Memphis is a town with scores of barbecue joints. It's also a town with scores of places that used to be barbecue joints -- ghost pits, as I like to call them.



The city's barbecue infrastructure exploded in the 1960s and 1970s, thanks in large part to the rise of the Loeb’s and Coleman’s chains, which built scores of restaurants in Memphis and across the Mid-South. Tops, of course, preceded them by a decade, and the legendary Leonard’s also branched out in the city. Plus, mom-and-pop joints were everywhere.



I try to poke around a bit in old newspapers, telephone books and city directories to see what old places might be standing from a half-century ago -- and if they are, what they are being used for. Some are empty and deteriorating. Others still house restaurants, and a few of those are still barbecue shops.



The rest are the fascinating variety, homes to businesses and services unrelated to food – auto repair and tire shops, loan companies, day care centers, a church, to name a few – but all with their old pit still intact.



Of course, I like to eat barbecue (local faves are The Bar-B-Q Shop, Showboat Barbecue, and Woodstock Deli; outside Shelby County, it’s Helen Turner’s in Brownsville, Sam’s in Humboldt, and Bozo’s in Mason), and I’ll pass on news/reviews of places from time to time.



For news and reviews of the local barbecue/dining scene, two other blogs stand out – memphisque.blogspot.com and kensfoodfind.com.



Memphis Que was run until this year (2015) by Craig David Meek, author of the great 2014 book “Memphis Barbecue: A Succulent History of Smoke, Sauce & Soul.” While the blog is on hiatus, you can still get his insights on his facebook page, facebook.com/MemphisQue.



Ken's Food Find is devoted to Memphis restaurants of all stripes. Between the two of them, they have the city covered.

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