Memphis is one of those places that claims – early and often – that its barbecue is superior to all others. So why are we heralding Pollard's, a tiny and relatively obscure takeout spot in its southern suburbs? Because the meal was excellent enough to make the claim seem reasonable, and the experience was improved by delightful servers. Besides, it's within a couple of blocks of an exit from I-55, heading toward New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The primary focus of the wall-mounted menu is sandwiches, although most items are also available as plates. In addition, if you're traveling with young ones who are gastronomically conservative, there are hamburgers and hot dogs.
Pollard's is heaven (or hell) for the impulsive. Intending to eat lightly (Ha! – how foolish of us!) we staggered out up with a rib tip sandwich and a smoked sausage sandwich, a tamale, a sack of cracklings and a fried pie. Plus drinks.
Ann adores rib tips, whose abundance of exterior surfaces and chewy bits is just made for gnawing. Unlike most rib tip sandwiches, this was far more than just some tips plopped across a slice or two of white bread. It was a real sandwich. When the friendly, smiling woman behind the counter asked, “Slaw?” as though most folks had it that way, Ann unhesitatingly said yes. Joe went through the same routine with the sausage. Turns out she didn't mean slaw with the sandwiches, she meant on, in the Memphis manner, and we missed the cue.
The rib tip was a real sandwich, tightly wrapped in paper. The first bites caused unmuffled moans of pleasure, even though we were standing in the parking lot.
Standing in the parking lot? We said it was takeout, right? It was near two o'clock, so the lot was almost empty, and given our tendency to drop, spill, leak and otherwise create messes, there was no way we were going to eat barbecue inside a car. Thankfully, it was a mild, windless day.
Smoky-sweet-meaty-chewy-tender, the ribs simply jumped into the mouth. Yes, it called for some picking around bones and discarding them, but ribs involve bones, like fish, so deal with it. The slaw, a lot of it, was indeed on the sandwich, making the wrapper imperative and a leaning-over posture extremely necessary while eating. When given a choice of spicing, we'd both asked for hot, but this wasn't fire-laden, just a first-rate balance of lovely tender meat, crunch from the cabbage, and great smoke and spice. The large and coarsely ground sausage was firm, rather than mushy, quite peppery and equally, joyously messy to eat.
The spiciest item was the tamale, something that has become almost a gustatory tradition in the South, either as lunch items or as first courses at places from neighborhood diners to white-linen restaurants. This one was a splendid kick-off to lunch.
And then there were the cracklings, an adventure begun when we noticed brown bags sitting quietly on the counter, a few grease spots adding a dappling effect. Someone asked, the charming server grinned and spoke and we shrieked softly. These were real chicharrones, pig skin and fat deep fried until dry and crisp. Pork skins that come out of cellophane bags are wimpy. Compared to these large, irregular pieces, rich and very crunchy and enough to give coronary artery disease to a brace of dieticians or even heart surgeons, those don't even deserve the name. Showing rare self-control, we made some of them last until the following day.
Our still-warm fried pie, available that day as apple or peach, also was tidily wrapped, to be torn open and sighed over. The shortbread-type crust crumbled a little, and it shed the cinnamon-sugar that was drifted across one side. The peach filling was thick and flavorful, with a texture that indicated home-preserved rather than store-bought.
Pollard's is not for everyone. It's spanking clean, but there are no tables and only a couple of chairs. Travelers should be prepared to eat elsewhere, perhaps at the next highway rest stop. However, it's easy to find, just north of the Mississippi state line at Exit 2 of I-55, whose exist sign says Hwy. 175, E. Shelby Drive and E. Whitehaven Capleville Rd. Take the exit that goes east, (if you're heading south, Pollard's is on the left side of the interstate). The first street that intersects after the service road is Boeingshire; turn left and you'll immediately see it in a newer strip mall.
But it'd be worth it if it were a dozen miles off the road.
Pollard's Bar-BQ
4637 Boeingshire Drive, Memphis TN
901-398-2987
Lunch & Dinner Mon.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Fair
Smoking: No
Entrees: $5-$11
Considerably farther south on I-55, about 40 miles from Louisiana, we found more delicious food close to the highway. Barbecue and other southern cooking is on hand at Hal's, one of three restaurants owned by the same family in a new and very tidy little mall just off the highway in Brookhaven, MS. Open for lunch and dinner every day (but closed from 3 to 5 p.m), there are tables, chairs and booths in front of an immense blackboard and a steam table full of side dishes. Not all the sides sit there, however. The cooks at Hal's have enough respect for their work and their customers to cook fried items to order. So dishes like tomatoes, okra and potatoes arrive a few minutes later, carried to the table by a friendly young server and simply brimming with flavor, like our onion rings and Joe's fried green tomatoes, which he swears are the best he's ever tasted.
We tried pulled pork, smoky and tender with a sweet, slightly hot sauce, a country fried steak, the real thing, not one of those hamburger patties made by a machine, and several sides. Both the onions, rings and smaller pieces, and the three large slices of green tomato, wore a carefully-seasoned cornmeal batter, and were drained within an inch of their lives, arriving not only greaseless but piping hot. Baked beans, seasoned with some of the pork, were sweet and smoky, and a potato salad tasted homemade, tangy rather than sweet. (A mixed forkful was a great combination.) Macaroni and cheese was a real winner, with plenty of cheese all the way through, not just the on-top style that occurs distressingly often. Creamy coleslaw and some delicious but slightly heavy cornbread finished things off.
No room for dessert after these two meat-and-threes, each of which cost us $6.50, the lunch price every day but Saturday. Lots of other options, from hamburgers to piles of handcut fries topped with brisket and pepper jack cheese and on to pineapple upside down cake. Order and pay at the counter, take your plate, and stuff yourself until they bring the cooked-to-order things, at which point you become as over-stuffed as Aunt Sadie's sofa.
Take exit #40 from Interstate 55, and turn eastward. Hal's is on the right almost as soon as you exit, along with his siblings Broma's and Mitchell's.
Hal's BBQ
1203 Hamton Drive, Brookdale, MS
601-823-2200
Lunch and Dinner daily
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $5-$18
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