Simple cinderblock building serving acclaimed chopped & pulled pork sandwiches & smoked sausage. Based on 685 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.5 stars. Price $
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Takeout ✔️ No delivery
Address:
1762 Lamar Ave, Memphis, TN 38114
Phone: (901) 272-1523
Social Profile: 
Hours
| Friday | 11 AM–2 PM |
| Saturday | 11 AM–2 PM |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday
(Labor Day)
|
Closed |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 11 AM–2 PM |
| Thursday | 11 AM–2 PM |
Menu
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Photo Gallery
Reviews
John Kasper
A BBQ place in the same location for 51 years says something about the food. Puts it in the category of Rendezvous, Tops, Leonards, and the Commissary. True Memphis style meaning theres more meat than you know what to do with. I could have made two Jumbo sandwiches with the amount of meat on my dinner plate. See the pics of that. My partner picked a jumbo sandwich and is bringing half of it home. First bbq place I’ve been to i couldn’t finish my meal, other than when i order a whole rack of ribs. Mustard style slaw with a bit of vinegar. Three levels of sauce; mild, medium and hot. Not much on the seating but a steady stream of orders walking out the door. Great service by Ron, Tony and Flo who os otherwise know as Mrs . Payne b
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Scot Simmons
Ok I have heard about how good Payne’s is so I finally got around to trying it. I walk in and greeted very nicely and they took my 3 orders and I must say it is hard to find a place that you can get lunch for less than $10 buck s now. I only had to wait for couple of minutes to get the food and couldn’t wait to get back to the office to try it. Let’s start with my first bite of the jumbo pork sandwich it had really good flavor and the slaw on it was the bomb. Now the next bite had burnt meat in it and was not very pleasing. Almost every bite afterwards had the burnt meat in it so it made the sandwich not very pleasant to eat. This is the reason I give only 3 stars. The 2 others both had burnt meat in theirs aswell. It wouldn’t have been that hard for the preparer to have taken the burnt meat out before making the sandwiches. The beans were pretty good but could have used some of their BBQ sauce in them to make them even better. I’m not sure if I will try them again or not and I hate this after all the other reviews were so high.
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Justin
I had the jumbo pork sandwich with their medium sauce, and holy moly, it’s the best thing I’ve eaten this week! I’ll go back before I head back home to Atlanta, and the next time I’ll try it with the hot sauce.
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mike mike
It is definitely a Pain to eat. They shouldn’t call it BBQ, they should call it A bunch of sauce covering a mystery meat. I ordered a sliced plate and got a chunk plate. Came with bland beans and something I suspect is a vegetable? It also had a very stale bun included. I don’t know how these places get high ratings. I drove off the highway on the way through to the middle of town to get a highly rated Memphis BBQ and boy, what a waste of time.
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Gerald Brown
Payne’s is my hands down favorite Memphis neighborhood BBQ spot. Been going there since my teenage years. They are family owned and operated with limited operating hours so go early. Best times are between 11am and 1pm. You won’t be disappointed!
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Dave Mariani
The rating is for the food not the building or the neighborhood. We loved the pork sandwich with the yellow coleslaw/chow chow sauce on it..it was the best thing there and would get it again..then beans were great also. The baloney sandwich was the same as the pork with the coleslaw..but not quite as good..still good though…both the sandwiches were very messy. Last of all were the ribs.. just not my style..sauce was very good..and the crispy parts were good .but the rest was fatty..I guess I like baby backs better. The people inside were very nice..don’t be scared away by the building.
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brian webb
Best BBQ sandwich in Memphis!!!
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Britt Hoffmann
On a road trip from Colorado to Florida and back. Driving trough Memphis and searched best Memphis BBQ, this place came up. They were doing some filming when we walked in. Will have to look for it! Regardless of the film crew the staff was extremely helpful and sweet (even to an out of towner who knows nothing). We got the chopped pork sandwich and ribs. All of it was fantastic!! The pork had amazing texture and flavor. The slaw made it for me, so yummy. I’m a pansy for heat and asked for the mild sauce. It had great flavors and spice (not hot just flavor). The ribs were smoked super well and tender. I agree with comments that the location is in an area where people know what hard work means but there is plenty of parking and the building is super easy to find. When you go in the smoker is like nothing people now know how to build. It has seen some days and knows how to make amazing bbq. Huge thank you for a fantastic meal!
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Charlene Smith
Best bbq ribs I’ve ever eaten. The baked beans were delicious but the slaw was not to my liking. But if you love ribs this is the place to eat.
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Charles King
I have eaten barbecue all over the United States, and without a doubt, this is some of the best I have ever had.
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