Gridley’s Bar-B-Q

Oh gridleys how you have fallen. This was once a favorite for me. It has been a few years since I have been here. The place is more like a greasy diner than a BBQ shop in looks, feel and «cleanliness».
My BBQ plate dinner (see the picture) was cold, dry and devoid of flavor. The frys were hot and pretty good the beans were just bad. The only bright spot was the bread. For $ 10 the price was high for the amount of meat given which was at best what you would get elsewhere on a small BBQ sandwich.

Haven’t eaten at Gridley ‘s since they closed their Jackson, MS location years ago but it is what I have compared every other one of my bbq experiences to and nothing lives up. I’m searching for bbq in my current home of Los Angeles as we speak and wishing Gridleys was here.

Good two experiences! Great little place! Reminded me of and old school Memphis BBQ joint.

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s there used to be a lot of Gridley’s around Memphis. It was one of my favorite college hang outs. Honestly I thought this location had closed, but I saw a flashing «OPEN» sign when driving by — so I stopped in for lunch. There were several people in line when I arrived (including a well-​known food critic for the local paper). I got the lunch sandwich special. They prepare each order when placed, so you will need to wait a few minutes. The sandwich was very good with a nice crust on the pork. The beans were mixed with sauce and had a good flavor. And the fries were hot and crispy. The décor is pretty cool with lots of local flavor. The wait staff was very friendly and I enjoyed the inspirational music.

The ribs, sweet baked beans, and bread are delicious. I’m glad I stopped in. The pecan pie was tasty too! Salad dressing wasn’t all that great, but the people are very friendly!

My husband is from Memphis and I have to say not being from here myself but from the southwest where BBQ is all about the BEEF I am very happy to say I enjoyed the sweet and savory Memphis style BBQ. Very casual, totally kid/​family friendly. Very affordable as well. I had the (unique to me) slaw on beef brisket sandwich and fries.

Pulled pork with slaw, ummm.

Was in town on a business trip and my host raved about this place, so when lunch time rolled around, away we went. Not fancy in the least, but the BBQ was super and the sauces, superb. While there, I learned their meals are shipped daily by Fedex (Fedex is based in Memphis) in special containers to fans around the world. When you hear people mention their $ 100 dinner at Gridley’s, you’ll know it was a Fedex’ed meal.
And, worth every cent.
My only complaint was the gentleman’s rest facility could have used a bit of freshening.

As other reviewers have mentioned elsewhere, the Gridley family and the company reputation have outlived the restaurant itself.
Based on years-​old experience, when we came back to town last week, we stopped in and were sorely disappointed. A unprepared counter clerk was getting on-​the-​job training from the apparent manager in the form of orders shouted from the kitchen, and slow service and botched orders were the result for us and every customer we saw arrive after us. We like the kitsch of the place, but it hasn’t been cleaned in a year and likely has health code violations everywhere, starting with squeeze bottles of sauce that hadn’t been wiped off in at least a week. The food was mediocre, highlighted by a very good BBQ ½-​chicken that needed no sauce, but otherwise, the sauce and the meat both were mediocre and at $ 7 – 9 a plate, overpriced.
The 3 Bartlett police officers we found eating there gave us hope for quality, but it must have been their first and last visit as it was ours. When an elderly couple asked the manager/​warden of the employees if she were a Gridley, the response «The family hasn’t been involved in a couple years,» explained it all. Too bad for the family’s name.
Stay away.

Good barbeque sandwiches, but nothing special.