Tops Bar-B-Q will open a new location in early February. It will be the 17th location for the more than 70-year-old Memphis-based restaurant.
And, as a native Memphian who grew up with Tops, I’m excited more locations are opening.
The restaurants have a new sign, which I love. It’s perfect. The new sign is based on the old pig drawing that graces the side of the Tops at 3353 Summer Avenue.
The new location will be at 4199 Hacks Cross Road, where the old Steak ’n Shake used to be, says Hunter Brown with Tops Operations LLC.
The restaurant location is “officially still in Memphis,” he says. “We’re so excited to be on that side. It’s the furthest east we are. It’s going to service Germantown, Collierville, East Memphis, FedEx headquarters. We’ve been looking hard to get over in that part of town to make it more convenient for our guests.”
As for that new sign, Brown says this is only the second time the sign has evolved since 1952. “Some of our stores needed a refresh.”
In addition to the interior, they also wanted to refresh the outside.
The original signage was a pig standing on a toy top. That sign can still be found at the Summer-National Tops. But the pig they used for the new sign is the large one on the side of that location. And that’s a Summer Avenue landmark, as far as I’m concerned. “That restaurant has been there for over 60 years, and that pig is in the oldest pictures I’ve ever seen.”
And, he adds, that pig sign is also “in the original architectural drawing” for that Tops location.
“We used the original pig. We just updated it with backlit red LED lighting. It spells out ‘Tops.’ The LED sign underneath says ‘Bar-B-Q & Burgers.’”
The Tops hamburger needs to be given its props since I, along with a lot of other people, consider it to be the best hamburger in Memphis. “We never called out burgers before,” Brown says. “When there’s room for it, it’s ‘Slow Smoked Bar-B-Q and Award-Winning Burgers.’ But when it’s shortened up for space purposes, we call it our ‘Bar-B-Q & Burgers’ every chance we get.’”
I asked Brown if they were going to introduce any new menu items this year. I’m constantly getting a craving for the restaurant’s new Fire Braised Chicken Sandwich. That’s my go-to — along with the Tops turkey burger — at least once a week or so.
“This year we plan on launching two limited time offers that are scheduled. But we’re still working through the priority of those two as to what is missing and what guests are asking for the most.”
Some Tops items currently are only available on its catering menu. These include a sausage and cheese plate.
By the way, that pulled chicken on their new sandwich is now being used in more ways at Tops, Brown says. “Chicken evolved. Now you can get it on the nachos. You can get chicken nachos in place of pork. You can get it as a plate. That’s now an option. That’s brisket, pork, ribs, or chicken plate.”
All these Tops changes — outside, inside, and in the kitchen — aren’t taken lightly, Brown says. “These changes, albeit big or small, there’s a lot of thought that goes into it. And at the end of the day, the answer has to be very clear: Is it good for the guests? With every single thing we think about, if that’s not a resounding ‘Yes,’ then we don’t do it. No matter what we think. We’re not going to change for the sake of change.
“There’s a reason this company has thrived for 70 years. And we’re not going to take a chance.”