Home Ask Vance Lost Memphis: Pitchfork BBQ
Lost Memphis: Pitchfork BBQ
by Vance Lauderdale
Consider this a "tease" for a longer piece I intend to run on the old Pitchfork BBQ restaurant, located on South Second, close to The Peabody.
It's entirely possible that another Memphis landmark is in that location today, but I won't give it away.
The only reason I'm even sharing this with you is because I found this interesting old ad in a 1958 issue of a handy publication called the Memphis Hotel & Motel Guide. As you can see, the Pitchfork offered all the usual fixin's you'd expect from a barbecue joint: hickory-smoked pit barbecue (is there really any other kind?), beans in a pot, ribs, and chicken. And if you're tired of pork, you could get a steak, salad, or even a sandwich of some kind.
Now what is a little unusual is that they also served breakfast. Yum! Nothing like a big ole platter of greasy ribs to start your morning off right.
And has there ever been a barbecue establishment in Memphis that didn't make some sort of (often unconfirmed) national claim to fame? Not only does the Pitchfork brag that it is "famous" but it is even known "known coast-to-coast." Really, Pitchfork people?
But what I mainly wanted to do here is also poke a little good-natured fun at their logo. The name of the place is the Pitchfork, right? But do they show a pitchfork? No. And does a pitchfork — a tined instrument with a handle usually used for tossing hay around — have anything to do with barbecue? No. Do they use a pitchfork to kill the pigs before tossing them in the barbecue pit? Well, gosh, I certainly hope not.
"Pitchfork" just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.
And to add to the confusion, instead of a pitchfork of some kind, the owners of this establishment went with an image of a smoldering log — quite possibly hickory-smoked, but who's to say — with the name of the eatery carved into the side. Or maybe the letters have been burned into it with a branding iron. But what's the name of the place again? Pitchfork. Not "Branding Iron." Not "Burning Hickory Log."
But you'll have to wait for the main article — in a future issue of Memphis magazine — for the whole story of the Pitchfork, which really was one of the top barbecue joints here. And that's all I'm sayin' for now.
Ask-Vance August-2012 Ask Vance August 2012
Vance Lauderdale
Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. His dramatic life story (summarized at right) is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit.
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pitchfork bbq
The name came from the pitchfork used to turn the ribs and shoulders in the pit. The pit was just inside the front window. The best bbq ever!!! Looking forward to your story. fs
Fred Simmons more than 2 years ago
"Ask Vance" is the blog of Vance Lauderdale, the award-winning columnist of Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Vance is the author of four books: Ask Vance: The Best Questions and Answers from Memphis Magazine's History and Trivia Expert (2003), as well as Ask Vance: More Questions and Answers from Memphis Magazine's History Expert (2011), Vance Lauderdale's Lost Memphis (2013), and Vance Lauderdale's More Lost Memphis (2014). He is also the recipient of quite a few nice awards (including "Best Blog - 2017" from the Society of Professional Journalists' Green Eyeshade Awards), the creator of several eye-catching wall calendars, and the only person we know with a vintage shock-treatment machine in his den.
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