Leonard's Pit Barbecue

Memphis's first BBQ restaurant, a 1922 origin story

Leonard's Pit Barbecue is a barbecue restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee.

Leonard's Pit Barbecue holds the distinction of being Memphis's first barbecue restaurant, founded by Leonard Heuberger in 1922. The address has moved over the decades, but the lineage has not broken, giving Leonard's the longest continuous barbecue tradition in the city and a genuine claim on its origin story.

The cornerstone is unchanged in spirit for over a century: slow-smoked pork shoulder piled on a bun with coleslaw, the pulled pork sandwich Heuberger is credited with inventing. Ribs off the pit, BBQ spaghetti carrying the Memphis smoke, and that signature crisp slaw fill out a menu that reads like a founding document for the city's barbecue. Every chopped pork sandwich in Memphis descends from this template, dressed in a tangy tomato-based sauce, and here you can taste it at the source rather than a copy.

• Style: Memphis Style
• Price: $
• Neighborhood: Fox Meadows
• Serving since 1922

What to order

• Pulled Pork Sandwich
• Ribs
• BBQ Spaghetti
• Coleslaw

How it scores — 8.2/10 overall

• Smoke: 8.0/10
• Bark: 7.8/10
• Tenderness: 8.5/10
• Consistency: 8.2/10
• Value: 9.0/10
• Atmosphere: 8.0/10

Visiting

• Address: 1100 N Germantown Pkwy, Cordova, TN 38016
• Phone: (901) 360-1963

Hours: Mon–Sat 11am–8pm

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