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Where To Eat › Barbecue › Barbecue Road Trips
Short answer: Two one-day barbecue drives: a Memphis loop for ribs and pulled pork from the Rendezvous downtown to South Third Street, finishing on Beale Street, and a Nashville day that ends at West Tennessee-style whole hog in Nolensville. Road times come from OpenStreetMap routing; days open come from each place’s own site. Memphis works Tuesday to Saturday; Nashville works any day.
- 2Road tripsone day each
- 10Stopsall pinned on the map
- Tue-SatMemphis dayswhen every Memphis stop is open
- 11:00Start timesa.m. for both days, our planning estimate
How we checked: each stop’s own website for its address and days open. All read on November 4, 2026. Hours, prices and dates change, so confirm with the place or organizer before you drive. Anything we could not read is marked Not confirmed where it appears. Road times between stops come from OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), with no live traffic, closures or construction. Time at each stop, Essential or Optional, and arrival times are our own planning estimates. We rank nothing: no source we used ranks these places, and we did not taste, rate or compare them. Nobody paid to be listed.
Memphis Ribs and Pulled Pork Day
One long lunch day across Memphis for the two things Memphis Tourism says define its barbecue: ribs, dry or wet, and pulled pork shoulder. Each stop is lunch-sized: share a plate, then drive on. Go Tuesday to Saturday: the Rendezvous lists no Sunday or Monday hours, and Cozy Corner and The Bar-B-Q Shop say they are closed Sunday and Monday, per their own sites.
Four Stops Across Memphis
Day at a glance: about 180 min at stops plus 29 min on the road, 3 h 29 min in all, done about 2:29 p.m. (our estimate from an 11 a.m. start).
- Stop 1: Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous11:00 a.m. arrival (our estimate)First stop. About 45 min here, Essential (our estimate). 52 S. Second Street, downtown. Open Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., per its site; Sunday and Monday are not listed Not confirmed Its site talks about its “signature dry rub ribs” and says “Since 1948.”
- Stop 2: Cozy Corner BBQ11:49 a.m. arrival (our estimate)4 min, 1.7 mi by road from the last stop. About 45 min here, Essential (our estimate). 735 N. Parkway. Open Tuesday to Saturday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday, per its site.
- Stop 3: The Bar-B-Q Shop12:40 p.m. arrival (our estimate)6 min, 3.2 mi by road from the last stop. About 45 min here, Optional (our estimate). 1782 Madison Avenue, Midtown. Open Tuesday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Sunday and Monday, per its site, which asks visitors not to trust map apps for its hours.
- Stop 4: Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que1:37 p.m. arrival (our estimate)12 min, 6.6 mi by road from the last stop. About 45 min here, Optional (our estimate). 2265 S. Third Street, the original location. Open Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sunday, per its site, which mentions its “specially built BBQ pits.”
- Stop 5: Beale Street at Second Street (finish)2:29 p.m. arrival (our estimate)7 min, 4.0 mi by road from the last stop. A public street corner used only as a finish point downtown, about 0.3 miles by road from the Rendezvous.
If it is Sunday: all four stops are closed or list no Sunday hours. Leonard’s Pit Barbecue in Cordova (Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.) and Germantown Commissary (Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.) list Sunday hours on their own sites. Monday: only Interstate is open of these four; add Germantown Commissary or Corky’s on Poplar Avenue, which list Monday hours. Dogs and kids: none of these sites says whether dogs are allowed Not confirmed; they are table or counter restaurants, so plan for kids to eat at a table. Check each place’s own site the morning you go.
Whole Hog and Ribs Day From Nashville
A shorter Middle Tennessee day that ends at a place cooking West Tennessee-style whole hog, in its own words, without the drive west. It works any day of the week: all three restaurants list hours every day, per their own sites.
Nashville to Nolensville
Day at a glance: about 150 min at stops plus 65 min on the road, 3 h 35 min in all, done about 2:35 p.m. (our estimate from an 11 a.m. start).
- Stop 1: Tennessee State Capitol (start and finish)11:00 a.m. arrival (our estimate)First stop. A public landmark used only as a start point in downtown Nashville. Start whenever suits; arrival times move with it.
- Stop 2: Jack’s Bar-B-Que (Charlotte Avenue)11:03 a.m. arrival (our estimate)3 min, 1.0 mi by road from the last stop. About 45 min here, Essential (our estimate). 1601 Charlotte Avenue. Open Monday to Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., per its site, which calls its barbecue “a combination of Texas and Tennessee.”
- Stop 3: Edley’s Bar-B-Que (12 South)11:54 a.m. arrival (our estimate)6 min, 3.2 mi by road from the last stop. About 45 min here, Optional (our estimate). 2706 12th Avenue South. Open Sunday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., per its site, which calls its style “Nashville Style.”
- Stop 4: Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint (Nolensville)1:05 p.m. arrival (our estimate)26 min, 15.0 mi by road from the last stop. About 60 min here, Essential (our estimate). 7223 Nolensville Road, Suite C, Nolensville, where its site says it began in October 2006. Open daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., per its site, which describes “West Tennessee-Style Whole Hog BBQ.”
- Stop 5: Tennessee State Capitol (finish)2:35 p.m. arrival (our estimate)30 min, 16.4 mi by road from the last stop. A public landmark used only as a start point in downtown Nashville. Start whenever suits; arrival times move with it.
Want the whole hog heartland itself? The Southern Foodways Alliance places it in rural West Tennessee, around Henderson and Lexington, about two hours west of Nashville. The places there that the state tourism office names, such as B.E. Scott’s in Lexington, have no website we could read, so we do not route a day through them Not confirmed The Chester County BBQ Festival in Henderson each September is the easiest way in. Dogs and kids: no site we read says whether dogs are allowed Not confirmed.
Map of Road Trip Stops
10 of 10 stops are pinned. Pins sit on the street address each place prints, placed by OpenStreetMap; they are not checked entrances or parking.
What We Could Not Confirm
- Time at each stop, Essential or Optional, and the arrival times: our planning estimates. Not confirmed
- Road timesOpenStreetMap routing, with no live traffic, closures or construction. Not confirmed
- Whether dogs are allowed on any patioNo stop’s site says. Not confirmed
- The Rendezvous on Sunday and MondayIts site lists no hours for those days. Not confirmed
- The West Tennessee whole hog places with no website: we could not confirm their hours, so no trip routes through them. Not confirmed
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the Memphis barbecue day?
The “day at a glance” line under the plan adds our time-at-stop estimates to the computed road time, from an 11 a.m. start at the Rendezvous. Both Optional stops can be dropped to shorten it.
Can I do these on a Sunday?
The Nashville day works on Sunday: Jack’s, Edley’s and Martin’s all list Sunday hours. The Memphis day does not; the swap list under it names places that list Sunday hours.
Why is there no West Tennessee whole hog drive?
The rural whole hog places the state tourism office names have no website we could read, so we cannot confirm their days and hours. We will add a day when we can. Until then the Chester County BBQ Festival in Henderson each September is the easy way in.
More Barbecue Pages
Sources
- OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM), read November 4, 2026 (road times, no live traffic)
- Memphis Tourism, What Is Memphis-Style BBQ?, read November 4, 2026 (dry and wet ribs, pulled pork shoulder)
- Southern Foodways Alliance (University of Mississippi), Rural Tennessee BBQ Project, 2003, read November 4, 2026 (West Tennessee whole hog)
- Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Cozy Corner BBQ, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- The Bar-B-Q Shop, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Leonard’s Pit Barbecue, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Germantown Commissary, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Jack’s Bar-B-Que, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Edley’s Bar-B-Que, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
- Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, read November 4, 2026 (address and days open)
How we check: editorial standards. Spot a mistake or a closure? Tell us.
Cite this page: It's Tennessee, “Tennessee Barbecue Road Trips”, itstennessee.com/barbecue/road-trips/ (updated ). By the It's Tennessee editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.