The Rendezvous

Several weeks ago my wife, in-laws and I took on a road trip to Mississippi for the Ole Miss v Vandy game. My family is all from north MS so this was to get together with them and enjoy a great football weekend. Now, onto the food... Friday night we all went to the Rendezvous in Memphis. Opened in 1948, the Rendezvous has arguably the best in the country.

Memphis style ribs are served dry and cooked with a heavy dose of rub. The Rendezvous cooks their ribs a little differently than how most people are accustomed to having them. The meat is moist and tender but does not “fall off the bone.” When you use a lot of steam, or boil your ribs, they tend to have that fall off the bone tenderness and while that’s great, you sacrifice a lot of flavor. The Rendezvous will have nothing to do with that, flavor and quality are by far better than what you will find at your run of the mill BBQ place. My cousin summed it up nicely, when you go to the Rendezvous you have three options, a full order of ribs, a full order of rubs or... a full order of ribs.



Beyond the ribs, the Rendezvous is simply a phenomenal experience. We had a group of 14 and immediately after we were seated the staff showed up with plates of sausage and cheese. The sausage and cheese plate is their most popular starter, slices of smoked sausage and cheddar cheese are served up with a healthy dusting of the Rendezvous’ dry rub. I can’t even begin to describe how good this was. Additionally, the staff seemed to always have one eye on the pitchers of beer, we never had to ask for more and never went dry.

The Rendezvous is a great experience, if you ever have the opportunity you must go. It’s easy to see why the Rendezvous is such a prominent Memphis institution and a legend for their ribs.