Eat Arkansas

WHAT!?!?! Gridley's? I pass by there twice a day and somehow failed to notice it today. However, leaving at 6:30 am could have something to do with that this morning....not good time for BBQ eating. That certainly looks like a Gridley's roll. Any BBQ shrimp to be had?

I grew up an hour from Memphis and Gridley's was my favorite. (Forget that overhyped Rendezvous mess.) Had talked it up a lot to Mr. EY when we were dating. I'm not sure he believed me until we went the evening he proposed. The smile on his face matched the smile on mine.

Didn't notice the shrimp, but they do have the Big Bob sandwich -- that mighty idol to the pork BBQ gods. I was told they'd soon have catfish, too -- which goes with the whole barbecue spaghetti thing. Ah, Memphis. At Pickles Gap.

I'll check it out over the next few months and let you know. I didn't like shrimp as a kid, but Mom and Dad would always get the BBQ shrimp and I'd dip my bread in the sauce. Kinda made me WANT to like them. It's not the same sauce they have for the pork, beef, chicken, but a New Orleans-style sauce of highly spiced oil and butter. Now that I like shrimp, I've been wanting to try it like that.

Now I understand why I haven't really noticed. Their banner just advertises BBQ, not Gridley's BBQ or even "Memphis style BBQ". They have typically had some kind of BBQ in the Fudge Shop over the years, so a new banner wasn't really much "news".

There is now a sign that proudly says, "Gridley's" on the highway-facing side of one of the buildings. This was just put up on Saturday, July 5th, I believe.

The b-b-q flag (with an unfortunate pig looking very happy for you to stop in and eat him or his relatives) was up for a while before that, but now they're boasting the connection and hoping for name recognition, I'm sure.

I'll have to try it soon seeing as how I live only a stone's throw away. Thanks for the posts here on Eat Arkansas. I might not have tried it otherwise.