So far one of the only places I can get decent brisket from. The sides are delicious as well! Definitely give them a try!

Y'all have got to be stopped! Brisket was dry and unseasoned. Thank heavens for the BBQ sauce. The chicken was good but should have been left on the grill longer. And for the love of all things holy.... Just buy some darn okra and fry it! Stop serving frozen precooked okra!!! This was such an insult!!! It's like spitting in my food! Frozen precooked fried okra.... WHY? Now.... tha smoked chicken salad.... I purchased salad dressing from The Fresh Market. Because I had a strong feeling they were serving great value chemically favored genetic mutated salad dressing. But that okra.... this is Memphis.... whyyyy? The staff was friendly. But precooked frozen fried okra.... I can't make this up!! The floor by the fountain was sticky and I don't think ppl eat in. But frozen fried okra.... whyyyyy? read more

Food and Drink: I had the smoke sausage links for dinner tonight! Flavorful, great portion size and I honestly got full after having one. I also had a side of onion rings but finished them while they were hot, and I forgot to get a picture! I also had their sweet tea and it's consistently delicious! Customer Service: The cashiers were down to earth and patient with taking my order for myself and other family members. Ambiance: It is a down-home bbq spot. Nothing super fancy here. This is a spot known for the food, not necessarily decor and flare. Definitely a spot to be casual in. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Smoke sausage links - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I live about 2hrs away. & when I'm close to Southaven or Memphis I like to stop here. For bbq.. But the ladythat took our order was rude.. customer service wasn't good @ all... we had 2 rib tip plates. One with bbq spaghetti, and beans!! The spaghetti looked old. & it didn't taste good @ all. Beans was ok!! Both plates of tips couldn't eat it all. It was lacking seasoning. & some of the meat was tough. & hard to chew. The nachos therefore had more flavor than the rib tips... Grease at the bottom of the plate..I won't be back!! There was also 2 employees arguing in the back!! They was very loud. All this while customers was inside. We traveled 2 hrs to get here. Sadly I won't be back. read more

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I love their ribs! I was in Memphis for two nights and most definitely had to stop by A&R to get their infamous ribs. I didn't go inside by daughter placed the order while I stayed in the car. I ordered the rib plate with potato salad and baked beans with extra sauce for my ribs. Everything was delicious since I'm not a "big eater" my plate held me for two days. The ribs were very tender I could use my fingers to pull the meat off the bones. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Rib plate with potato salad and baked beans. - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

This is the best barbecue ribs hands down in Memphis. Tender and with the best bbq sauce known to man I recommend yall stop going anywhere else and just go here. read more

Best BBQ in Memphis and not up for debate! I was born & raised in Memphis but have lived in Texas for 10 years. When I come home, this is literally my FIRST stop every time. Everything is soooo good & always fresh. The bbq spaghetti is the delicious, sweet & tangy with a bit of heat, my favorite side. I live for the fried bologna, smoked sausage, and pulled pork sandwiches. The sauce is savory, sweet & flavorful. I purchase the bbq seasoning & sauce every time I go to make sure I'm stocked when I'm back home in Texas. Service is normally pretty quick and sometimes there is a wait, but it's worth it. Perfect for a large group or just a few. I cannot attest for the other A&R locations, because I only go to this location, the original. It is & has always been the best since I was a child. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

It has been over a decade or more since I have visited and I must say that they have maintained the quality of food and service that I loved years ago! I had a taste for a bologna sandwich with baked beans and potato salad. I must say neither disappointed. I'm glad I was in the area and was able to stop in. The ambiance is really nice, spacious, and clean. They have mad a lot of updates to bring them up to modern times. I really wish I would have gotten one of their infamous desserts. I will be returning for more soon! read more

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I had the pork ribs sandwich and i gotta say that was annoying. It's four pork ribs with slaw between white bread. It's not like you hold it by the bread and eat it. I had to pick apart each rib and eat the bread and slaw separate. The service is meh! The price is different from the price your asked to pay. Menu needs to be updated. Prob won't go out of my way to come back read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Pork rib sandwich (before) - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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Brisket was chopped up and ok. A little mushy. The sauce was great. The rib tips were ok. The pork shoulder was good. No sides. People were nice. Authentic. Prices were average. It's ok. read more

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00000 stars: Elvis Presley A&R Barbecue 5/13/2026 @ 3:06 pm. I drove from Cordova Tennessee to go get ribs also ordered fish and the butter cookies let me break it down. The ribs was dry, greasy and tough. The fish was so soggy and the cookies was stale ($58),on top of that the service from this particular cashier, she's an old lady with some twist in her head. I don't know, but she was had this nasty attitude towards me. I will never ever step foot back off and A&R Barbecue in my life. If you say I can come and get everything for free for the next year, I wouldn't. the cashier She was so rude let me describe her to you... She had twist in her head, she's an old lady. You can tell she's old and she rested her tongue on the bottom of her chin as if her tongue is stuck out her mouth. The name of my receipt is Alfreda. That was just the worst experience in my life from a place that you can tell the people that you are a first time customer and you still get the treatment like that and didn't even give a thank you when she gave me my food. It's just ridiculous a lot of Black people are like this towards one another. It's just sad. read more

Great Service and wonderful people - BUT, we went there for ribs and were disappointed. Very tough and dry. Pulled pork was good but the brisket had a lot of fat. Hopefully the cook was having a bad day. read more

We were hoping for good barbecue and this place had the kansas city style sauce we love. Portion size was generous (see picture). We both ordered the rib tip sandwich which came with two sides. Their coleslaw was solid. It was the dirst time we had bbq spaghetti and we liked it (it was our first time) but it was a lot of bbq sauce to eat in one meal! The beans were pretty ordinary which is sad because barbecue places could easiiy throw in some sauce and miscellaneous meat trimmings for something awesome. We had never had rib tips before and these were a mix of tender and chewy, some pieces with bark. I have to say I prefer burnt ends because I pick the cartilage out of my rib tips...I guess some people just crunch them up. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Rib tip sandwich with coleslaw and bbq spaghetti. - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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The A and R on Elvis Presley. I call to place an order the person put me on hold for 10 minutes or more I could hear the person taken others order but not one time when she pulse to get back on phone. I thought that was very rude and unprofessional. That's not the only time this happens. Sad because it's the same person all the time that picks up phone and don't come back on the phone as a courtesy to your customer-service to have good service. read more

The food is awesome and amazing customer service is amazing . Great place to dine very clean environment.

This is a prime example of south Memphis barbecue! I recommend the rib tips - and show up hungry, or you'll never finish the incredible portions of food they dish out. I want to go back and try more! read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Rib tips, baked beans, seasoned fries - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Stopped in while in town in search of the area's best barbecue. It looks like they recently expanded as the dining area is much larger than appearing in earlier photos. Lots of tables in the expanded dining area. There are only a handful of parking spaces out front, but plenty more space in the back. The area has a wonderful smell of smoked meats. Service was friendly and helpful. Being our first time here, we had a lot of questions and the young lady at the counter gave us some great recommendations. Ordered the 1/2 slab pork ribs with sides of barbecue spaghetti, baked beans, coleslaw, and green beans. My wife ordered the rib tips. The ribs were wonderfully smokey and tasty. We arrived later in the day, so the ribs were a little dry and may have been smoked earlier in the day. The barbecue spaghetti was delicious! Worth the trip to Memphis. The other sides were also great, and my wife loved the rib tips. read more

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Food was good and service was excellent and timely the atmosphere was nice but a little too crowded. We come here often and we have had mostly good meals but every now and then things won't be as good. read more

I stopped in to try the rib tips as not every place sells them. The staff were friendly and the restaurant was clean even though you could tell they maintain a steady crowd. It looks to have been recently renovated and there was a lot of seating in a second room to the right of the main entrance. With the rib tips I ordered coleslaw, baked beans and green beans with mixed sauce (mild and hot) on the side. The tips had a good amount of meat and a wonderful smoky flavor. They were drier than some but that may have been due to ordering them later in the evening. I liked their mixed sauce over the mild, as combining them seemed to spice up the mild one and dull the heat of the hot one. The sides were all good but my favorites were the coleslaw, creamy, crunchy and slightly sweet, and the green beans, flavorful and tender with some onions. If in the area, I'd return to try the ribs. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Rib tips (4/5) with coleslaw (5/5), baked beans (4/5) and green beans (5/5). - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Some of the best bar-b-que in the city of Memphis, especially in Hickory Hill area. Worth the try.

A & R Bar-B-Que family owners (A)ndrew and (R)ose Pollard (related to the owners of Pollard's BBQ, I'm told), run a handful of old school Memphis neighborhood bbq restaurants that have been smokin' great barbecue since the early 80's. I usually try to make it to the original or at least oldest running location of any restaurant, especially a bbq joint. As I drove up to the smoke house, a few blocks north of Graceland, I had some very good vibes. All the signals were right: -the parking area outside smelled of smoking pork; -a big, happy pig was painted on the exterior wall; -and customers were walking out the front door with arms full of to-go containers. At the counter where you stand to place your order, you can hear the blissful smokehouse lullaby coming from the kitchen: chop-chop-chop on the cutting board as hickory-cooked pork gets hacked into mottled shreds and pieces for plates and sandwiches. The sandwich is the classic Memphis configuration that I have grown to love and respect: pork was lightly smoky and tender, and included some of the bits of the crust from the outer "bark" throughout the meat mixed with tangy red sauce piled high on a bun and crowned with a spill of cole slaw. The cabbage provides such nice little bits of crunch among the velvety heap of pork. Beyond pig sandwiches, the A&R menu is full. You can have ribs (wet or dry), Rib Tips, Smoked Bologna, Chicken, Smoked Turkey legs Catfish dinner, Hot tamales and that only-in-Memphis treat, barbecue spaghetti. That's a mound of soft noodles dressed not with ordinary tomato sauce, but with - of course - barbecue sauce, laced with shreds of pork. It's weird, but in this city, where restaurants also offer barbecue pizza and barbecue salad, it makes sense. The ambiance of A&R is pure BBQ parlor: quiet enough so you can hear the chopping in the kitchen while you concentrate on enjoying the meal. read more

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Ok so as a Memphis native, let me just say: Tops is not fw A&R chicken sandwich! Y'all this is the best bbq out of all the states I've lived in. The service is good lmao I mean.. it's home. The woman is quick and sweet and straight to the point, definitely a vet. They've got a few little tables you can sit at but it's definitely not a date night spot. The spicy baked beans and bbq chicken sandwich are perfect. Every time I come home I gotta have it. If the bag ain't greasy, it's not for me read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - BBQ Chicken sandwich - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Being originally from Kansas City, I'm a bbq snob. I've been to Memphis before and never was impressed by the bbq. I came back to Memphis and one of the locals recommended this place for bbq. I'm so glad they did! The ribs were delicious! Next time I'll try other items. We fell in love with the ribs. Highly recommend. Next time I'm in Memphis, this will be my first stop! Customer service was great too! read more

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I usually enjoy the chopped barbecue plate when I come to A&R. On New Years Eve, I order a quart of barbecue and a quart of spaghetti to supplement my New Years Day dinner. I asked that the sauce be separate from the meat. When I got to my Cordova home, I had a quart of gunk. The stringy meat was submersed in too much strong sauce. I couldn't have eaten it Wednesday, must lest a whole day later. The spaghetti was chopped too finely over cooked and prepared with too much strong sauce. I spent $50 for only a pint of slaw, which was delicious. As a rule when we purchased large quantities of meat from Loeb's, Gridley's, Tops, etc., the sauce was on the side. Workers should realize that their salaries are paid by people who come back because they receive value from their purchase. If I don't pay, I don't get the food. If they don't serve, you don't get the money. Thank you for all the other times that I have experienced an enjoyable meal. read more

The food was very good. I had smoked wings, potato salad and fried apple pie. Some of the best smoked wings I've had. With and without the BBQ sauce. They were friendly and we got good portions so it was a great value. There was a lot of people coming in for takeout and next time I'd do the same. I think they should make a few changes and make their dining room more welcoming. The bathroom could use some TLC as well. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Smoke wings highly recommend - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

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For the food I give it 4 This hole in the wall place makes some good meat. The turkey leg was amazing. We also had beef sandwiches. I am not a big fan of BBQ sauce so I ordered it on the side, but I found myself putting a lot of it on my sandwich. It was a sweet BBQ sauce that reminded me of Sweet Baby Rays. Only thing holding it back from 5 stars is the bun and the hot dog we ordered. For service I give 4 The staff was friendly and asked how we liked the food. They took out order right away and we were served pretty quickly. For the location I give it 3 The recommendation I would make is to work on the building a little bit to make it a little more appealing. The bathrooms were in need of some repair and the women's restroom felt like the heater was on. When bathrooms are not well cared for it makes me wonder about the kitchen. Overall if we were in town, we would go again. read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

I'm really not sure how this place got good reviews. It's dirty to start with, but I'm more than happy to forgive that if the food is good. But it wasn't. We got a rib sandwich with mild sauce and coleslaw on it, a ribs tip sandwich also with mild sauce and coleslaw on it, and seasoned fries and baked beans. The ribs and rib tips were both really fatty and not good. There was a bit of meat to eat on the ribs, hardly anything on the tips. Just a big fatty mess with joints and stuff. Awful. The coleslaw was almost nonexistent, I mean, I could see it was there, a very small bit of it. Not much. And certainly not enough to really taste or make any sort of difference. The bbq sauce also just a big nothing. Fries were fine. Beans would have been good if they had been even warm. Just a terrible meal. There's really good bbq in Memphis. Not here. read more

Several locals pointed me to this place as being their favorite. Its no-frills takeout BBQ joint well outside of downtown. I went with the Hot Link sausage which is made locally. It was....meh. Kinda small - not much bigger than a hot dog..and not at all spicy even with the spicy sauce on it. Not awful, not great. BBQ spaghetti was the side. Not a big fan but glad I tried it. My friend got a catfish platter with some fried pickles. It was ok...albeit nothing to dip the pickle chips in. Just had to eat them as is. Prices were right and they definitely had a crowd of regulars. Maybe we just ordered the wrong things. read more

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Bbq here was really good. Wanted to get a taste of Memphis BBQ Since I was in the area. Staff was very polite and service was prompt. Some of the best green beans I've ever had read more

A&R Bar-B-Que - Rib tips, green beans and fries - Barbeque Near Me - Memphis, Tennessee

Tenderness: 4/10. Link and majority of rib tips were TOUGH Seasoning: 8/10 BBQ spaghetti: 6/10. Sweet noodles. Potato salad: 9/10. Up there with grandmas Cole slaw: 10/10. Nice tang Baked beans: 10/10. Great flavor Cake: 4/10. Dry Great customer service, sweet down south home vibes, black owned, organized, fair prices, old school music playing, clean restaurant, moderate wait time. I recommend going cause the sides were just that good. Ask them for tender meat read more

I ordered a turkey burger with fries. Turkey was not seasoned and had a distinct taste, kinda like it was old, too it. My friend ordered rib tips and a rib plate. Meat needs more season. I don't recommend. Won't be back. read more

We were referred here by a Memphis local. It is quite a ways from the tourist areas but we love to eat where the locals eat. We had the rib tips and rib plate with beans and fries. The meat was good but what stood out to me was the AMAZING sauce! I made the mistake of not asking if they sell it by the bottle because I would say it rivals any here in Kansas City. So flavorful, perfect balance of sweet and tangy. read more

I will not return to this place. First of all the prices are ridiculous! It took 30 minutes to get some overcooked wings

Now this review is for the ribs they're ok in flavor but a little too undercooked at the ends and lots of fat beans are good but I'll be checking other spots won't be back here for sure n it's expensive. The sweet tea lemonade ain't my cup of tea I drank it but wouldn't buy it again n no corn bread just two slices of wonder bread oh heck no n no banana pudding get out of here . Too expensive n not worth the wait or taste go elsewhere next time I'm in Memphis I'll check out other spots see how it is . read more

I'm from California and this was amazing!! A friend referred me to visit and the Bbq did not disappoint. The customer service was very friendly and they were helpful in what to order for our large family. We ordered the rack of ribs with the mixed sauce, pork sandwich (large), hot links (mixed) and rib tips (mild). We liked the mixed sauce over the mild. All this fed 4 very hungry adults with plenty to go. The sides were yummy too. Fried pickles, coleslaw, baked beans, and fries oh the green beans and potato salad. It's a must try for some southern BBQ - Memphis style. read more

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This is our 4th time passing through Memphis and the 4th different bbq joint we've given a chance at being our spot. It's ok, certainly not bad, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone looking for a special meal. If I lived down the street ok but that's it. Service wasn't particularly friendly but good enough. Ambiance is hole in the wall. read more

Stopped in for lunch and had some Great smoked wings! Restaurant was clean and service was quick. Thanks A&R!

I grew up in Memphis but was rather late to the party here as I didn't grow up eating A&R. But once I found it I have not stopped and it is a go to now due to the non pork options. The turkey burger at the Elvis Presley location is the best in the city. Their chopped sandwiches are as good as you will find. The only flaw is the smoke sausage but that is just me being picky because it's not a circle b smoke sausage that they use. But the cakes and pies are great, the bbq amazing and the sauce is great. Did I mention the turkey burgers? I felt bad about coming to a bbq place and ordering a burger so now I get both. The burgers are that good, perfectly seasoned. I brought a crew of co-workers for a day trip to a Grizzlies game a while back and I made sure we stopped here for bbq sandwiches before heading back to Nashville. It's that good. They always get a visit from me when we are in town. read more

A & R is a really solid BBQ joint! From the outside it doesn't look like much, but the food was Awesome!! Most of the BBQ joints in Memphis are dry rub, but this place has a really good sauce that they bathe the ribs in. The sides were really good here also. I went here because the stewardess on my flight in was from Memphis and this was her favorite place. I would definitely go back again! read more

First time here-and it was soooo good!! Rib tips were my favorite, and the fried okra was also great. Loved everything we ordered!