oh yeah! Top’s is a chain, but used to be only a local Memphis restaurant. I was on one of the BBQ cooking teams years ago, and it’s not the same since all the corporate sponsers took over. Just head over to Top’s or Corky’s. (haven’t been back to Mempho in 14 years–only thing I miss is the BBQ!)
I had no idea that grilling ribs over a grill was done, let alone widespread. Who does that?
Hamburgers I understand. But why not chicken or sausage? Lack of connective tissue? BBQ chicken is rare - it’s hard to do because it’s so small. But what about turkey?
This I don’t really understand. Is this just a personal preference, or does brisket (or other beef) violate some rule other than “it has to be pork”?
How about you’re both correct. 
Many, if not most NC makers of old tyme BBQ use a mop sauce while they’re cooking. It’s vinegar based. You don’t use tomato in it because it will burn. It just helps to keep the BBQ moist. In my experience, most people in Eastern NC today use a bit extra of the pepper/vinegar sauce as a condiment on their BBQ sandwiches. Not everyone.
if there’s no smoke it aint BBQ, its pulled pork. needless to say theres a few “bbq” joints i refuse to eat at here in TN. heck… back at a gas station i used to work at we had a mean pressure smoker that left a smoke ring damn near all the way through the meat, and the smokey drippings made a helluva seasoning for some cheesesteak sammitches.
Oh yes, I am not disputing that is what has become of the NC Vinegar sauce… but my contention is that it’s the grandaddy of “Barbecue Sauces” and was only ever conceived as a baste or mop to the barbecue, that this baste evolved into a sauce as condiment is something relatively new, considering the few hundred years of European Barbecue Tradition in America. I think it might be a corruption of the original purpose and overused in its modern form. Baste, not Sauce.
Actually, I also believe that NC Barbecue might be the most Orthodox and true to the original American Barbecue tradition of Early America.
That’s quite likely true, although it doesn’t mean North Carolina BBQ is therefore the best.
Heritic! Witch! Burn him!
You can float, can’t you? 
Maybe we can build a bridge out of him?
But actually, I think Sweatman’s South Carolina BBQ as seen on Tony’s No Reservations is really the torchbearer of the real and authentic American BBQ in it’s pure form that North Carolina has seemed to lost in its commercialization of the pulled pork sandwich and its reliance on Shoulder… I still say BBQ should be a whole piggy and a party. The pulled pork primal sandwich seems more like tourist BBQ, rather than the real thing.
::cue Randy Travis music::
Hallelujah!
Brothers and sisters, we’d like to welcome you to the First Church of the Holy Barbeque. Let me hear you shout Amen! You’ve come to the right place.
Now, I know that some of you have worshipped at the altars of the false gods of beef and mutton…folks, so have I. But I’m here today to tell you of the saving grace of pork.
::cue B.B. King music::
Somewhere, right this very minute, a pig is laying down his life so that you might find yourself eating in the joy of the Lard. Brothers and sisters, those shoulders, hams and ribs can lead you to your heavenly reward.
Now, some churches will dress it up with sauces made with tomatoes, molasses or mustard, and folks, that’s not necessarily bad, but if it’s been baptized low and slow over smoking wood, a little vinegar is all it takes.
In the name of Old Major, Porky and Petunia, pass the cracklin’ cornbread and go in peace!
::cue Lynyrd Skynyrd music::
I’m just an agnostic ascetic.
You do know that vinegar is just acetic acid?
I grew up in Memphis and agree. I think most Memphians would, in fact. The dry ribs started as a gimmick and have become very popular, but few bbq connoisseurs rate them highly. That said, I do like to have them on occasion, just as a change of pace.
The best bbq in Memphis used to be Interstate BBQ. I haven’t been back in a while, so I don’t know if that’s still true.
I actually wouldn’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Sometimes, when I’m in a hurry, I’ll do loin back ribs over a two-stage fire in a kettle grill. I’ll put the ribs on the side without coals (so I’m cooking indirect), and on the coal side I’ll also throw in some wood chunks or some applewood trimmings I have lying around the garage. This method works best for baby backs, which are leaner than spares and more suitable for a quick cooking method, but I’ve seen spares done this way, too.
Rendezvous in Memphis does something similar, in which they do the ribs directly over the fire, but have the grate a few feet from the heat so the grate temp is in the low 300s, somewhere between barbecue and grilling. That’s why I say upthread that it’s not quite barbecue. As I’m Not Dennis says, they’re nice as a change of pace, but not at all where you want to start in Memphis if you want to explore traditional barbecue. Memphis truly is a fantastic place for barbecue. Another place I just thought of there that has a great barbecue sandwich is Germantown Commissary. But Cozy Corner, Paynes, and Morris Grocery are the places I dream of returning to especially.
There are large parts of the US where “barbecue” literally means “chopped or pulled pork” (cooked a certain way, of course) in the local vernacular. So you’ll find menus that say “chopped barbecue sandwich” or sell “barbecue by the pound,” but that refers to pork only. You’ll have menu items like “chopped barbecue” and “ribs” and “chicken” separated out, even though they might all be cooked using the barbecue method. (Or, more commonly, I’ve seen the menu items as “chopped BBQ,” and “BBQ ribs,” and “BBQ chicken,” so, to be precise, when barbecue is being used as a noun describing a foodstuff (as opposed to a cookout or a grill or whatnot), it refers to slow-cooked and smoked primal cuts of pork.
I’m curious–is the term “barbecue” used in this way in Texas? I don’t remember seeing it used like this, but I’ve spent little time down there. That is, will somebody use the word “barbecue” rather than “brisket”? So, you might say a plate of sliced barbecue or a barbecue sandwich instead of a plate of sliced brisket or a brisket sandwich?
I really need to open my own BBQ joint. All we have around here is a chain (Famous Dave’s) and a couple of places that think that slathering commercial sauce on roast beef is BBQ. I have to drive into LA or Venice Beach to get a fix.
puly - Every Texan I know refers to the meat rather than the method. The method is understood unless specified.
Maybe that depends on what part of Texas you’re in. I’m familiar with Houston and barbecue generally refers to a method of cooking not a product. Beef is the most commonly barbecued meat but pork and other meats are well known. So if you asked for some barbecue, you be asked “some barbecue what?”
Or Hey, what about Fish?
Can smoked fish be considered BBQ?
I had some great smoked Mullet on the roadside in Florida. Just a couple of guys selling whole fresh smoked Mullet filets from their smoker trailer hooked up to their pickup.
Had some great Pork BBQ from a guy who would pull up the same way on Sundays. Ribs, Sandwiches, and tips- his BBQ was inconsistent however. Some days were better than others depending on who was cooking, he had a young girl fill in for him on some days and it just wasn’t as good… once got an undercooked/undersmoked chicken leg and thigh on her watch… that was definitely not good. His potato salad was just commercial stuff but he made a great “Crazy Beans”-- a bunch of different kinds of beans and sausage and bacon done in a crockpot… A bit pricey, but seems like he always sold out.
I’m sure all of these weren’t quite above board but it sure was tasty… what do you think about bootleg BBQ? Does its illicit and homebrew nature make it even more tasty?
Look, I don’t want to impugn anyone. Because that young lady in the Tool shirt could have told me to come back in 30-45 minutes for that Chicken quarter, I would have come back or hung out there for a mess of mama’s BBQ, they were out of pork ribs… didn’t feel like a BBQ sandwich… I was actually making small talk about Tool, just shootin’ the shit - Great Band. Instead she was lookin’ to make the sale. Those guys that were smokin’ the mullet were dressed in camo, lookin’ to make some gas money for their boat… they just wanted to go fishin’ again. They were both parked on private property with, I assume, the owner’s consent.
Every perishable thing was iced in a cooler and the meat was kept at temp.