Vegetarian Eating in Memphis: What to Ask

Vegetarian eating in Memphis takes a few questions, because the city's food is built on smoke and pork: barbecue restaurants are all over the city, and the Delta hot tamale is filled with beef or pork. Put the question to each kitchen and take the answer as information, not a guarantee.

The aim of this guide is to show where meat hides in Memphis classics, what is often meatless and how to ask without fuss.

Where does meat hide in a Memphis meal?

Barbecue is the obvious one, but the quieter risks are the sides. Greens, beans and soups in the Southern tradition are often cooked with smoked pork, bacon, ham hock or stock, so a plate that looks like vegetables may not be vegetarian. Cornbread can be made with bacon fat or lard, and fried foods may share a fryer with chicken or fish. Even a salad can arrive with bacon bits, and a baked potato can be dressed with them. Smoked flavor is a Memphis signature, and it travels from the pit to the pot, so read the whole plate and not just the main.

The Memphis tourism site lists charcoal-smoked ribs and pulled pork nachos among its specialties, which tells you how central pork is. Ask what the beans were cooked with, what is in the cornbread and whether the slaw dressing contains anything unexpected.

Are Delta hot tamales vegetarian?

Usually not. Wikipedia and the Southern Foodways Alliance describe Delta hot tamales as filled with ground beef or pork, and sometimes turkey or venison, simmered in a spiced brine. The brine itself carries the meat's flavor. A few cooks may make a meatless version, but ask. The Delta hot tamale guide explains the dish.

The dough is cornmeal, which suits many eaters, but lard is a traditional fat in tamales, so the question about the dough matters as much as the question about the filling.

What are soul food sides and a meatless plate like?

Many Southern kitchens offer a vegetable plate, where you choose several sides from a printed list, and the plate can make a good meatless meal when the cook is willing to confirm the pots. Typical choices include greens, black-eyed peas, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, cabbage and corn. They are rich and satisfying, but each may contain meat or animal fat in the pot.

Ask about each side you plan to choose, and ask whether the macaroni and cheese uses a meat stock. Mac and cheese is a dairy dish, so it is not vegan. Fried okra raises the question of the fryer. A server who goes to check with the cook is a good sign.

How do lard and stock hide in a Memphis kitchen?

Animal ingredients rarely show on a menu line. Beans start with a smoked ham hock. Greens simmer in pot liquor flavored with pork. Biscuits and pie crusts can be made with lard, red beans and rice may carry sausage, and a bowl of soup usually starts with a chicken or beef stock. Dressings can hold anchovy, and some desserts use gelatin.

The best questions are short. What are the beans cooked with? Is there pork in the greens? What is the biscuit made with? Does anything go into the same fryer as the chicken? If the server does not know, a polite request to ask the cook is normal, and a cook who comes out to talk is a good sign. Strict eaters should say so before ordering, and be ready to hear that a kitchen cannot promise.

How do you plan a vegetarian day in Memphis?

Take it one meal at a time. Breakfast is the easy one: eggs, fruit, toast and grits, with a question about the griddle fat and the stock in the grits. Lunch suits a cafe with salads and sandwiches, or a stroll through a district such as the one in the Cooper-Young guide, where menus are varied. Dinner is the hard meal in a smoke town, so pick a kitchen with at least two meatless mains and let the rest of the table order whatever they like.

Be specific about what you eat. Vegetarian can mean no meat but yes to fish stock, or no animal products at all, and a kitchen cannot guess. A short sentence works: "I do not eat meat, pork fat or meat stock; is that possible here?" Then listen, and thank anyone who gives an honest no. A clear no saves everyone a bad evening, and a careful yes is worth remembering.

How can Mosey help with vegetarian eating in Memphis?

Mosey has Vegetarian and Vegan among its tags. A rater picks them, and other diners can filter by them. Because the tag records an opinion and not a promise, the useful part of a rating is what you add yourself: "greens cooked in vegetable stock, the cook checked" tells the next diner far more than a label.

Rate by the dish, so a meatless plate is on record under its own name. Keep a private list of the kitchens that took care of you, share it with someone who eats the same way, and follow friends to see what they rated and saved. When you eat with others, tag them, so each can rate the same plate.

Where else can you read about Memphis?

See the Memphis page, the Tennessee page and the US food guides. The finding good food guide shows how to plan a weekend.

At your next Memphis table, ask first, then open the Mosey app and tag what the kitchen said.