Rendezvous BBQ 'legend' Percy Norris has died at 75: 'He was iconic'

Percy Norris served Rendezvous ribs to President Bill Clinton, to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to horror master Vincent Price, to former Supreme Diana Ross and to Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

But, generally speaking, he served Rendezvous ribs — and sandwiches and chickens and cheese plates and more — to Memphis. To Memphis diners and Memphis visitors, the famous and anonymous alike, without favoring one over the other.

That's probably why Norris became something of a Memphis celebrity himself. In almost a half-century at The Rendezvous, as a senior member of the famous Downtown restaurant's signature corps of white-shirted-and-black-bowtied waiters, he made himself essential and beloved to a loyal customer base.

"He was iconic," said John Vergos, co-owner of the alleyway eatery. "There are some customers, if Percy happens to be off that day, they won't come."

Norris, 75, died Friday at Baptist Memorial Hospital, after having been in poor health the past few years, battling cancer and other ailments, according to his son, Carlos Norris. He had retired from The Rendezvous five years earlier, after a half-century.

"Our staff is as much a part of the restaurant as the barbecue, the location, the steps," said Vergos, referring to the stairway that leads to the restaurant's memorabilia-stuffed basement interior, located on the west side of an alley that is across the street from another iconic Memphis business, The Peabody hotel. "I grew up with Percy. He and I are pretty close to the same age."

Others "grew up with Percy," too. "Many of our servers have worked with generations of people," Vergos said. Server Calvin Bell — a multiple winner of the "Best Server" category in The Memphis Flyer's annual "Best of Memphis" issue, who essentially apprenticed under Norris — confirmed this: "There's customers, you start waiting on them, then their siblings come in, then their kids, then their kids have kids, and it's like a family."

Of course, Norris wasn't toting trays of barbecue and brisket just for the exercise and the homey vibe. Even now, waiters tend to remain at The Rendezvous for years and even decades not just because of what Vergos calls the "family atmosphere" but because "these guys can make six figures," said Vergos (who owns the restaurant with his sister, Tina Jennings — they're both children of the late Charlie Vergos, who launched the business in 1948).

Bell said he bought a home for himself and another for his mother off his Rendezvous salary. He said he wouldn't have either if not for the encouragement of Norris, who became his role model and mentor after Bell began working as a busboy and then bartender and, finally, waiter, starting in 1990. "He showed me the ropes."

Bell said that when he started working at the restaurant and saw customers asking for Norris by name, "I said, 'One day I'm going to be in them shoes. I actually envisioned that 20 years ago, no lie, and it came true." Now, he said, The Rendezvous is his "home away from home."

Said Norris, in a 1994 interview in The Commercial Appeal: "It takes a person who wants to stick years to come up in our system. We try to bring the young guys up in a family environment. We need people that can work with each other."

Norris was born in Walls, Mississippi, but his family moved to Memphis when he was a kid. A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, he worked as a truck driver before getting a job at The Rendezvous in his early 20s.

In 1969, when Norris started at the restaurant, many customers and businesses were shunning Downtown in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the previous year. The Peabody closed a few years later. Said Norris: "If you saw any white people Downtown at night, they were either lost or going to The Rendezvous, 'cause there wasn't anything else down there."

But The Rendezvous — and Norris — persevered. Becoming adept and in demand, Norris served Rendezvous barbecue in the restaurant and elsewhere. He was among the staffers who worked at a Rendezvous-catered inaugural ball when President Clinton was elected in 1992, and twice he served aboard Air Force One. He served barbecue in Central Park, to Michelle Obama, and to George W. Bush. The celebrities he saw at The Rendezvous (or just outside, waiting, in a car) ranged from the approachable (Pat Boone) to the cautious (Michael Jackson, in that car).

"He kept up with the news, he kept up with politics, he kept up with celebrities," said Vergos, who said Norris was skilled at spotting notables who weren't particularly recognizable, such as Mitch Albom, author of the best-seller "Tuesdays with Morrie."

Famous people, in turn, remembered him. Said Vergos: "One time Al Gore came down into the restaurant, blew right by me, and went straight to Percy."

Norris retired in 2017. The Commercial Appeal wrote a story about him and his fellow retiree, "Big" Robert Stewart (who died April 7), so Norris ticked off the names of some of the people he had served: Dick Vitale. John Daly ("I've been through three wives with him"). Prince Albert of Monaco. "The two princes from England." Don King ("Man, he walked around and passed out $100 bills"). "The Lone Ranger" (presumably, Clayton Moore). Peyton Manning and his wife, Ashley, who was the most generous tipper ("She laid it on").

"I could sit here for a whole two hours and name names," he said. Asked why he had decided to retire, he was more concise: "It's been a long haul."

Norris lived in Whitehaven with his wife of 34 years, Jeannetta Norris. He also leaves two sons, Carlos Norris and Brian Norris, both of Memphis; two sisters, Ethel "Fee" Hollins and Peggy Norris; a brother, Michael Norris; and four grandchildren,

The Joe Ford Funeral Home has charge.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Rendezvous' Percy Norris has died at 75: 'He was iconic'