Wolf River Cafe

Great service, super casual. GREAT fried green tomatoes. Great Catfish.

One of the top three fried catfish places in the Memphis area - has plenty of black pepper and spices as is required for any real Southern recipe. They have a very good chocolate pie (stiff chocolate custard with lightly sweet meringue) that a local lady makes for the restaurant.

It is worth the drive if you've never been.

Rossville is a veritable food desert. Wolf River Cafe is the only real choice and i have been there two times in the last 2 years. While famous for their catfish (which I have had before an found to be unremarkable) this time, I opted instead for the BBQ, having noticed the pit visible from the dining area. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich and I am sad to say that Wolf River is a huge fail on the BBQ. Almost tasteless. The first time I have ever experienced that problem with pulled pork BBQ. Then there is the cole slaw. I was expecting more than mass produced cabbage from a big distributer. Walmart would reject this stuff!  Bland, except for a somewhat chemical aftertaste. Even though I didn't order turnip greens, I did see them delivered to s nearby table and the coloring was definitely off from that of fresh.  Also, they were chopped in small pieces....typical of canned or of a low quality. Anyone who has prepared fresh food knows the real from the canned upon sight.

The dessert I tried was alleged by the friendly waitress to be "homemade" and that is why I selected it. "Lemon icebox pie" ...an old south favorite.  It was actually not bad but that could have been due to the contrast with the relatively flavorless BBQ. The pie was apparently a concoction made from condensed sweetened milk.  I don't think the flavor was even real lemon, but will give credit for a meringue which was almost perfect in presentation.

I would rate this place as less than average if it were a chain but I have a heart for small privately run operations, so I will say it is marginally average. I would never advise anyone make a dedicated trip to Rossville simply to eat here.