Corky’s
Barbecue.
Metairie: 4243 Veterans Blvd.. 504-887-5000. Map.
Lunch and dinner continuously seven days.
Very Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL
New Orleans was not much on barbecue when Corky's came to town, and it made a big splash. Although it has many aspects of a chain restaurant (although when it opened here it was only the second Corky's), the slow-smoked, Memphis-style barbecue is beyond reproach--particularly in the pork department. It would be a decade before anything as good opened elsewhere in town.
WHY IT'S GOOD
Corky's delivers the most important quality of good barbecue: smoke. That's what does all the cooking. This is in particular evidence in its specialties, the pulled pork and ribs. The former is in the smoker for hours measured in double digits, and comes out tender and loaded with flavor. The ribs, on the other hand, are even more densely smoked and encrusted with dry rub. The meat does not fall off the bone; you need to go after it. That's the hallmark of great ribs. The brisket is also good, but not as good as the brisket across the street at the Texas Barbecue Company. The sauce is the best bottled sauce I ever tasted, and has a distinct flavor of cinnamon in the background.
BACKSTORY
Corky's opened in 1992 as the first branch of the original Corky's in Memphis, a serious barbecue town. There, Corky's was so wildly popular that people would wait an hour to eat there. It was that way for a while after it opened in Metairie, but with so much more barbecue on the scene now you can usually get immediate seating. A fire in the spring of 2009 shut it down for awhile, but it's back and as good as ever.
DINING ROOM
It has the look of a fast-service restaurant, with a decor dominated by icons from the 1950s and music to match.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Fried chicken wings.
Fried chicken tenders.
Hot tamales.
Onion ring loaf.
Barbecue pork nachos.
Pulled barbecue pork platter or sandwich.
Barbecue pork ribs, wet or dry style.
Barbecue brisket.
Cole slaw.
Barbecue beans.
Pecan pie.
Apple cobbler.
Bread pudding pie.
FOR BEST RESULTS
Stick with the barbecue. The menu is full of miscellaneous items that they don't do very well. (The spaghetti may be the city's worst.) Barbecue is one of the few cooked foods that doesn't suffer from being taken out; that may be better than eating in. The catering menu is excellent and a great value.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Early on, Corky's developed a New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp (not covered with barbecue sauce) that was superb. Wish it would return. The side dishes are uniformly just okay.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
- Dining Environment
- Consistency +2
- Service +1
- Value +2
- Attitude +1
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness
- Local Color
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Open all afternoon
- Unusually large servings
- Quick, good meal
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
This review was updated with new information on 9/28/2009.