Tops Bar-B-Q

Kinda pricey. We got the 8 pack BBQ. It was ok not that great. I didn’t like the fact they only gave us 3 small containers of BBQ sauce for 8 sandwiches! No pickles and no jalapeño! C’mon really! And when we asked for extra sauce they gave us only one more! Lady in the front seemed pretty stingy about giving us more. Not in TEXAS though, we know how to do BBQ plus you can have all the BBQ sauce in the world. TEXAS knows BEST!!!

Tops Bar-​B-​Q is one of my favorite lunch destinations. The food is always cooked fresh and consistently tastes great. No matter which location you stop at, you know what you are getting. My dirty secret is my standard order is their cheese burger instead of a pulled pork sandwich. While their pulled pork is good, there is just something about their cheese burger that makes my mouth water.

Love the juicy double cheeseburgers here. Not a huge fan of the pulled pork though. Most of the time the pork is a little on the dry side. Their sauce is sometimes a little too vinegar tasting. I must say though, please watch them while they prepare your food. Not all of the employees seem to understand what cross contamination is or proper hand-​washing and glove changes. Once they gave my order to someone else and he has went outside and came back in. They tried to give me that same sandwich. I requested a new sandwich so the put it on the grill and heated it up and tried to give it back to me again. After proper complaining, they finally made me a fresh burger. Just make sure you watch them! Also it tends to be cold inside so wear a jacket.

Hated it!!! This place is small with quite a few tables. It was clean. I heard about it from a local so I thought I’d try it out. I wasted my money!
I ordered a sampler so I could try it all. It came with ribs, pork shoulder and brisket. Ribs had a lot of fat on it and no flavor. The pork was dry and half of it was fat. Brisket was the same as the pork. The beans on the side was good and they had good ice tea.
I noticed after I ordered everyone was ordering burgers and fries. Maybe this should be a burger place instead of a BBQ place.
Don’t think I’ll ever return or recommend!!!

Double Cheeseburger review. Nothing impressive here and definitely not #3 best of Memphis burger. They messed up one of the burgers but instead of replacing the entire burger, they just replaced half of it. Fries were cold and so were the beans.

This place provided an interesting introduction to Memphis. We were driving on a road trip and our last stop was OKC. We had yet to eat dinner and crossed the Mississippi at about 9PM and everyone wanted some Memphis BBQ. After some searching on Unilocal,we found this place with decent reviews, but more importantly it was open on a Sunday night after 9PM so we plugged it into the GPS and made our way there.
The appearance certainly isn’t great, but I’ve been in plenty places where the outside doesn’t look great, but they sure deliver great food. After getting solicited by a beggar right outside the front door, we went in and waited patiently to order. Before we had a chance, there was an incident. The woman in front of us was waiting for them to bag up her order and complained to one of the staff that the person getting her fries didn’t have gloves on and picked them with her bare hands (she did have plastic gloves on). When the staff member told the other server, she threw the fries across the room into a garbage can and let the curses fly. She went back to the fryer to put some more fries in and then came over to help us, clearly annoyed. We really wanted ribs and were shocked when she said they were out of them. We all ordered pulled pork sandwiches and got them to go (the inside is a bit shabby and not very clean) so we could eat once we checked into our hotel. The food was served pretty quick and we managed to have some decent sandwiches, fries and slaw back at the hotel.
Our bellman noticed the bag and when we told him about our experience, he said he wasn’t surprised, and told us Top’s was at the bottom of the list of BBQ joints and advised us to go to Blues City Café, Central BBQ or Rendez Vous (we got to the first two). He was right, Tops paled in comparison, both in terms of experience and food. To top it all, the prices are just as comparable as those other places and you get far worse food, service and location.

This review is over there Cheeseburgers. How can a BBQ joint make such good cheeseburger? This place and Pirtles are a tie when it comes to making cheeseburgers. You can’t go wrong with either place.

Well, a friend and I went there on a Sunday night at about 11:00pm. We wanted Bar-​B-​Q but the only thing they had left was pulled pork and cheeseburgers. The drink machine was down and they said the sweet tea was too sweet. Since we had very little choice and we were already there we ordered the cheeseburgers and left. If my review was based on that, I would have given one star but that darn cheeseburger was the best I’ve EVER had. Yummy. Just had another this morning! :-)

Got the brisket and ribs. Not very smokey flavors like some other BBQ joints. The sauce is quite different than most it has a tangy vinegar taste to it that is good for a change. It not bad and it’s not great. Price is good but there is better BBQ to be found in Memphis

BBQ ribs for breakfast! Mmmm

Been waiting to write this review because for once in my amazing life?! I have not many words. So here goes: We were desiring some BBQ and didn’t want to drive across many counties to find some. I said lets just stop here. Sigh! Homeless guy outside begging loads of customers even AFTER a clear sign that says they call cops on panhandlers *Pause* But anyhoo so we order our food and I ask the cashier, «Does Mayo come on that sandwich?» What came next ALMOST caused me to lose my lunch. «Of course it does, you don’t know your sandwiches and that’s sad». Ma’am! Food was blah, service needs upgrading and I won’t be back!
Wait: I have lots of words!’ Who knew?!

Main take-​away: Don’t skimp and get your BBQ elsewhere.
We decided to take some pork on the road for family up north to sample. While staff was friendly and helpful in suggesting how many pounds we should take for a group of 24, we paid for a total of 8 pounds (one shoulder plus two extra pounds) — but we only got 7 ¼ pounds. What an unpleasant surprise when repackaging across multiple zip-​lock bags hours later. To top if off, they charged us for sauce. Lesson: Don’t be cheap and go elsewhere, it’s better and turns out to be no more expensive when factoring in their way of weighing.

Disclaimer: I have not tried any of their barbeque sandwiches or plates, so I can’t speak for those items.
However, their cheeseburger is phenomenal. There is absolutely nothing fancy about it, no frills, no bells or whistles. What it IS is a damn good cheeseburger, simple, straightforward, to the point, and fast. When you’re craving something greasy and unhealthy, skip those fast food joints and check out Tops.

The pork has been hit or miss for me, sometimes moist and tender but too often dry and chewy.
The reason for 4 stars is the cheeseburger, which is currently my second favorite burger in Memphis (after Roxie’s Grocery). Grab a handful of napkins because it’s so juicy it’ll soak through the wax paper!

Yuck!!! Unless you like Heinz 57 and mustard as sauce and meat so tough you have to visit a dentist afterwards
The ribs were pretty good as were the sides. The pork seriously hurt my teeth. It was super chewy and tough. The brisket wasn’t baf but it certainly wasn’t good either. Employees were unkind and all the tables were dirty even though the restaurant was empty and not busy.

I was and am unimpressed. I have tried this place several times throughout the years. This is my final verdict. I could name at least three restaurants that sandwiches KILL this place. It is convenient for them that they are literally a stone’s through from a major hospital at this location.
The food is pricey and greasy. They put mayo on my burger (UGH!). The ordering system was disheveled, and the pulled pork was unseasoned. I will not be patroning this brand in Memphis again.

I stopped here while driving thru parts of Memphis. I wanted to bring back some BBQ to friends up North. The reviews were pretty compelling.
When I walked in, I was overwhelmed with the deep smoky aroma from the BBQ. It was mouthwatering.
The wait staff were cordial & efficient.
The pulled, chopped Pork was great. Smoky, moist, DELISH.
The brisket was equally as good.
It’s not a fancy place but it’s a reliable, very good BBQ joint.
I heard their burgers were good too.

Solid bbq. When we came in, at noon, there was a line at the door. To me, that’s always the sign for good food. The staff was friendly and quick, and taking the advice of another customer in front of us, we got several different dishes. We got ribs, brisket and a cheeseburger. While the bbq is good, it’s the cheeseburger that was the star. Fantastic. While the bbq was average, or slightly above. Worth the stop, decent prices, I would recommend this to others.

Serious throwback funk slung here.
Right across from a hospital, every EMT in Memphis might pass thru here. Tight, goofy parking lot with numerous signs warning panhandlers to stay away. This is not gourmet Q.
But it is damn fine, with a strange split the difference mustard-​tomato sauce that is absolutely unique and delish. A sample of the ribs, shoulder, and brisket ranked them this way — ribs, shoulder, brisket. The ribs were among the best I’ve had, big meaty and juicy — and with that sauce. Orbit. The shoulder was very good, good smoke without grease. The brisket came in at only good — but probably the lowest fat option by a good measure and still a memorable meal.
Bonus points for the extremely Southern potato salad as a side option — all sweet relish and mustard. And the slaw also had a more mustard than a creamy tint. All worked well. Beans had a nice bite.
Joint is bare bones and fast-​foody, so steel for that — but it all works. They are stingy with the sauce, so don’t be afraid to ask for a little container of extra. They come in 1 oz and 3oz sizes, just don’t expect a 3oz unless you order ribs.

Mind you, I ate here before turning my dietary life around, but damn well worth the clogging of an artery.
While staying at a hotel in memphis, I walked into the bar to have a martini before deciding on where to have dinner. The bartender and a waiter were standing at one end of the bar chowing on some pretty amazing looking sandwiches. I asked her if that sandwich was on the menu and in her southern accent said «babydoll you ain’t gonna git that BBQ anywhere but Tops.» So I said «Where’s Tops?» And with a BBQ stained finger pointed across the street and said «Git yaself two so you don’t have to walk back, cause ya will walk back for seconds»
I walked across the street and into Tops. The smell inside was heavenly, a combination of pork, bacon, and BBQ sauce. I saw older women lined up behind the counter, one shredding a huge pork butt, and putting piles of the stuff on hamburger buns, then handing it off to the next woman who sauced it and layered a nice handful of cole slaw on it, finally the third women expertly wrapped the sandwich in foil and handed it to a very luck customer. Like a well oiled machine, these southern belles were cranking out pulled pork sandwiches on average of ten a minute.
My turn, I had no idea what I wanted, she looked at me silently, waiting for me to tell her my order. I looked at the menu, she sighed. Finally I said I’ll have two and a side of beans, extra sauce. In a matter of seconds my order was ready, I paid, picked up my bag and headed back to the bar.
God I couldn’t wait to dive into that meal. The pork was tenter with candy like burnt edges, the sauce was smokey, sweet, tangy and spicy. The bun was pillowy soft and the cole slaw was not too savory and not too sweet, a great accompaniment to the meaty pork. The beans were tender, sweet, and had huge bits of bacon in it. I scarfed them down and was sad when I got to the last bite of my second sandwich, I wanted more, I was full mind you, stuffed, but it was so good I could have ate another. But it was my first night in memphis so I knew I’d go back again and again. Which I did. Like the bartender at the hotel said «that BBQ is so good it make you wanna swear!»