Bain Barbecue — Restaurant in Memphis

Bain’s BBQ is the full restaurant equivalent of the McDonald’s ice cream machine. You want it, you’ll order it, but it’s never available. This place seemingly never has any barbecue. It’s really a lunch-only barbecue joint, but they stay open later for some reason. I guess they get a kick out of telling patrons that all they have is bologna and Lays potato chips.

I can almost understand not having ribs, brisket, and burnt ends available all the time. But they never have anything on Friday and Saturday during dinner hours. And I mean they got nothing. It’s not just the barbecue. They inexplicably run out of sides. What’s the excuse for not having any sides available?

I’ve visited this place three times. They never have anything. The second time I went all they had was pulled pork, turkey, potato chips, and potato salad. WT(actual)F? I ended up trying the pulled pork sandwich and potato salad. The sandwich had a lot of meat, but it’s not a cheap sandwich either. The pulled pork was decent but it was fairly bland. The slaw and the sauce didn’t stand out too much. The potato salad was very bland to the point of being flavorless.

So let’s just say it’s understandable for a physical barbecue restaurant to consistently be sold out of all of their low and slow barbecue during weekend hours. Let’s grant them that. How the hell do you run out of sides? I’ve never seen a restaurant never have anything side dishes. No sides no desserts, I mean they probably run out of napkins and toilet paper too, I’m not sure.

Take a look at my screenshot of the Bain website Look at it and observe that I’m on the “anytime menu.” See how everything is sold out? How do you run out of a smash burger? They sold out of burgers? Really?

I mean I understand wanting to keep shrink down and run a tight inventory. Again, I’ve visited this place three times and they never have anything. Just close the place if you’re running on 5% of your menu. They also never answer the phone, so it’s useless to call ahead and see if they...

On 8/9/25, my husband and I were visiting Memphis on a weekend getaway. We enjoy traveling, exploring local spots, and tasting authentic food. Based on Yelp reviews, my daughter recommended this BBQ place, so we decided to try it. The restaurant is set up in a single house, giving it a family-style feel, which made us expect a friendly, welcoming experience.

Unfortunately, what we experienced was the opposite. When we arrived, we weren’t sure how to order, so we let another customer go ahead of us. He appeared to be a local regular and was served generous cuts of roast beef and spareribs by the pound.

When it was our turn, I requested the same. Instead of confirming, the server (who I later learned is the owner) cut from the smallest burnt end of the ribs and gave us thin slices of beef from the small end. When I politely asked if we could have pieces from the larger side, she arrogantly responded, “Every customer needs to take the end piece.” The quality and portion were clearly not the same as what the local customer had just received.

After paying, I realized we had been given a combo meal instead of meat by the pound, which I did not order. When I asked the cashier about the server’s name, I was told she was the owner. She then raised her hands, made mocking faces, and said in a provocative tone, “Yeah, I’m the owner. If you don’t like it here, pack your food and leave.”

As the owner, behavior like this is unacceptable. We have traveled throughout Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean, and we have never been treated with such arrogance and disrespect. Most restaurants are welcoming to tourists, but here we felt singled out and treated differently from local (especially white) customers.

The food itself was average, and for nearly $30 for a combo meal, it was not worth it. Respect and fair treatment should matter just as much as food quality. If you want to enjoy Memphis BBQ, I recommend visiting other restaurants where both the food and hospitality reflect the city’s...

In the namesake city of Memphis Style Barbecue, Bain bbq is serving up Texas Style Barbecue playing that away game every day. The couple times I’ve been to Memphis and the google searches, I think they are the ONLY Texas Style in the surrounding area. And they are killing it. I went back two days. Mainly because I forgot to take a picture yesterday lol. The brisket was moist and a nice smokey flavor on the bark. Yesterday I got some of the point but today I went for the flat because I wanted to try a little bit of both. And the lie is definitely as moist as the fatty parts. The turkey was wonderfully moist bathing in butter with a peppery exterior. The Texas Twinkie had a perfect jalapeño with the right amount of heat. Wrapped in a nicely rendered slice of bacon. On the note of the jalapeño, the jalapeño lime slaw was delicious. The heat was perfect (for me) that I have no worries about a painful . . . later . . . anyways. I love this slaw. The baked beans with little rib trimming inside was a perfect pair with both of these jalapeño dishes with a little bit of sweetness. Of course the ribs were delicious. They have to be in this competitive Memphis market. Roughly 4 years ago I went around and ate at various places in this city, and I’m pretty sure I’d still end up at Bain. Oh! Dont forget dessert. I got the blueberry lemon cheesecake AFTER finishing all the food. I polished that off too. The creamy and acidic cheesecake mixed together with bursts of sweetness every time I bite into a pop of blueberry. Makes me drool just thinking about it again. Driving off I’m thinking I should have gotten the other Oreo cheese cake too . . . maybe the next time...