Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous
Charcoal Ribs and Shoulder Combo with Beans and Slaw
Potato Salad
Rolls
Pleasing locals and tourists alike with Barbeque and kitsch since 1948, Charles Vergo’s Rendezvous was an obvious ‘must visit’ while exploring downtown Memphis and with just a fifteen minute wait for a four-top around 2pm on Saturday the word ‘experience’ immediately comes to mind when trying to summarize our stay – neither the food nor service particularly excellent when compared to other spots in town but the décor and vibe undoubtedly worth the effort, if only to understand what all the fuss is about.
Founded by Mr. Vergos, a man considered to be one of Downtown Memphis’s founding fathers, and now the official smoked meat purveyor of nearby FedEx Arena, the space containing Rendezvous is a sprawling affair of three stories divided into several rooms with hundreds, if not thousands, of knick-knacks and decorations strewn about, and offering tons to explore for those willing to wander amidst tables suffice it to say that the upstairs bar and waiting area is not the best place to wait unless one truly needs a drink – the trophy case alone offering more than enough eye candy to pass a half-hour as old blues plays from jukebox driven speakers overhead.
Known mostly for charcoal broiled dry-rub pork ribs, but also offering shoulder, chicken, beef, and lamb it was admittedly just after Gus’s and Cozy Corner that we sat down in the back room of Rendezvous and bearing in mind even more dining obligations prior to Warriors vs. Grizzlies Game 3 it was entirely in the restaurant’s signatures that we invested, the $19.75 combo plate plus a small cup of potato salad delivered after a nearly 40-minute wait, though beverages were frequently filled throughout.
Eventually receiving our food, piping hot and glistening beneath the dim lights even considering the lack of sauce, it was with the shoulder that the tasting began and although a hefty note of smoke imbued each bite the sapor of the pig itself was almost imperceptible, a notable leanness and lack of skin really doing the pulled pork a disservice while the same cooking process acts to amplify flavors in the far fattier ribs, each piece falling from the bone with a shell of spice giving way to supple flesh quite unlike that found elsewhere in Memphis or anywhere else – not my personal ‘favorite’ of the trip, but understandably well praised by generations past and undoubtedly many more to come…even if they do refuse to serve any form of dessert.
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