Memphis BBQ Tour-Our 10th Stop-Gridley's

10 stops on our BBQ tour already!? We tried Gridley's in Bartlett. This was not Gridley's original location, but after having several locations in Memphis over the years, it is the last remaining one. We all had a buy-one-get-one free coupon from 'The Best Book in Town".  We went on President's Day, Monday January 16th. 

Tony's Review: I got there a little late. Kembree had ordered me 

the rib plate. I started with the shrimp that she had ordered. I love shrimp and these were delicious. The ribs were good, smoked not boiled and I don't mind the extra fat on them, I kinda like them like that. The beans and slaw were just ok. This place was somewhat boring and I don't know much about it. I give the ribs a 3.5 out of 5. 

Regina's Review: 

I remember the building of Gridley's-it was brown and had this orange/yellow striped awning. There was a picture of it on the wall yesterday. It was in East Memphis, maybe on Summer. I cannot say I remember eating there, but the building stands out in my mind.  I decided to try the ribs bc of the portion size. I don't remember seeing a lunch size rib plate anywhere else.  I was not impressed with the flavor of the meat. I was disappointed in the amount of inedible parts; a little fat is okay, but these had a lot of the gristle fat. I like the meat to fall off the bones and I had to fight these. The slaw and

beans were good. The beans had little pieces of pork floating and the slaw was crispy with just the right amount of sweet and tart. I also missed taking the smoky smell home with me! I like going to a restaurant that has the pit in house and the smell lingers. Yesterday, I smelled like I had been to any old place. The employees were very nice; especially that poor girl that ran to get tea for Brett. Drew had the chicken tenders and said they taste like Tyson. 

 

Randy's Review: 

The barbecue was just ok.

I liked the homemade potato chips. But they were not homemade. The place was just average. I thought they might have bought the Gridley's name and the recipes didn't translate with the name. Maybe this is true. Barbecue sandwich was a 2.5 outta 5. 

Diane's Review: I thought the meat on my sandwich was fine. Randy had asked for brown meat and I might have gotten that. Some of the sides such as the fried

okra need to be dropped. It's just frozen food that you could buy at the grocery. I don't remember the sauce. All in all it was ok. Nothing memorable about the place and I couldn't recommend it. My favorite is still probably Interstate which was first and I would now rate it a 4.5 out of 5 if I had to do it over, Gridley's would be a 3 out of 5. 

Brett's Review:  Gridley's was my first disappointment on the tour. First impressions were bad.  Small, empty, quiet and kinda grimy feeling.

The menus were incomplete and priced wrong and the 8x10 photos on the wall reminded me of a Chinese take-out 

place in the ghetto.  Everyone I was with complained about their food. From cold ribs to forgettable bbq sauce. All that being said, the bread they serve before hand was fantastic and my nachos were pretty good. When I asked the girl at the counter if I should get the big bbq sandwich or the nachos, she quickly said the nachos. I have a big problem with a bbq place that recommends anything over their bbq sandwich. 4 out of 10 for me. 

Courtney's Review: After 10 stops on our bbq tour, I would have to rank Gridley's 10th. I had the pork sandwich and although they were generous with the meat, it didn't have much flavor. I didn't think about it until I read Regina's review, but she's right, there was no smokey bbq aroma when you walked in..I don't know where or how they cook

the meat. The sauce was thin and had too much vinegar for my taste. The highlight of Gridley's (besides the company of course!) was the bread and the potato chips. Huge warms loaves of bread are brought to  your table and they were delicious. The chips are served in a basket right out of the deep fryer and they are wonderful, too. We have very friendly service but between 11:30-1:30 we were almost the only customers..not a great sign. 

Kembree's Review: I wanted to try Gridley's bc I have heard people talking about it and how it had closed. Well, finding the coupon, I was excited, and Bartlett is pretty close. Gridley's is located in a shopping center across from the Goodwill around Summer and 64 area. Walking in it didn't feel

very special. Just lots of pig statues and those old looking metal signs all over the walls. I'm not sure how much of it was authentic and what they just bought to decorate in the walls. There were a couple of people getting to go orders when I got there. When I sat down Brett informed me that the menu prices were not accurate, just a little bit more than what the price said. Ok, couldn't they at least cross the prices out, so we weren't guessing at how much the stuff was? Hard economic times I guess. I knew I wanted to try the bbq blackened shrimp and they were around $2 each, (I think) so I got the plate so Tony and I could share. After biting into the first one (with the shell on it) I started removing the shells to discover a delicious little shrimp. They were really good, served with average and boring fries and some oily bowl of sauce or dip for the shrimp. The dip wasn't needed, bc there was a lot of flavor 

already on the shrimp. I also got the bbq sandwich which was smothered in sauce, the plate was immersed in the sauce as well, but odd bc there was no taste of bbq sauce when I took a bite. The sauce was only on top and bottom, so I had to add even more on the meat in the sandwich. The meat was average and the sauce was sweet and vinegary and I did like it. I had to get the onion rings, and they were really good, but found out they were frozen and fried, just like the potato chips that (we even asked the girl serving us) were frozen, fried and they seasoned them. The tea was good too, they had sweet and extra sweet, I thought that was novel and cute. Now I LOVED bread and the huge rolls they gave us were amazing as well as the homemade tortilla nachos that Brett let us try. I would go back for the nachos, potato chips and bread. The sandwich was just ok and I give it a 2.5 out of 5.