Like many southern varieties of barbecue, Memphis-style barbecue is mostly made using pork, usually ribs and shoulders, though many restaurants will still serve beef and chicken. Memphis-style barbecue is slow cooked in a pit and ribs can be prepared either "dry" or "wet".

Other noteworthy institutions, now closed, were Penn's Barbeque and Johnny's BBQ. Though not quite uniform throughout the state's different regions, today's Arkansas barbecue style can loosely be defined as pork—either sliced, chopped, or pulled—piled onto either a bun or two slices of plain white bread.