tom's bar-b-q & deli

i don't know what's happened to tom's. let me preface this by saying, i have always the considered them the best bbq in memphis, but adam must not own it anymore. the past two times i've gone, the food and service have been terrible. the time before this, the cole slaw was literally pink - not just a strip of pink here and there, but the whole slaw was pink and slimy. the pork hadn't gone bad, but it just didn't taste like tom's. today, i just had a deviled egg that actually made me puke. apparently, whattom'sused to be is dead. it's sad that this has happened because they have been my favorite bbq since i first tried them 15 years ago. sadly, i won't be going back, and i would suggest to anyone else, to go at their own risk.

memphis' best kept secret. this little gem on the corner of raines and getwell was discovered one early morning by a fellow co-worker. having lived in memphis and having sampled bbq by some of the famous local bbq restaurants, i can say with certainty that they have gone to sleep on their laurels;tom'son the other hand is the real deal. my personal favorite from the menu are the rib tips which are truly spectacular. if good bbq is what you want, then do yourself a favor and check this place out.

driving through memphis searching for a great bbq joint and foundtom'sonline. loved it! great food and even better service! i suggest getting some to go as well.

disappointed. we were visiting memphis and were on the search for the best bbq in town. we googled a view different places, and finally decided to givetom'sa try based on all the great reviews. i'll give them the benefit of the doubt by saying that we came in at 7pm on a saturday night, and they were closing at 8pm; but our experience was very disappointing from the moment we walked up to order. customer service was nonexistent and we were told that the indoor dining room was already closed, so we would have to sit on the porch. it's february and currently 37 degrees! at least the food was good, except the dessert of the day (peach cobbler), which was nothing but bread pudding. needless to say, we wish we'd tried interstate bbq instead.

outstanding smoked turkey. our company orderedtom'sbbq's smoked turkey for our thanksgiving luncheon - awesome! tender, hickory smoked, juicy as can be. we have loved their pulled pork and now love their smoked turkey too, we will be usingtom'sagain.

soooooo good!. this place has ruined me for any other bbq in memphis. i tried this place last year on a lark - was about to go pick up some riblets at a chain restaurant & thought - seriously, you live in memphis now, go find the real thing. so i checked online & the closest place to me at the time wastom's- never heard of it - didn't realize i'd been driving by it for years. walked in & saw that cooking show guy plastered all over the place. so, i took his advice & tried the rib tips. holy cow!!! took me a dozen visits before i could even try something else. i'm on to the pulled pork now. chicken is good too. my absolute favorite thing is to mix the cole slaw with a little of the sauce. love the big steak fries too. i will admit the rub was a new thing for me - it's stronger than i'd ever had. but now i'm hooked. highly recommended.

it’s fitting that a large portion of the huge customer base fortom'sbar-b-q works in logistics since the restaurant’s workers have to be experts in the field themselves to handle the crushing volume of their lunch business. tom’s sits at the corner of getwell and raines in the oakhaven section of memphis. memphis is a major distribution hub for the entire united states and that corner, directly in between the airport and the giant railroad switchyard at lamar and shelby drive, sits in the heart

tom's rib tips r good! but ribs are.... ok.. i'm not going to rip this place for the staff so let me start by saying the bbq is what i would expect it to be.. bbq. the rib tips are good and consideringtom'scranks out over 100 orders a day they're rather meaty. you can tell that he purchases the cheapest bulk cuts he can get his hands on but hey in this economy who can blame him. onto the ribs.. the ribs were well charred and the sauce was sweet and smoked. a far cry from the typical memphis style sauce that always had a hint of tomato paste. though they do make a small mistake in preparation and that is wrapping the ribs in foil and sticking them in the warmer!!! this causes the ribs to kinda steam themselves and the textures results in a mushy overdone rib reminiscent of prechewed meat given to you when you didn't have a full set of teeth he chew with..mmm. now onto the staff. you'll sort of feel like it's a women's work release program but you'll be ok just don't come back to correct they're mistakes and make as little eye contact as posible. i had to go back 2 times as they forgot my sauce, then my ribs. once i went back the second time i had to wait for the order taker to finish her text to fix they're mistake. all in all this was just ok and i'm disappointed in guy fieri's recommendation

great rib tips!. i was introduced totom'sabout a year ago by some colleagues at work. i was told to try the rib tips and was just wowed by them. sauce or no sauce, they have wonderful flavor and are oh so tender. i really should branch out and try other items on the menu, but the rib tips are so tempting!

this is by far the best bbq in memphis! i've been here several times and it always exceeds expectation. staff is great, it is frequently busy, but they know how to handle it. the bbq - pork and beef, use great quality of meat. bbq sauce is homemade and can't be beat. try the hot bbq sauce- so much flavor!! thank youtom'sfor being the best bbq

nations best bbq. i agree with the 5/5 commentary from yelp, "woohoo! as good as it gets." i can honestly say i have never had a dining experience quite like this. my wife and i had a layover at the memphis airport and had heard great review of toms and were impressed by the feature ran by food network. we took a 5-minute cab ride totom'sand were immediately welcomed by the friendly staff. it was apparent that we were in awe of the establishment and somewhat overwhelmed, as adam (the owner) and some of the other staff seemed to notice that we could use some recommendations. when we made it know that we were from seattle, adam gave another personal welcome and then announced to the rest of the staff that there were "people all the way from seattle." adam told the cooks to "give them the best" and when our food arrived he had graciously given us a sampler platter of magnificent (free) food. i have been to other places where the staff is friendly but the food mediocre, but this was not the case with tom's. though i am from the land of lattes, i consider myself a bbq consider, eating at classic establishments in texas, alabama, ms, louisiana, and some great places in the mid-atlantic.tom'swas hands-down the best bbq i have ever eaten. we were packed to the gills with about $15 of food (+ the free specials), but as i made my way back from the bathroom adam insisted that we take some (free) desert. were we in heaven? the dessert was great and we hated to make our way back to the airport, we almost thoughts about spending christmas at toms. as i was phoning for a cab, adam insisted that i get off the phone, as they would bring us to the airport. despite my disagreement, he was persistent and said he would not accept no for an answer. while this is not customary (at least i think), this still shows that there are still good, wholesome people in our world. utter selflessness, great customer services, and awesome food! as we were exiting the car after being dropped off, we subtly dropped a $20 in the seat, but as she drove off the money exited the window as well. we were so blessed to be around such kind people and great food. please, if you are in memphis or the airport for that matter, your experience will be that much finer when visiting toms. we often think of making a special trip back to memphis just to visit the restaurant and our friends at toms.

really good bbq. adam is the owner and a nice guy. our first visit he took the time to talk about his appearance on guy's "diners, drive-ins and dives" he also gave us a free sampler platter, drinks, and desserts. the dry rub ribs were pretty dang tasty, my wife really liked the smoked bologna, and the beef sandwiches were delicious even though the hot bbq sauce could use more heat.tom'sis well worth the stop and is in a reasonably safe industrial park area.

wow. we were only in memphis for a day and we pickedtom'sas our bbq joint after seeing it on diners, drive-ins and dives.

our party of four was greeted promptly and in the friendly manner consistent with what we had come to expect from the southern us. once they found out we were first-timers from canada we were rewarded with a load of complimentary samplers.

the rib tips were good, but the pulled pork simply blew me out of the water. it was simply the most moist and flavorful pork butt i have ever tasted. the brisket also was above average compared to many of the bbq places i have eaten. the serving sizes were huge and we all came away satisfied and with leftovers for the next day.

even our friends who were skeptical about bbq at first came away as converts.tom'sdoes it right and if we're ever in memphis again we have no doubt where we'll be eating again.