Memphis Magazine posted “One and Only BBQ Repurposes CK’s in East Memphis” featuring One & Only BBQ.
The freestanding vintage sign is the only trace of CK’s Coffee Shop left at the corner of Perkins and Southern, but even the sign is altered with this promise: “Coming Soon One and Only BBQ!”
Brown paper covers the windows, but co-owner Alan Katzen says contractors have gutted the front of the restaurant, updated the back kitchen, partially enclosed the front kitchen and painted the building’s exterior a color he calls barbecue sauce. He expects the restaurant to open November 1 with the same menu offered at the first One and Only BBQ, located on Kirby Parkway just north of Poplar in the Orleans Place Shopping Center.
“The menu will be exactly the same for the first six months, but we are prepared to do other foods,” says Katzen, who purchased the original restaurant about a year ago with co-owner Joel Baines. “We want to make sure we are taking wonderful care of our customers before we add to the menu.”
The new restaurant will serve beer (the Kirby restaurant does not) and seat about 90 people.
“We think this is a perfect location for us,” Katzen said. “We’re not too far from our first restaurant, and we’ll be right in between Corky’s and Central BBQ.”
Much loved for its pulled pork, smoked chicken and house-made banana pudding, One and Only BBQ also smokes sausage, turkey and beef brisket. The restaurant serves dinners and sandwich combos, along with meat and sides sold in bulk.
1779 Kirby Parkway, 901-751-3615 (oneandonlybbq.com)