Tennessee Crossroads travels to an alley in Memphis, TN that's home to a world famous BBQ family tradition. Join Nashville Public Television's Tennessee Crossroads to find out more about Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous Ribs.
When I was a kid we used to get ribs here. One time we took some to go, crossed the street and went through the Peabody Hotel and ran into Andre the Giant. He signed our brown sack of ribs with island sized paws.
I visited Rendezvous as a child in the early 90s when my soccer club played in a tournament in Germantown, Tn. I have several fond & hazy memories of the occasion but I do distinctly remember our waiter was named Percy. And when my mother asked him if they served coffee, he wryly looked at her and said “Mam, this is a rib joint. We serve ribs.” To which the entire party of kids & parents laughed hysterically. So awesome & kinda surreal to see this video 30 yrs later & finding out he’s still there. My memory is spot on apparently.
I have been smoking baby backs for decades.. Great flavor ..Fall off the bone. Rendezvous re-educated me. People like me only knew smoking them in the traditional way. Rendezvous caught my attention with the cook time of an hour and a half vs. three plus hours on the smoke with lower heat. Also leaving the membrane on. They talk about making the meat have more ‘chew’ (lack of a better word) The constant basting with that hot mixture was way different for me. I set a weber charcoal grill up with a stainless steel bowl of hot vinegar and pickle juice and their seasoning and did it their way. My first effort did great. I had to retrain my thinking that the texture would be different. I covered them with the hot juice and seasoned them prior to serving just like they do, The ribs were a bit more firm giving me something to bite into which is the goal of Rendezvous . I read some reviews on Yelp and some people were expecting the ‘fall off the bone ‘ experience and that’s just not the case when cooked this way. I was more than pleased and actually ordered some from them and compared mine. I was real close to theirs. I’m burned out on the typical smoked ribs. It worth a trip to their restaurant along with trying this method yourself..
I ate here once when i was working in Memphis and all though they are good ribs and the flavor is unique they aren't all that like they're portrayed. Kinda dry and not alot of meat. Id say a 6.8-7 out of 10. There was a place there called The Cozy Corner which was a hole in the wall and kind of a dump and they had better ribs.
OK, hears the deal, who do I have to kill to get a job doing these reviews? I'll do it for no pay you just have to pay my tab :) I've loved every one of them!
In almost every family business, the first generation starts the company and makes a good living, the second generation takes over makes the company even more popular and everyone in the family business is now rich, the third generation sells the business off to the highest bidder......hopefully this doesn’t happen here.
