Showboat Barbecue

I love going here. This is one of my favorite places to go get a barbecue sandwich. I also like the fact that they have beef ribs as well as pork. Unlike a lot of barbecue joints. This place you can actually eat inside and enjoy your meal versus having to get it and take it with you.

My favorite BBQ in Memphis. This is what I grew up on. These are the ribs that are on my plate every summer. This is the pulled pork that I crave on my soft white bun. The sauce is perfect. The smokey tender pork is what Memphis is about. We breathe this pleasant odor of smoke in and thrive on it!
They also have some amazing barbecued turkeys that you can pre-​order for thanksgiving time. It is to die for!

Solid BBQ. Old school, lunch counter style BBQ offering the classic meats and sides all served on Styrofoam cups, plates, and trays with plastic cutlery.
The potato salad and coleslaw tasked very similar, neither were very impressive but the beans were great. Ribs served wet and the pulled pork was tender and sauced well. I would go back!

So, Showboat looks like a classic dive from the road. That alone intrigued me, but seeing a robust lunch crowd further enhanced my anticipation. Having a very busy day of training, I ventured down the street for a quick drive thru run. I was not disappointed.
The jumbo BBQ pulled pork sammy (only $ 6.25) took my breath away. The meat was juicy, flavorful, and generously portioned. The sauce is not great, but the bun appeared to be griddle toasted… just the way I love it.
I noticed the menu included nachos ($ 7.79) and salads ($ 7.19 pork/​$ 7.49 beef)…both of which may be a choice on subsequent visits… but I want to judge the joint on their sammy. Now, as a disclaimer, I do not «DO» cole slaw, especially on my sandwich. The good news is that my judgement is not clouded by some soupy sweet cabbage concoction. We are grading strictly on meat, sauce, and bun.
Service was quick and friendly. I have yet to go inside, as each time I pass by, I am on a time crunch, but they are a excellent stop-​and-​go spot. They also get compliments on their iced tea. It was fresh with plenty of ice.
A more robust sauce may very well have pushed this to 4 stars!

i’m only a few days in Memphis and had some great ribs (Central) and pretty good pulled pork (Ty’s). with a recommendation for Showboat, and some positive Unilocal reviews, i was excited to try it. moreso, after seeing the building (it looks like it has great bbq) and being greeted by the friendly staff.
sadly, the food disappointed.
i tried the ribs. do they even have a smoker? the ribs were parboiled and slathered in mediocre sauce. i could taste no smoke, nor detect a rub. i ate a couple and tossed the rest.
the sides (baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad) were ok. i ate more of that than the ribs.

Had a craving for a juicy barbeque sandwich and Showboat would be the place to get just that.

The ladies working there were a total hoot. I’d been on the road for 3 days and was just looking for any place that didn’t have golden arches. I am thrilled I found this place. The coleslaw was better than my Grandma’s and that is saying a lot. The potato salad and okra was great! The other customers were super friendly, it was an awesome experience.

If you’re looking for ribs in Memphis, keep looking. The beans are wonderful. The large quantity of sauce on my ribs was bland. I had to add salt and pepper to my ribs.

From the outside, I would not be keen to try out. The reviews here encouraged me. I was not disappointed. Not busy, help was not real cheerful, but the food served up was excellent. I had the half BBQ chicken with fried okra and beans. All very good and very reasonable prices. Good stuff and I would come back for sure.

I was born in Memphis, currently in AZ.
My Grandparents were bestfriends with Owner Porter Moss. We still talk to him. so everytime my family or I go back to Memphis, he already has couple pounds of Pulled Pork and Qts of BBQ Sauce (my fav) reay for us!!! Best Pulled Pork in Memphis!!! Real BBQ (EVERYTHING is AWESOME)
I love Memphis!!!
If you are in Memphis, get the BEST Pulled Pork Sandwich here, and Ribs or whatever at the more know Restaurants like Interstate, Rendevous, or Neely’s

Lunched at Showboat for my first time. I ordered the pork sandwich with sides of beans and potato salad to dine in, and a half slab of ribs to go.
The sandwich was pretty good, very fresh tender meat, but lacking of any smoke flavor or anything to make it stand out. Potato salad was your basic mustard version, very fresh tasting, but again nothing to set it apart from any other. Ditto for the beans.
The ribs and service cost them one star. I ate the ribs later in the evening (warmed.) They lacked in any smoke flavor at all. The texture was as if they were parboiled prior to cooking.
The man that took my order was very sullen, but the lady that prepared my food was polite and friendly.

The BBQ at the restaurant in my opinion is excellent. The BBQ plates which include bean, fries, slaw, bread, and a drink… all sell for less than $ 11 including tax if memory serves me right.
I visit on a regular basis and have never been disappointed yet.
(Someone emailed me asking why I rated this restaurant a 4 versus a 5… and after reconsidering my rating, I upgrated the business to a 5!)

I’ve been to dozens of BBQ joints in Memphis. Among all the BBQ restaurants I’ve been to, Showboat is easily among the TOP THREE in terms of pulled pork barbecue sandwiches.
There are two other things I really like about Showboat. First, it’s regular sized sandwich is the size of most restaurants’ jumbo sized sandwich; its jumbo is just enormous. Second, the owners go to great length to maintain an excellent atmosphere and décor.
No review would be complete without some constructive criticism. Sometimes, the restaurant is inconsistent. It’s usually a long drive for me to get there, but I’ve been there around 5 to 10 times. About 80% of the times, the sandwiches have been excellent. But 20% of the times, the sandwich is only good, but not great like usual.
But despite that issue, I strongly recommend the drive or walk out to Showboat. It has a great jumbo BBQ pulled pork sandwich!