Community Q BBQ, Decatur, GA (April 2012)

Community Q BBQ is the orphan child of Dave Poe's and Sam's Barbecue #1.   Back in the day, Sam (of Sam's Barbecue #1) and Dave (of Dave Poe's) owned Sam & Dave's, where David (#2), of Community 'Cue, also spent time at the barbecue pit.   When Sam and Dave split up their two restaurants, David found a couple of partners and opened his own spot, Community Q BBQ, near Emory.   

There are considerable similarities between the three but, oddly,  when I looked back I haven't blogged on the other two.  I guess I'll do that on the next visit to those.   On the similarities, based on everything I'd read, the mac-n-cheese was the biggest commonality.   The mac-n-cheese from Dave Poe's and Sam's are both among my favorite sides in the city.  But how would Community Q stack up?

I went on a Thursday evening, kind of early and the place was fairly empty.  By  the time I left (6:45), the place was beginning to fill and the line was to the door.  They seem to do a brisk weeknight business, with most of the folks appearing to be from the neighborhood and many on a first name basis with the wait staff.

On to the 'cue.   My first thoughts were that it was okay, but really pricey.   This combo plate:

was $14.75 (this is a rib + one meat combo).  There is chopped pork underneath the four ribs, but only enough to almost cover the toast in a really thin layer.  The chopped pork was good - smokey and moist.  They have two sauces, one thick and sweet and the other thin and vinegar-based.

The fries weren't very good, at all.  Kind of over done and over seasoned.  The mac-n-cheese was as good as rumored - melty and gooey and fork-licking good.  The ribs were cooked well, but had a good taste.  The Community Q folks know how to handle their barbecue pit - both meats were moist and smoky, with just the right amount of char          

The biggest complaint, and what will likely keep me from returning, was the price.   I don't mind spending good money on food, but I like to feel like I received either volume or value (in terms of the quality of the food, etc).  At Community Q, for me, it was neither.

Dillard's Barbecue and Biscuits, Suwanee, GA (April, 2012)

Some day I'm going to learn to pay attention to obvious signs.   I always tell my kids (and co-workers and anyone that asks) that a parking lot full of pickups is a sign that a place has good food.  The laws of logic insist that the adverse must also be true.

Sign one: When I arrived at Dillard's Barbecue and Biscuits at 11:50 am on a Tuesday there was not a single truck, much less a car, in the parking lot.   Then I went inside.   This picture is from the back corner of the restaurant - you could have fired a shotgun and not hit a soul (the waitress was in the back getting me a Diet Coke at the time).  The entire time that I was there (about 25 minutes), not another person came in.

Sign two:  When the waitress came to the table, she had both cheeks pierced (like little silver dimples), was wearing lace leggings under a ruffle skirt and had a large number of tattoos.  She would have fit in well in the Highlands or Little Five Points, but a barbecue joint in Suwanee?  

Sign three:  When I asked her what was good, she said "everything".   At no place is "everything" good.  So my next question:  "How is the stew?  Is it thick?  Or thin?"  

She hems and haws.  "It's real full of stuff.  So it's thick."  

"Thick like tomato soup?, I say, "Or thin like vegetable soup?"   

"It's thick."

The soup shows up.  It is indeed full of "stuff", but the soup itself is the antithesis of thick.  This makes water look thick.   And the soup accompanies: chopped pork that looks like hash, two ribs covered in ridiculously thick sauce and french fries that, for lack of a better term, sucked.  The roll was good.  It was the only thing that was good.

 
That 73% of the people that ate here liked the food astounds me.  Hopefully, they all came for the biscuits, because I've had better barbecue from  the frozen food section of an Ingles.  

Pappy's Bar B-Q, Monahans, TX (March 26, 2012)

When I had a few hours to kill in suburban Midland-Odessa, TX, my thoughts immediately turned to "what's for lunch?"   Several months back, I discovered the Texas Monthly BBQ app so I consulted the Oracle for food choices, in terms of distance from MAF.   The app is fairly straight forward and I looked for the closest place with a review that didn't suck.  Being Texas, the closest place was 46 miles from where I was.  But it was at least in the right direction.   Odessa is 10 miles from MAF, and as I headed that way, Pappy's Bar B-Q got closer.  

There were several places listed in Odessa or Midland, but none of them had reviews within the app.   Since I was on I-20, and Monahans was on I-20, and I had three hours before my meeting, I drove the half-hour further West.

When I pulled up, a little after 11:00, I was underwhelmed.  It looked a lot like a Bob Evans.   I went inside and my "whelm" level didn't rise.  There was a steam table on the left side with tables and booths filling the rest of the space.  Old western movie posters on the walls.  And two other people there.  Not the best sign.

I decided on a three meat sampler.   When he reached under the counter and pulled a slab of sizzling brisket out of the warming oven and started slicing, my hopes raised.  Then he reached into the next oven and pulled out a slab of ribs (narrowly averting dropping a whole rack on the floor with a deft move of the fork in his left hand) and sliced off an end - they looked pretty good, too.  Then he pulled out a smoked sausage and started slicing that, too. 

The brisket was okay.  The ribs weren't very good either.  The smoked sausage was the best thing, but wasn't stand-out.

Two days later I was back at Thompson Brothers in Atlanta, GA (1,169 miles east on I-20, plus a short drive on I-285, of Pappy's) and ALL of the beef products beat the Texas version, hands-down.  Take a look at the feast that three of us shared there:

(These Oklahoma folks can show those Texans a few things about beef barbecue!)

The highlight of the visit to Pappy's, was actually the sign for their drive-thru that I saw as I was leaving.  I had to pull over to take the picture.

Ginopolis' Bar-B-Q - Farmington Hills, MI (December, 2011)

So, here it is a cool December day and I'm driving into our Detroit office for an afternoon meeting and I see this sign:

"World's Greatest Ribs"?  Challenge accepted!  I know when I think of the centers of the rib universe, Michigan jumps right to the top of the list.....

So, I get inside and the first thing I notice on the menu is that they serve the "World Famous Montgomery Inn Ribs" (as endorsed by Bob Hope!), shipped directly from Cincinnati, Ohio.   Let me get this right:  This place has the world's greatest ribs and they don't even make them themselves?  

I figure since I've already parked, and it is cold outside, that I'll stick around and check them out.   So I order a rack and wait.   While I'm waiting I notice the array of barbecue sauces that lie before me:

Any time that I see this many choices of sauce that there will potentially be something wrong with the barbecue. (spoiler alert).  While I'm waiting, I sample them all.  The winners (in case you're ever at Ginopolis')?  Hickory and Brown Sugar and Sweet Chili.   The ribs come with two sides.  Since I ordered this meal two months before I wrote this review, I can't remember why I had three sides.  Cole slaw (which I wouldn't have ordered if it was a choice), macaroni and cheese (which was common, but tasty) and an odd black-eyed peas with some carrots (?) and peppers in it.  The ribs, themselves:

From the picture, you can guess for yourself.  Pretty bad.  They lied.

The Georgia Pig, Brunswick, GA (October, 2011)

Early last month, I stopped off at the Georgia Pig in Brunswick, GA for some barbecue.  I had eaten there two or three years back, but I didn't remember anything at all about the meal.  I blamed that on my memory - what I should have blamed it on was the general forgetfulness of the food.

When  I see a place like this, I automatically think, "This has to be a winner."  Nope.  Not even close.  When I went inside, there were two folks in the place: the cook - who was working hard at the pit behind the counter; and the owner - an older woman sitting at one of the inside picnic tables, talking on a cordless phone.

The sign "Would you like pickles with your order", implies that you have a choice.  Nope.

So I ordered a half rack of ribs and a chopped pork sandwich.   The ribs were non-descript.  The barbecue sauce fairly weak.  The sandwich bland.   I know exactly why I didn't remember - I had blocked it from my memory.

Barefoot Barbecue, Seaside, FL (September 2011)

So, after my bad dinner / Jo's excellent dinner at the Shrimp Shack, I was still hungry.    As we walked back to the car, we came upon the wonders of AirStream dining at Seaside.  There are six trailers parked along 30A and, for my sudden snack need, I chose Barefoot Barbecue. 

Barefoot is spread among two and a half trailers -  the half being the Smokehouse.  For a little smokehouse, this thing packs some serious smoke.  I knew that I didn't need to eat too much, so I ordered the sliders.  They give a choice of beef, pork or chicken in the order of three sliders.   Sadly,  they only allow for one meat per order.  I chose pork - the best way to gauge the quality of someone's 'cue.

I'll have to say that this was some of the smokiest barbecue that I've ever eaten.  I couldn't wait to take them back to the house, so I ate one, dry, in the car.   The smoke was almost overwhelming.  But when I got back to to the house and had the chance to put the sauce on one (I went with the hot choice, from among five) it made for a really good sandwich.   I'll definitely go back.

Country's Barbecue, Troy, AL (September 2011)

For the last eight or nine years, we've headed toward the Redneck Riviera for Labor Day weekend where we share a house with two other families.  We're always looking for a faster route and, about three years ago, we settled on the path that we take: I-85 South to Waugh, AL, AL80 to AL85 to US231 to Troy, AL87 South into FL, right on FL20 towards Freeport, FL, then US331 south to Highway 98 between PCB and Destin.   For one of the turning points (onto AL87) the reference point is Country's Barbecue.   How many times can you pass by the same barbecue place without stopping?  The count, for us, was six.

I ordered the "Conflagration Plate".   Two reasons: 1) I didn't know that anyone in Alabama could use the word "conflagration" correctly in a sentence, so I had to see what it was; and 2) I knew in my heart that if the barbecue was not exceptional that I'd never get away with stopping there again.   

The conflagration is all three of three of the meats they serve (pork, beef, beef ribs) with two sides.   I chose pulled pork and sliced beef.  They had three sauces - thick and sweet, thinner and hotter and thin, vinegary and hot.  The pulled pork with a combination of sweet and hot on white bread made a relatively tasty sandwich.  The sliced brisket was miserable - think sandwich sliced roast beef.  But it tasted worse than lunch meat.  I ate two slice, slathered in different sauces, but it reminded me of the roast beef pho I ate near the office one day.  The only lesson  there was never order it again.  The beef rib was the best of the three - a good bit of meat that actually tasted like it had been smoked.  

We won't have to worry about stopping there again.

Tom's BarBQ and Deli, Memphis, TN (July 2011)

We were in Memphis for a funeral and were talking with folks about food, as we sat around afterwards.   I had my stand-bys in line (Interstate Barbecue and Rendevoux), but two folks told us about this place that we needed to try, over by the airport - Tom's BarBQ and Deli.  

Before we headed over that way for lunch on the way back to Atlanta, I googled Tom's and found the link to the video segment from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Guy raved about the rib tips when he was there for Triple-D and then, in a segment of the Best Thing I Ever Ate: Grilled  the rib tips came up again.   I took his advice.   

Paying the Piper..

I decided on a two-meat combo.   Rib tips were the obvious choice, based on personal recommendations at the funeral and Guy.  (If you don't know, rib tips are the ends that are cut off when trimming a rack of pork spare ribs St. Louis style.  They’re the end of the ribs furthest from the backbone and closest to the belly, so they’re fatty and meaty.  

For the second meat, the choice was tough, but I decided on bologna.   As a kid, I ate bologna and cheese sandwiches on Wonder bread, most summer days.  Ever since I had the slab of bologna at Smokin' Joe's, I pick it up most chances at a barbecue joint.  This didn't disappoint.  The simplicity of barbecued bologna and sauce on white bread is hard to beat.   The sides were good, and we shared a banana pudding that was definitely above average.

Thompson Brothers BBQ, Smyrna, GA (July 2011)

So I keep these three "lists" of places that I want to eat in my trunk (I also have a digital version in my phone) - all for places in Atlanta.  One Saturday in July, I decided to venture out in the quest for 'que.   Thompson Brothers BBQ,  in the Cumberland / Smyrna area (right across the street from Scalini's), was next in the rotation.  

Walking in at mid-day Saturday, the place was about half full. These brothers from Tulsa moved to Atlanta to open a barbecue outpost.  As you can see from the menu, whatever the question, "beef" is the answer.   I asked the fellow behind the counter what would be a good place for me to start.  He suggested the "Whole Nine Yards".

It's a sandwich of beef bologna, chopped beef brisket and beef sausage, with a side and a beef rib.   I took the photo below to get a better "feel" for the sandwich.   I'm just a redneck at heart, 'cause I love me some bologna.  The brisket is beautifully done and they have the perfect sweet, hot sauce on the table.  The ribs are good, too, although I'd suggest the same thing I've ordered each of three times I've been in the past two months.  It's definitely worth a stop if you're within 10-15 miles.

The Blind Pig, Jackson, GA (July 2011)

After the excitement of the Hickory Pig, the next barbecue place was bound to be a let down, but I didn't realize just how far that there was to fall.  Driving back home from Macon, I realized I'd have a chance to stop at the fifth best barbecue in metro Atlanta (from the June 2011 Atlanta Magazine article), the Blind Pig in Jackson, GA.  

Driving up US 23,  I had to drive by Fresh Air, one of the classic GA barbecue joints, always near the top of any top 10 lists.   As I got closer to the Blind Pig, I saw the first sign.  It was highly promising.  Clever even - a pig with sunglasses and a cane.   When I got inside, as it was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday, there weren't a whole lot of folks around.  I asked what was fresh off the grill and they said ribs and pork. 

So I ordered the ribs, with stew and fried potatoes.

The stew was, in a word, awful.   I'm not a huge stew fan, but this wasn't even tolerable.   The ribs were mediocre, at best.   As I sat there and ate half of my pricey lunch, all I could think was, "I could have gone to Fresh Air..."

Hickory Pig BBQ, Gainesville, GA (July 2011)

Sometimes you go to lunch.

Sometimes you have a "dining experience".  Friday, July 15 was definitely the latter.  It being Friday, and me being bored, I headed up to Gainesville, GA (about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta) to sample some barbecue.  You see, in May, 2011, Atlanta Magazine named the Hickory Pig in Gainesville as the best barbecue in Atlanta.  When someone makes that claim you just have to check it out.

 

I arrived at a place that looked like a hole in the wall, if there ever was one.  Inside the windowless room, there were three round tables and about fifteen chairs.  Here is the right side. On the left side was a doorway which led about 6 feet to a screened door going out back.  Halfway down that hallway was an opening into what looked like a kitchen from the late sixties.  Counters on both side, a small fridge and lots of pots.  The menu, such as it was, was on a chalkboard by the door.  I talked to the man in the kitchen, who turned out to be Phil (the owner and pitmaster) and told him I wanted ribs and brisket in whatever the best configuration would be.  He suggested a plate and I agreed.

The waitress said "Take a seat and I'll bring it to you.  Grab whatever you want to drink from over there."   Over there was an igloo cooler full of ice and a metal scoop, two twenty four packs (Coke and DIet Coke) and gallon milk jugs of sweet and unsweet tea and lemonade.  I took a seat at the table and eavesdropped on the three regulars sitting there.  They were locals, discussing gas prices and the local bank.

The waitress brought my plate - two ribs, two slices of brisket, a grilled bun, slaw and Brunswick stew.  I don't like Brunswick stew, generally, but this was good.  A good sign.   The brisket was moist, slightly fatty and tasty.   Then I took a bite of rib.  Damn!   So I took another bite.  Double-Damn!  These were the best ribs I've eaten in Georgia, ever (and I eat a lot of ribs). 

So I finished the plate and ordered some dessert - a half rack of ribs.   Waitress thinks that this all is funny and asks me where I'm from.  I tell her Duluth and she yells to Phil "He's from Duluth" (about 40 minutes away, although it might as well have been a light year).   "Where'd you hear about us?"  I tell her.  "He read the Atlanta magazine article." [Everything here in quotes is her yelling to Phil through the screen door.]

Phil comes out of the kitchen and sits down with Ben (my new friend) and starts to  talk about barbecue.   His take - "There is no secret.  No rub.  No sauce.  Just hickory wood.  Lots of it.  And a wheelbarrow.  Actually, it has to be a red wheelbarrow."   We talk about Georgia barbecue and some of the classics from the 70s and 80s (Melears, the old Sprayberry's in Newnan, Fresh Air before the kids took over, Harold's).  I LIKE this guy.   Ben, who had been eating a "parfait" (pork barbecue, with hot sauce, covered in slaw from a 16oz. cup) joins in.

"You ever been to place that had it's own theme song?"
 

"No, sir."
 

"Hang on then."

Ben walks out the door and the waitress asks me if I saw the article in Garden & Gun.  I did, but didn't remember that they were in it.  I ask what for.  "The pork sandwich."   I order one of those to go.
 

Ben walks back in with a guitar case, pulls out an Alvarez (80s vintage, looks like a Epiphone Howard Roberts Fusion) and starts to tune up.   We discuss his Snark tuner.   Then he sings, "Down at the Hickory Pig".  I finish the ribs.   He finishes and we're chatting, "You know, if you sing, your barbecue is free."  (Phil is shaking his head NO).  Being the shy guy I am, I take the guitar and sing something.   When I get done, I go to get my Diet Coke and there's a 6 oz bowl that appears to be full of whipped cream.  Phil had been sitting there when I was singing,  I ask him if he left it there and he tells me that I "need to try it".

It was "semi-homemade 'nanner pudding."  It was pretty close to Strawberries On a Cloud. I finish and ask him what the bill is, he walks over leans in and says "$20, and we'll call it even."   Triple-damn!

As I'm walking out the door, he catches me.  In his hand is a 12 x 12 piece of cardboard and a pair of scissors.   He then cuts me out a business card, telling me I might need it.

Best time I've had out at lunch in years.

Southern Soul Barbecue, St. Simons Island, GA (May 2011)

 So, over Memorial Day weekend, I had to be in Jessup on the Friday morning before, so we went down for the weekend.  It gave us a chance to visit with Colleen and a weekend at the beach (Jekyll).   After I finished up with my meeting, we were wandering through an Antique shop in Brunswick and I was finished browsing ahead of Jo.  

Chatting with the shop-keeper, I asked the important questions, about food:

"Where's the best burger around here?"

The burger answer was Five Guys, so that crossed that one off the list. Fine, but we've got those at home.

"Where the best [insert_local_food_here, this time] seafood around here?"

The seafood was a place on St Simons called the Frederica House.  We marked that one down for a later visit.

"Where's the best barbecue around here?"

The barbecue place was the one that caught my attention- Southern Soul.  It had recently been in Garden & Gun, according to the shop-keeper and I found the article when I got back home.    After asking some folks about it from the island, they told me that the place had been immensely popular, had burned down and their neighbors had helped them re-open next door to their original location.  They're in the traffic circle right by the airport on SSI.  

Right next to the giant pile of wood out front of the restaurant is the smoker.   This thing's is eight foot long and putting out some mighty fine 'que.   We arrived early (5:30-ish) on a Saturday night and the place was already starting to fill up.  By the time we left, it was packed.   I ordered the #7 - Southern Soul sampler, with ribs and pulled pork.  These burnt ends were very good, as was the pork.

And to top it all off, choices of three sauces, one to everybody's liking.   In my classic way of thinking, I'd refer to this as "fifty-mile" barbecue.  That means I'd drive fifty miles to get it.  There is only one classification higher ("one-hundred mile" barbecue.)   That designation is not given lightly <g>.

Smokin' Joes Rib Ranch and RV Park, Davis OK (April 2011)

Okay, on to one of my favorite barbecue joints in the universe - Smokin' Joe's Rib Ranch.  Let me go ahead and say this - I am biased towards this place.  The only times I go, I'm bound to be with my favorite people.   And these pictures are from visits in both 2010 and 2011. 

I heard about this place from this bunch of guys before I went.  They raved about the weekend ribeyes.   First we went on Thursday night.  Here are some of the guys (including me) in line, waiting to order.  It's quite a simple place.   Actually built in front of an RV park.   A couple of big tables and some small tables inside, picnic tables on the porch and in the side yard.  

To the food - other than Friday or Saturday night, I'd say order the ribs.   

 This is the rack of ribs and fries that Jo and I shared the first time that we ate there.  To put this in perspective, that's a lunch tray underneath the ribs.  

These are among the best ribs that I've ever eaten.  Meaty, moist and tender.   Jo says they are the best anywhere, and they've, frankly, ruined ribs for her anywhere else.  Note that everyone at the table is eating ribs.  There's a reason for that.  Only one of which is that it is Thursday.


The reason I said not to order the ribs on Friday or Saturday night, is because that is the night that they barbecue ribeyes.   $19.95 gets you a (minimum) 16 ounce ribeye, barbecued, with two sides.

Here's mine from 2010.  I'm estimating it was closer to twenty ounces.   This thing is off the charts.   One of the guys had one that was twenty-eight, if it was an ounce.


One more picture, of a Saturday night meal.  I believe that you can only eat SO many ribeyes, so this night it was the best of both worlds:

Ribs on the left, ribeye on the right.


Can't wait until next year.