Our favorite Leonard’s memory is a Sunday in
June 2004…Father’s Day to be exact.
My future husband and I were dating and we
invited both sets of our parents to Sunday lunch
at Leonard’s to meet for the very first time.
They seemed to enjoy meeting each other and later
when I asked my Mother what she thought of Jeff’s
parents, she without hesitation said, “They are
just like us.” That was music to my ears.
Jeff and I married in June 2005. Our families
have met either Father’s Day or Mother’s Day
lunches at Leonard’s ever since and this past
Mother’s Day was bitter sweet without my precious
Mother being there. She passed away last
December, but we have many wonderful memories of
the times we shared together as a family at
Leonard’s.
-- Jeff and Robin Gaines
Oh, my, I have eaten barbeque all over the
country, and absolutely nowhere have I found
anything to remotely compare with Leonard’s Pit
BBQ. I ate my first meals there as a teenager on
dates, back in the early 1960’s. It was always my
favorite place to go, and fortunately, my
boyfriends agreed with me. I married and left
Memphis in 1966, not returning until my 20-year
high school reunion with my family in 1985.
Introducing my sons to Leonard’s was tops on my
list, even before touring Graceland! Sadly, I
discovered the original location was gone, but
thanks to the Yellow Pages, I found the new
store, which was quite a change from what I
remembered. But the food was exactly the same –
FABULOUS! We had pork sandwiches, and I showed my
gang how to soak it with both sweet and hot
sauces and eat it with slaw on the bun. For once
in their lives, they agreed Mom was RIGHT! We
brought several bottles of sauce home, and I
horded it for a long time. Then I ordered some
and got the bag of dry mix. It worked great, too.
It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten Leonard’s
or been back in Memphis, but it will always be my
personal benchmark for what barbecue is supposed
to taste like. Umm, my tastebuds are telling me I
better figure out a way to get some of that sauce
again.
-- Gayle (Wooten) Vyskocil
With all the news about the floods threatening
Memphis, I keep recalling the good times I
enjoyed in that city. Growing up in Coldwater,
Mississippi, it was a treat for us to load up the
56 Ford Fairlane and head to Memphis for
shopping, baseball and food. The best barbecue I
ever had was at Leonard's Drive-in, circa 1959. I
still recall the coins in the floor tiles,
chopped pork sandwiches, the bean pot and, to top
it off, lemon ice box pie. I live in Louisiana
now, and enjoy its great food, but nothing can
top my memory of Leonard's. It is good to know
that you are alive and well, after all these
years.
-- Mike Young
When I was a young child growing up we lived in
North Mississippi. On special occasions or just
for fun, we would all load up in the car and go
to Leonards Barbeque. This was in the late 40-s
early 50's. It was and still is the best food I
have ever eaten !! I live in Dallas, TX, now and
have eaten all over the South and Southwest, but
nothing can or ever will compare to Leonards.
That pork was devine and the slaw - - - - - -
unbelievable!! Still can't figure out what the
herb is the slaw that makes it magic!!!! What a
thrill it was for me as a kid to go to the
drive-in, have the gentleman put the tray on our
car window, and smell those fabulous smells!!
Whenever I think of my early childhood, Leonards
is always in those memories.
-- Janet Price
I was born and raised in Memphis. From the age of
17 to 21 I spent a many Friday and Saturday night
at Leonard's at Bellevue and South Parkway having
white pig sandwiches with chocolate milk. Back
then they had dark or white meat sandwiches. We
always tried to park back by the smoker because
it smelled so good. Hang in there Leonard's, you
are the best.
-- Bill Linyard
My dad went to UT Dental School in the early
40's, and I think he ate all his meals at
Leonard's! He said they had the best BBQ in town,
but I don't know he knew, as he never ate at any
others! He started taking us kids to eat there
starting back in the 50's and he always seemed to
know everyone there. I thought the anniversary
silver dollars in the floor tiles at the front
door were the cat's meow. Many times we stopped
for lunch en route to Ole Miss games at Crump
Stadium, and regularly went off the beaten path
to stop at Leonard's (original) when in Memphis
with my own children until it closed. My favorite
memories are Daddy telling us about all the
nickle, dime, and 15 cent items (sandwiches, not
just drinks!) on the menu. That was unbelievable
because by then things were a quarter, maybe 30
or 40 cents for a super-duper jumbo and Cokes had
doubled in price to a dime! My kids never
believed me about those prices until I showed
them an old menu in Tommy Leonard's place in
Southaven a few years back. I didn't know you
guys still had a store open until watching
Channel 5 News tonight. Can't wait to come eat on
my next trip to Memphis.
-- Karr West (Jr.)
My memory of Leonard's was my grandparents taking
me to the old Bellevue location in the mid 60's
(born in '58). We always went inside to eat and
no visit was complete unless we had a piece of
lemon icebox pie. Maybe that was the beginning of
my pie addiction. I lived in the Memphis area
until 1982 but now live in Houston, Texas. Texas
barbecue just doesn't do it for me so every time
I'm in Memphis I try to eat at Leonard's
Just before Christmas I was visiting family so I
found myself at Leonard's for lunch. The barbecue
was as good as ever but I wondered about the
lemon icebox pie. No need to worry, it was better
than I remembered (!) but now I have another
problem. Darn you Southwest Airlines, why don't
you fly to Memphis so I could get a cheap flight
from Houston to enjoy Leonard's more often (oh
yea and visit the family too)?
-- Bob Stroupe
Growing up in Memphis from 1948-1957, my parents
used to take my brother and sister and me to
Leonard’s BBQ. I remember to this day the special
smells that emanated from inside the place. I
remember that the waitresses and waiters who came
to our car and took our order, never wrote
anything down. They always remembered the order
and probably never got it wrong.
We moved to Florida in 1957. One day I hope to
return to Memphis and have some good ole Memphis
BBQ at Leonard’s.
-- Barry White
I was born in Memphis in the early 50s, and my
whole family enjoyed Leonard’s when we lived
there. Within a few years we moved to KC, but
always longed for Memphis BBQ . My dad’s job
required him to travel nearly every week, and one
memory we all have is him stopping at Leonard’s
whenever he was on his way to the airport in
Memphis to pick up BBQ to bring back to KC on the
plane. I remember the brown paper bag (with just
a bit of sauce staining the bag), the smell and
taste of the meat (the smell must have driven the
other folks on the plane crazy), and how happy we
all were to have fabulous Leonard’s BBQ.
-- James Mueller
I live in Oklahoma, but my parents came from
around Dyersburg. During WWII, or perhaps shortly
before, my dad proposed to my mom AT LEONARD'S
(the original drive-in site, of course). When my
brother and I were young, no matter what time it
was when we drove through Memphis on the way to
visit our grandmothers, IT WAS TIME TO EAT AT
LEONARD'S! I still remember the Silver Dollars
installed in the floor!
Our parents are gone now, and my father was under
the impression that there was no more Leonard's,
I suppose because the original location is gone.
Anyway, tonight, I was watching Diners,
Drive-Ins, and Dives, and they mentioned
Leonard's in Memphis. I jumped up and ran to the
computer! Brother and I might just have to take a
road trip soon!
Leonard's has had such importance in our family
over the years that "Mr.Leonard" once shared the
slaw recipe with Mom. We still cherish it.
So glad to know LEONARD'S BARBECUE still dishes
up that incomparable barbecue!
Thanks for the memories.
-- Janet Mills
