Dan's Barbecue! Not what I expected.
Apr. 29th, 2008 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fancycwabsOff in the wilds where Austin Peay becomes a two-lane road once stood a cinder block convenience store that sold bait. I don't know for certain, but I think some bad things happened to the owners of that convenience store in the aftermath of 9-11: things that shouldn't occur in a civilized society. Unfortunately nobody has ever accused Memphis of harboring civilized society, and the store closed and was torn down.
A couple of years later, on the same location, a corrugated steel building was erected and labelled "Cigs & Suds." I believe that I wandered in once, and bought some suds--the finest they had in the cooler, which was Killian's Red, if memory serves. About a year after that, the sign was changed from "Cigs & Suds" to "Tango & Murf's World Championship Barbecue," an Airstream Trailer with the same written on it was parked outside, some formica booths were installed, and the owners began selling barbecue sandwiches and ribs. I never had the ribs, but the sandwich was okay, and they seemed to do a pretty good business for the location (at least based on the parking lot). Rumor has it that between one thing (the payroll) and another (trips to Tunica) a cash-flow problem developed, and Tango & Murf's went belly-up. These are all vague memories and rumors, but the location did sit vacant for over a year, until recently when someone started building corrugated metal outbuildings on either side of the original location, and Dan's Barbecue opened for business.
Today I had to meet the glass repair guy at the house at noon, so I decided to stop in for lunch on the way back to work.
The roadsign's like a siren's song to lonely fans of the WWE passing down the dark highway, wondering where they might find some balm to sooth their suplexéd brows. Or your garden-variety redneck--in any case it kinda gives you an idea of the clientele Dan's is courting.
The entrance to the once-corrugated-metal building has been bricked. It was bricked yesterday, in fact--they were doing it as I went home in the evening. It is representative of the changes to the place since it was a convenience store, however.
Inside Dan's has had a transformation that its exterior belies. Seriously--it used to be a flourescent light and linoleum paradise. The bar you see was once a drink cooler that ran the length of the wall (I think they had pool tables in a back room behind it).
I had expected that Dan's would be pretty much identical to Tango & Murf's--basically a convenience store that also sold barbecue, so I was a little surprised to find a full menu and iced tea in glasses and a daily special of smoked brisket, which I ordered.
The brisket was pretty good--it had been visibly smoked, the sauce was fairly spicy. It was a little tough, and may have benefitted from somewhat longer cooking to dissolve some of the connective tissue. The beans and greens were both quite good, and the hotwater cornbread had bits of corn and I think just a hint of jalapenö to it. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. It Dan's can manage to stay solvent long enough to cover the improvements and keep the overhead costs covered, hopefully it'll become a fixture in a location that's really got fairly high traffic and a dearth of competition.
Did this sound a little weird? I'm told that posts tagged with "dining" are showing up on a local food blog aggregator, so I'm trying to sound more, um, "professional."
A couple of years later, on the same location, a corrugated steel building was erected and labelled "Cigs & Suds." I believe that I wandered in once, and bought some suds--the finest they had in the cooler, which was Killian's Red, if memory serves. About a year after that, the sign was changed from "Cigs & Suds" to "Tango & Murf's World Championship Barbecue," an Airstream Trailer with the same written on it was parked outside, some formica booths were installed, and the owners began selling barbecue sandwiches and ribs. I never had the ribs, but the sandwich was okay, and they seemed to do a pretty good business for the location (at least based on the parking lot). Rumor has it that between one thing (the payroll) and another (trips to Tunica) a cash-flow problem developed, and Tango & Murf's went belly-up. These are all vague memories and rumors, but the location did sit vacant for over a year, until recently when someone started building corrugated metal outbuildings on either side of the original location, and Dan's Barbecue opened for business.
Today I had to meet the glass repair guy at the house at noon, so I decided to stop in for lunch on the way back to work.
The roadsign's like a siren's song to lonely fans of the WWE passing down the dark highway, wondering where they might find some balm to sooth their suplexéd brows. Or your garden-variety redneck--in any case it kinda gives you an idea of the clientele Dan's is courting.
The entrance to the once-corrugated-metal building has been bricked. It was bricked yesterday, in fact--they were doing it as I went home in the evening. It is representative of the changes to the place since it was a convenience store, however.
Inside Dan's has had a transformation that its exterior belies. Seriously--it used to be a flourescent light and linoleum paradise. The bar you see was once a drink cooler that ran the length of the wall (I think they had pool tables in a back room behind it).
I had expected that Dan's would be pretty much identical to Tango & Murf's--basically a convenience store that also sold barbecue, so I was a little surprised to find a full menu and iced tea in glasses and a daily special of smoked brisket, which I ordered.
The brisket was pretty good--it had been visibly smoked, the sauce was fairly spicy. It was a little tough, and may have benefitted from somewhat longer cooking to dissolve some of the connective tissue. The beans and greens were both quite good, and the hotwater cornbread had bits of corn and I think just a hint of jalapenö to it. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. It Dan's can manage to stay solvent long enough to cover the improvements and keep the overhead costs covered, hopefully it'll become a fixture in a location that's really got fairly high traffic and a dearth of competition.
Did this sound a little weird? I'm told that posts tagged with "dining" are showing up on a local food blog aggregator, so I'm trying to sound more, um, "professional."
