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As Memphis prepares for the arrival of the National Guard following President Donald Trump’s announcement Friday morning on “Fox & Friends,” one downtown restaurant is focused on what it’s always done – serving ribs to hungry locals and tourists.
Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous – the legendary barbecue rib spot tucked into a downtown alley since 1948 – remains a symbol of stability in a city suddenly thrust into the national spotlight.
John Vergos, the restaurant’s co-owner and son of the late founder, told Fox News Digital that Memphis is “no better, no worse than any other city.”
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“I’m not saying we don’t have problems, but I don’t know which city does not,” he added.
While headlines may paint a grim picture of Memphis, Vergos admitted, the only thing smoking inside the Rendezvous is the barbecue pit.
The Rendezvous restaurant has been serving barbecue ribs from its same location along a downtown alley in Memphis, Tennessee, since 1948. (Rendezvous)
“We probably have half tourists and half locals, and our business has been down somewhat,” Vergos said. “And I don’t know if that’s reflective of the restaurant business nationally being down a little bit. I think tourism in Memphis is down, but again, we’ve been pretty beat up in the media.”
Co-owner Anna Vergos Blair, who helps manage the family business, said it’s the outside perception of Memphis that worries her most.
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She pointed to the city’s culinary identity as proof that Memphis is far more complex than the headlines suggest.
“Memphis has an amazing, almost underrated food scene,” Blair told Fox News Digital. “Memphis is known for barbecue, which is great for us, but Memphis has a lot more than barbecue.”
Co-owners (from left) John Vergos, Anna Vergos Blair and Tina Vergos Jennings hold plates of ribs inside the Rendezvous restaurant. (Stu Boyd II/The Commercial Appeal/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Barbecue may be the headliner, but Vergos said the city’s culinary scene is deep, soulful and uniquely Memphis.
“Memphis is a great foodie town,” he said. “It’s not a chain kind of city. It has tons of family-owned businesses.”
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Vergos, who served two terms as a city councilman from 1996 to 2004, said he doesn’t feel unsafe in Memphis and claimed there has “never” been a violent incident in or around the restaurant.
But statistics provided by the White House show that Memphis had the highest violent crime rate and third-highest murder rate in the United States last year. There have been 149 homicides in the city so far this year, according to the White House.
“I’m grateful for the president’s unwavering support and commitment to providing every resource necessary to serve Memphians, and I look forward to working with local officials and law enforcement to continue delivering results,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee wrote on X after Trump’s announcement.
“As one of America’s world-class cities, Memphis remains on a path to greatness, and we are not going to let anything hold them back.”
Memphis is a “resilient city” that has overcome tumultuous moments in American history, Vergos said – namely the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
Barbecue – and the Rendezvous – has played a role in helping to shift the city’s public perception, the owners said.
The Rendezvous restaurant is a meeting place where people can come together to enjoy barbecue and forget about their troubles, the co-owner told Fox News Digital. (Bob Fila/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“I think my grandfather named it the Rendezvous [because] it means ‘a meeting place,'” Blair said. “And I think food does that a lot. I think restaurants do that a lot, and they continue to do that in Memphis every single day.”
The goal, she said, “is to make people happy and have people enjoy food and enjoy company and get out of their houses and come have a night off.”
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Vergos said visitors to the city and his restaurant “should feel safe,” but he admits the negative headlines about Memphis might make customers “a little bit reluctant.”
“If they’re determined to send the National Guard down, I hope it’s done in a constructive way, and I hope that it’s done [in coordination] with local and state officials.”
