House of Payne an arguable best

Photo by Dave Darnell // Buy this photo

Flora Payne IS Payne's Bar-B-Q, taking over operation of the restaurant started by her late husband and carried on with help from her son.

When Flora Payne got married, she says she just wanted to be the best mother she possibly could. Along the way, she has become one of the leading barbecue cooks in the city. Her husband owned Payne's Bar-B-Q at 1762 Lamar. When he died, she took over the restaurant and, as they say, the rest is history. Now, son Ron is behind the counter too.

Photo by Dave Darnell

Flora Payne IS Payne's Bar-B-Q, taking over operation of the restaurant started by her late husband and carried on with help from her son.

Photo by Dave Darnell

Payne's Bar-B-Q at 1762 Lamar offers what at least one longtime barbecue aficionado hails as the best pork sandwich in town.

The restaurant is nothing fancy; actually it is quite simple, but the succulent barbecue sandwiches, ribs and other items served there are sheer culinary delights. The meat is cooked slowly over charcoal, like most barbecue restaurants do it, but the sweet, tangy sauce (mild or hot) accentuates the taste of the meat and dances across the taste buds like a ballerina.

The restaurant opened in 1972, but prior to that, it was a service station. I remember having my auto serviced there in 1968 when I lived nearby. The service offered there now is far superior to any service ever done to a vehicle.

Considering that one of my basic beliefs is that "there is no such thing as bad barbecue, some's just better than others," Payne's is simply the best. I have either begun or ended multistate barbecue expeditions at 1762 Lamar, but nowhere in between has there been found a better sandwich.

The combination of Payne's slaw and sauce make their sandwiches among the best anywhere, certainly my Memphis favorite. Flora doesn't offer any hints as to the contents of her sauce or tangy slaw, she just says they're made with "a lot of love."

If swine flu has a vaccine in the future, one might suggest a Payne's Bar-B-Q sauce base for a start.

Dave Darnell, a longtime photographer for The Commercial Appeal, has a passion for barbecue. He'll travel far for a great sandwich, and has been known to drive to four states in one day just to eat barbecue. A Daveism: "If the South is the Bible Belt, barbecue is the buckle."

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