Photographs by Justin Fox Burks
Elwood’s prep cook Juan Carlos pulls chicken wings from the restaurant’s rotisserie smoker.
For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, on any day of the week, vehicles hug the curb in front of Elwood’s Shack, a comfortable ramshackle place tucked across the parking lot from the loading dock of Lowe’s.
The vehicle parade — a scruffy Honda CRV, a meticulously groomed Prius, and a Memphis city fire truck — mimic the restaurant’s assortment of customers: Silver-haired seniors with grandkids in tow, a foursome of firefighters (they get their tacos, chili cheeseburger, and large brisket sandwich to go), and lots of old hippies, like the pony-tailed fellow who scans the memorabilia on the restaurant’s walls and says, a little wistfully, “Oh, man. I had that same Led Zeppelin poster back in the day.”
Welcome to Elwood’s Shack, a deli that feels more like a neighborhood cookout party than a wildly popular restaurant voted “Best Deli” by Memphis magazine readers, thanks to its menu of Southern comfort food built around barbecue.
A self-effacing kind of guy from the south side of Houston, Tim Bednarski’s comfortable affability belies his three decades with corporate restaurants like Landry’s Seafood and Bahama Breeze, where he worked in management, design, and development. In 2012, Bednarski and managing partner Mandy Edwards opened Elwood’s. “It was a now-or-never sort of thing,” he says.
Bednarski’s barbecue pathway started 15 years ago, when as a novice, he formed the competitive cooking team Pigs in Space. Over time, he perfected the dry rubs now used at Elwood’s, like the aptly named Magic Dust for pork and chicken. “The team would come over to the house, and we would do satisfaction surveys,” Bednarski recalls. “Is it too salty, too smoky, too hot?”
Similar taste tests directed Elwood’s not-too-sweet barbecue sauce, a restaurant staple made with molasses, maple syrup, and Old Charter 8, a more economical substitute for the recipe’s original Maker’s Mark. Today, Elwood’s four-chef team — Rodrigo Humildad, Juan Nunez, Manuel Serna, and Edwin Vega — runs through about 25 gallons of sauce every week to feed hundreds of customers. On a busy Saturday, as many as 800 people can file through the restaurant to eat in or take-out.
I happily participate. Over the course of two weeks in October, I eat at Elwood’s four different times, and my only disappointment is a slice of pecan pie dusted with powdered sugar. (It’s pretty, but over-baked.) Longtime customer Tyler Lee, when he hears about my story, insists that I try the chicken Philly sub, a soft hoagie bun packed tight with smoked chicken and veggies and two kinds of cheese, and the bacon cheeseburger. Both are excellent, but the burger makes my heart sing when it arrives in a bright red basket lined with checkered paper. It is splendid. Pickle, tomato, green leaf lettuce, and a thick slice of raw onion rest on one half of the oversized bun. On the other, is the burger, seared on a flattop, but still one-inch thick, and draped with melted cheddar. Two strips of bacons crisscross the cheese like a pirate flag, warning: Eat the whole thing if you dare.
At Elwood’s, it’s easy to order favorites time and again, like the roast beef debris po’boy or a 7-Up biscuit piled high with tomato and pimento cheese. Believe me, I know. Every time I stand in line, a relentless mantra tugs at my brain: Fish tacos, fish tacos, fish tacos.
Other customers feel the same. Steelhead trout tacos are the restaurant’s number-one top-seller, even though the taco isn’t really a taco at all. Yes, it begins as a flour tortilla, buttered on both sides, sprinkled with cheddar, and topped with small chunks of Steelhead trout, a migratory fish that tastes like salmon. But pop it into a hot pizza oven, and while the fish bakes, the tortilla puffs up into a dimpled delicious pillow for fresh toppings like avocado, mixed greens, and creamy horseradish sauce. (Fish tacos, fish tacos, fish tacos.)
But here’s some advice: Break out and explore menu specials like creamy potato soup dressed with diced red onions, or armadillo eggs, a catchy name in Texas for pickled jalapenos sliced in half and stuffed with pimento cheese. And by all means, order an Elwood’s Shaq Attack, especially for a hungry group. A showcase of the restaurant’s barbecue finesse, the platter includes ribs, brisket, two wings, pulled pork, and half a chicken, along with Texas toast, potato salad, and green and purple cabbage slaw.
For our Shaq Attack meal, we head outside to a picnic table, whitewashed like discarded oyster shells on a bayside beach. On a second visit, we sit inside, where a dining room fire last December shut down the restaurant for 94 days. Remarkably, Elwood’s eclectic assortment of memorabilia, deer heads, and vintage team pendants look unfazed.
Quick-thinking firefighters pulled everything off the walls, explains Bednarski, who used photographs to recreate the restaurant’s exact décor. He points to a support beam by the register covered with business cards. “Those cards are the same ones that were there before the fire,” he says. “I guess I’m superstitious, but I wanted everything to be the same.”
Pam’s Pics: Three to Try
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Avocado Skins ($9)
Warm from the oven, the avocado fits nicely in my hand, ready to snuggle. With a spoon, I dig in, scooping up baked egg, diced prosciutto, and pico de gallo that spills over the edge, like a colorful stream of confetti.
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Memphis Style Ribs ($22)
The baby backs at Elwood’s are exceptionally good. Halfway through cooking, chefs baste the ribs with vinegar, barbecue sauce, and crushed garlic, wrap them in foil, and cook them again. The result? Crusty on the edges but tender inside.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie ($2)
Go ahead. Grab a chocolate chip cookie and then thank Rodrigo Humildad, who bakes the cookies studded with three kinds of chocolate chunks every morning. Says owner Tim Bednarski: “He’s the only guy who can do it right.”
Elwood’s Shack
4523 Summer Ave.
901-761-9898
3 1/2 Stars
Food: The menu at Elwood’s elevates the ordinary with items like Texas beef brisket chili and house-made pastrami, sliced thin and piled high.
Drinks: Elwood’s doesn’t serve alcohol, but feel free to bring your own, especially for weekend brunch when the deli serves BYOVodka Bloody Mary’s.
Atmosphere: Part diner, part barbecue shack, Elwood’s feels easy-going, but service is efficient and friendly.
Extras: Owner Tim Bednarski travels often to his 48 acres in Texas, family-owned for the past 200 years. Elwood’s customers get some of the perks, like the jam he makes with the elderberries from a towering tree.
Up next: Look for a second location, possibly downtown, to open next year, but Elwood’s anticipated food truck is on permanent hold.
Prices: Breakfast ($3 to $6); brunch ($6.50 to $12.50); hotdogs ($6.50 to $8); burgers ($9 to $13); pizzas ($9 to $26); sandwiches and subs ($7 to $13).
Open: Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
