As many of you know, I work in Horn Lake, in Mississippi a couple of miles from the Tennessee border. The bad news is that I’m too far away from Downtown to hit my favorite restaurants down here for lunch. (And some days it kills me when they post their specials.) The good news is, there are some good restaurants not far from where I work, including a new one called Memphis Barbecue Co.
Memphis Barbecue Co. is the only restaurant in the country that has two world championship pitmasters cooking. Their trophies from past BBQ Fests are prominently displayed as you walk in. Today was my third visit there and I decided to try their Big Honkin’ Potato, a baked potato topped with pulled pork, sour cream, cheese, bacon, and green onions. “It’s just a potato,” I thought. “What if it’s small and not enough for lunch? I better order a cup of red beans and rice too.”
When the potato came out, it was immediately clear that it was more than enough to eat by itself.
It would probably be accurate to say that the difference between the size of the Big Honkin’ potato and a normal baked potato is comparable to the difference in size between a goose and a duck. (We have geese and ducks in our pond at work, so I’ve been thinking in those terms lately.) This thing was just HUMONGOUS. It’s hard to tell in the photo above since it’s an overhead shot, but the potato was piled about two inches above the top with pulled pork.
Now, the thing is, there are a lot of BBQ restaurants in Memphis, and people go to most of them and comment, “Well… it was good… but not as good as what you’d get at BBQ Fest.” Let me tell you… having been on teams for five years and about to make it six, having eaten my own team’s food was well as that of other teams: Memphis Barbecue’s pulled pork is as good as what you get at the festival. In fact, it’s better than what I’ve been served by quite a few teams. I truly enjoyed my potato, although it was so big that I could only finish a little more than half.
At $7.99, this is an outstanding value. For a dollar more you can get the same potato topped with pulled chicken, brisket, or smoked turkey. You don’t see too many Memphis-area BBQ restaurants that have brisket on the menu, but they do.
If you find yourself in the I-55/Goodman Road area, I highly recommend you try this place. If you’re heading south from Memphis, exit at Goodman, turn right, then turn right again onto Interstate Blvd., taking you into the shopping center with Kroger and Target. Turn right at the street behind Arby’s, and you’ll see Memphis Barbecue on the right.