Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover

Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q, from the approach on Germantown Road, appears to be just another cookie-cutter national chain restaurant seemingly sprouted from the concrete landscape that surrounds it.  If you did nothing other than drive by, as I did before I first heard the full story on the restaurant, that is precisely the first and last thought you would have had for the place.  Sadly, that perception couldn't be further from the truth.  As you experience this new introduction into the battle of barbecue in Memphis, whether entering the door itself or doing a cursory research on the internet, you encounter a very different reality.

First, on the company's home-page and printed directly on the front of the menu, Jim N Nick's advertises their proud support of the Southern Foodways Alliance.  What?  A chain restaurant supporting John T. Edge and his motley crew of grandma-cooked-it food-groupies down in Oxford?  Perhaps there is something more to this place after all.  Further investigating the menu, one encounters a notice that since the barbecue takes fourteen hours to cook, there's a legitimate chance that a menu item won't be available at all, having sold out for the day.  That you may not be able to get what you see, what you want.  How dare they?  Well, they've got a great reason.  Apparently, maintaining the integrity of the food is the most important thing at Jim N Nick's, or as they put it:  “We'd rather sell out than sell-out.”

Indeed, Jim N Nick's is something more than a national clone regurgitated from the hopeless imagination of corporate design firms.  The restaurant is another local, worthy  incarnation of the barbecue food tradition imbedded in the South – not with Memphis origins this time, but harking from Birmingham, Alabama.  And what you learn from a brief visit to the blues spouting hardwood shrine to pork is that Alabama, contrary to the belief of sports fans and politicians alike, is not far from Memphis after all.

As usual, I ordered what my stomach demanded:  a pulled-pork sandwich with pickles, slaw, and an order of crispy onion rings.  Before I was allowed to attack the 'cue, though, my server delivered cheese biscuits to the table, combining one of the greatest inventions of the South with one of the greatest innovations of Europe, baked fresh only a few hours before.  I can attest, Gentle Readers, that slathering one of these creations with butter only improves on the combination. 

The barbecue itself was as I had encountered it at the Zoo Rendezvous, where Jim N Nick's served up delightful samples to the mingling crowds.  You have a choice at the restaurant between sourdough and “old fashion” bread for the sandwich:  I recommend old fashioned, which as it turns out is a big, soft, white hamburger bun toasted lightly for flavor.  The pork itself appears to be simply “tossed” in sauce prior to coming to the table – in fact the meat was so juicy and tender that I suspect most of the sauce washed away with the juice prior to being pressed against the bread.  Despite my initial intent to add additional sauce from the bottles conveniently at hand, in hindsight I'm glad that I did not.  The pork, only lightly seasoned, carried sufficient flavor to make the sandwich.  The addition of a heaping scoop of slaw to meld with the meat only heightened the sensation.

Onion rings, when done well, are light, not heavy.  Batter is applied just sufficiently to cling to the onions after deep-frying.  They are delicate when perfect, not bulky.  Jim N Nick's doesn't disappoint on the rings either, which were plentiful, weightless, and barely able to maintain structural integrity before succumbing to a bite.

I have been known to say that nutritional food groups, in my personal estimation, look somewhat different than the USDA would have it.  The deep fried vegetable group, preferably some sort of tuber culled from the depths of the soil.  The slow cooked meat group, consisting of above-average pork or beef or lamb unsuspecting of its fate prior to falling victim to the heat, seasoned lightly.  The green vegetable group, for health of course, but first immersed in something that includes heavy concentrations of mayonnaise.  These three food groups, used wisely, are guaranteed to send you from the table smiling, satisfied for some time.  Use them, I tell my primary care physician, in moderation.  The meal at Jim N Nick's presented this model of perfection in splendid balance – just enough food to make cleaning the plate a fully enjoyable experience.  Cheese biscuits to make cleaning the plate efficient.

A wise man once taught me that a restaurant is only as good as it's soup of the day and it's pie.  Now, for those restaurants that serve either no soup or no pie, there's a lesson for you in there.  For those of you serving neither, well, you probably won't be getting a visit from the Deliberate clan anytime soon.  Jim N Nick's, however, appears to be safe on both fronts.

For desert, a healthy (no irony intended) slice of pecan pie.  No heat, no ice cream.  Just the way you used to have it at church potlucks, family gatherings, festivals fairs and fundraisers.  Slightly cool from the refrigerator, the nutty top of the pie crunchy and caramelized, the body firm and smooth.  I have nothing further to say about the pecan pie at Jim N Nick's – I would put it against my own sweet mother's pie now and any day of the week, and she would be satisfied that I did both her, and the restaurant, honor.  In fact, to say that it is just like everyone's grandma used to make would be to imply that I know everyone's grandma – my own made it as well as any who lived, and it's as good as hers.

Being a local foodie has its challenges.  Whenever we dine out, we have a tendency to eat at  restaurants falling at the more expensive end of the price-range.  We do this because the quality of the food tends to be better, the origins more dignified.  There are times, however, when we want to go to a restaurant where we can walk in wearing shorts and t-shirts, kids in tow prepared to scatter-bomb the floor with cracker crumbs.  Sometimes we just need to chow down on some good food.  Food that deserves to be elevated, celebrated, and savored.  Jim N Nick's is just such a place.

I don't know anything about the source of what is used in the kitchen at Jim N Nick's – I suspect that they are prima donnas about their pork, but may depend upon Cicsco for a portion of the remaining ingredients.  What I do know is that the quality of the offering combined with their devotion to tradition convinces me that Jim N Nick's deserves to be patronized by Memphians who value good food.  As to where they get their ingredients?  We can always improve that.  After more pie.

Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q
2359 Germantown Parkway
901.388.0998