Corky's Ribs & BBQ

We've eaten at Corky's more times than I can count, and their hickory-smoked ribs really are something special — they smoke everything onsite for up to 15 hours, which you can smell from the parking lot. The dry rub ribs are our go-to, but honestly the "muddy" style with both sauce and rub is pretty genius if you can't decide.

Here's what nobody mentions: use the drive-thru. Seriously. The dining room gets slammed during dinner rush, especially on weekends when the Parkway turns into a parking lot, but the drive-thru moves fast and you can get their pulled pork specials without dealing with the crowds. We learned this the hard way after waiting 45 minutes for a table on a Saturday night.

The Beale Street Burger is ridiculous — beef patty topped with pulled pork and cheese. It's basically two meals in one and my husband always orders it then complains he's too full. Their baked beans are legit good too, not the usual sugary tourist stuff you get at most Parkway places.

One thing though — the ribs can be hit or miss on tenderness. Sometimes they're fall-off-the-bone perfect, other times they're a little chewier than you'd expect for 15-hour smoked meat. Still tasty, just not always that Instagram-worthy moment you're hoping for.

Parking's free but good luck finding a spot after 6pm during busy season. The lot's small and everyone's trying to get in there. We usually hit them around 4pm or just do takeout and eat it back at our cabin. Pro tip: they do catering if you're staying somewhere with a kitchen and want to feed a crowd without the Parkway hassle.