Tom's Bar B Q and Deli

Hello all! I know I haven't been making blog posts lately, but this was very noteworthy.
Corky's? It's ok.
Rendezvous? Pretty Good.
Tom's Bar B Q and Deli? Epic with lots of awesome sprinkled on top, and a cherry made of win.
Anybody that lives near Memphis Tennessee might want to read carefully. Forget that, anybody withing 300 miles of Memphis might want to read carefully.
We all know that Memphis is the BBQ capital of Tennessee. There are BBQ places all over the city, much less the state. But I think we have found the best restaurant in the whole state. The place is called Tom's Bar B Q, and here is the story of it's discovery:
The other night, I was watching Food Network (an odd habit of mine.) and I was watching "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Normally the show is themed, and this time it was BBQ themed. Also normal to the show, most of the places are centered in California, New York, and other major places that are far away from my current state of Tennessee. However, this was the best BBQ they ever ate, so most of the places were not in California or New York, and rather were in Texas and such. You can imagine my joy when I heard the words "Memphis Tennessee." Guy Fieri was the questioned, and he said that the best BBQ he ever ate was at Tom's Bar B Q and Deli in Memphis. So intently I listened, watching the screen and salivating, waiting until the next day when I could tell Mom and Dad and make plans to go there. And so, on Thursday of last week, we agreed that we would go to Tom's. And here is my review of the place:
Tom's Bar B Q and Deli is in the heart of Memphis, and the first impression was not a good one. The place looks pretty worn down, sort of sleazy, and over-all, not very clean. We stepped inside, and it still looked the same. It pretty much looked like an average place in the heart of Memphis. There weren't many people there, but that was probably due to the fact that we arrived around 3. The inside had pictures of Guy and Adam, the owner, plastered all over the place as well.
As soon as we stepped out of the dining area, we got a very warm welcome from the owner, along with questions about if it was our first visit, how we found out about the place, along with other questions like our (being me and my brother's) age, and if we watched Food Network. We then ordered our food from a lengthy menu, which was above the ordering area like a drive through, but on a white board and with a black dry-erase marker. I ordered the Rib Tips, as mentioned on Food Network, and everyone else got Pork Sandwiches. We continued to visit with the owner while our food was being prepared. It arrived in a timely manner, which was less than 5 minutes. We carried the brown-bag held to our table on plastic trays. We opened the brown bags, and then opened the Styrofoam containers and there was sort of an awed silence that swept across out table.

Now to be honest, I am not much of a BBQ person. Sure, it's good and all, but it is not my flavor or style of choice. But. Oh. My. Gosh. It looked amazing. The Rib Tips were different than expected, but that does not change the high-quality and flavor of them. As we got our copious amounts of napkins (it was apparent we would need them.) a server of sorts came in with a plate, piled high with ribs and grilled or smoked bologna (this was a subject of debate amongst family members.) We were confused, seeing as we had not ordered the plate. "Hey man, its where friends meat!" Said Marcus, as we son found his name. He then brought in four cups of the homemade strawberry shortcake, which again we had not ordered.

And then we dug in. I started with a bite of the Rib Tips, which were amazing. I'm still not sure which part of the animal they were, though that did not effect their taste or my enjoyment of them. And there were lots of them, and "tips" is not a very good word for them. I'd call them "Hunks of meat with the bode in them smothered in the best BBQ sauce you've ever had." The size varied, from thin and crispy to downright huge.
And so, a to-the-point way of describing Tom's Bar B Q and Deli: "An amazing place in a less-than-amazing location with the best service you've ever met and mouth-watering food and deserts." We will DEFINITELY return, and I will HIGHLY suggest this place to anyone with a taste for BBQ, or anyone who doesn't have a taste for BBQ. I like vinegar based sauce, and this wasn't vinegar based. And you know what? It was the best I ever had. Sure, they place looks less-than ideal. And sure, the service looks like people you'd rather not meet in a dark alley, but it was, overall, the best dining experience I've ever had. Five stars, Tom's, five stars.