5 Best Restaurants in Memphis, Tennessee

The food at this hole-in-the-wall lunch spot just north of downtown is as down-home and funky as the decor—walls lined with eclectic artwork and a jukebox stocked with Memphis hits. The kitchen turns out its own versions of "meat and two," including fried chicken and pork chops served alongside sweet-potato fries, fried green tomatoes, and other vegetables. Desserts, including pecan pie and sweet potato pie, bread pudding, and pound cake, are as sinfully rich as the sweet tea Alcenia's serves up in tall glasses.

Not surprisingly, music is the theme at this busy restaurant on Beale Street, the city's bluesy entertainment district. Up to 500 people can be accommodated inside and on the two-story outdoor patio. Southern plate lunches, burgers, pork chops, pasta, catfish, and barbecued ribs make up the comforting menu. The kitchen is open until 3 am; on weekends the bar serves until 5 am. Bands play Thursday through Sunday, and there's karaoke Monday through Wednesday.

They sell plenty of dry-style barbecued ribs in this downtown restaurant in an 1890 building, in an alley just north of the Peabody Hotel. A diverse group chows down in the antiques- and collectibles-filled basement dining room, and the service is among the most efficient in town. The menu also includes shoulder sandwiches, pork loin, chicken, and a shrimp skillet.

There's always a line at this no-frills barbecue restaurant in East Memphis. Once you taste the ribs (or sandwiches, or beef, or pork platters …), you'll understand why.

This unpretentious bar and grill, which sits in the shadow of the Pyramid alongside the Mississippi River, dishes out large portions of steak and seafood, excellent burgers, and a full selection of rice-based dishes, including several vegetarian options. A weekday "Meat and two" lunch special includes features entrees like country-fried steak and catfish, accompanied by sides like macaroni and cheese, turnip greens, and other vegetables. The kitchen stays open until 3 am, seven nights a week.