphis culture! An authentic family owned Memphis institution, they have welcomed thousands of people from around the world to enjoy their cozy hometown vibes and top tier cuisine. They have been featured in national platforms, from Southern Living to Food to Food & Wine, wrote numerous cookbooks and earned a spot in American Royal’s BBQ Hall of Fame. Check em out!

Central BBQ was born and raised in the fires of barbecue competition— where only the absolute best was good enough. Founders Craig Blondis and Roger Sapp met on the barbecue circuit in the mid-80s and after competing in Memphis in May’s World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and many other BBQ competitions, they made the leap from friends to business partners. The pit at the first Central BBQ on Central Avenue was fired up in 2002 and has been stoked ever since. Over the years, Central BBQ has expanded far beyond Central Avenue, reaching four spots in Memphis and multiple outside the Memphis city limits. In their own words, “no matter how much we grow, we will still always deliver one-of-a-kind BBQ served by friendly faces. That’s something we will never outgrow!”

In 1995, Tarrance Pollard founded Pollard’s as a mobile catering business, but little did he know what was comin’. The people loved the spot’s unique southern style of Memphis BBQ, leading Pollard’s to reopen in 1996 as a small carry-out catering business. In 2011, Pollard’s answered the overwhelming demands and took its place in the city as a full-on dine-in restaurant. With this new expansion came bigger and better things, such as an expanded menu and an upscale renovation by Food Network’s Chef, Robert Irvine (Restaurant Impossible). In 2019, Pollard’s embraced the steady momentum as the Dallas Cowboys drafted Tony Pollard, Tarrance’s son, as a running back. Pollard’s has been officially transformed into a major hotspot for everyone to enjoy some great, down South, lip smacking BBQ!