Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous

“The cathedral of Memphis dry-rub ribs since 1948”

Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous is the closest thing Memphis barbecue has to a cathedral, hidden down an alley beneath a downtown parking garage and cooking since 1948. The basement dining room is papered floor to ceiling in memorabilia, and the ribs that come out of it define the dry-rub style for the entire city. What sets the Rendezvous apart is method: the ribs are charcoal-grilled rather than slow-smoked, which gives them a crust and char no other Memphis joint reproduces. The proprietary Greek-spiced rub, heavy on oregano and paprika, is unlike anything else in town, and it goes on the coarse charcoal sausage and the BBQ nachos too, sauce strictly optional. A meal here is a rite of passage, the standard against which the rest of the city measures its ribs, and the reason first-time visitors leave arguing about everyone else's.