Huntsville, Madison County
There are some strange places where
you can set up shop for a BBQ restaurant. A former jail might qualify as mildly
funny, some old barn on a country road in the middle of nowhere would probably
not raise even one eyebrow, and an airport concourse could even be seen as
innovative.
But across the street from a
hospital emergency bay? That has to be the most morbid place ever. Imagine,
sitting there, munching on your pork sandwich while a steady stream of
ambulances, with lights flashing and all, disappear into the big grey building
on the other side. And then, imagine the BBQ place crowded with hospital people
in their green uniforms, some even still with those paper hair caps and masks
on. Scrubs meets pulled pork.
Of course, on the other hand it is
a very clever move to have a BBQ place at such a place - who needs soul food
more than nurses, doctors, surgeons, and relatives of the patients? My guess is
that Little Paul’s Gibson Barbecue in Huntsville,
across the street from Huntsville
Hospital’s emergency bay,
is a gold mine.
And the equally clever move to
incorporate “Gibson” into the name of the restaurant will not hurt business
either. After all, everybody knows about the Gibsons here in the Tennessee Valley – they are for BBQ what the Kardashians
are for the reality show industry.
Well, if I wanted to be cynical, it
would be easy to say that this place combines a live reality show with a unique
dining experience – like a TV diner, but only real and with better food.
But since I am not cynical, only
sarcastic at times, this is not how I would describe the place. Actually, the
interior is quite nice; it has a certain 1950s charm with tables covered with
black-and-white checkered cloths, shelves full of quirky BBQ and food related
stuff, fans on the ceiling and a tiny cross above the counter.
At this counter, you order from the
quite extensive menu, pay and receive a sign with a number on it. Not that the
place is actually so big that the servers would be lost without this numbering
system for the orders. It has seating for about thirty customers, but I guess
when it is really hectic during the lunch break of the emergency room people,
it can help.
The food is then brought to your table
– in our case, we only had to wait a couple of minutes, but we were there after
the typical lunch time.
As usual, I had a (large) pork
plate with potato salad and (vinegar) slaw. My wife had a two meat plate with
brisket and chicken and baked beans and creamy slaw as sides. The plates come
with a cornbread muffin and a tiny cup of sauce. At the table, there is a
different sauce in a big bottle, and of course ketchup and some kind of hot
sauce.
The pulled pork had a good smoky
taste, and it was very tender. I found a few strands of fat in it, but not to
an extend that it bothered me much. On the other hand, the pork was a bit on
the dry side, so I was grateful that my wife relinquished her cup of sauce to
me.
The sauce that came with the plate
was a very simple mixture of vinegar, water and (cayenne) pepper. Not very
spicy, but with some delightful kick nonetheless. And sour. But I actually like
it that way, and it went very well with the smoky aroma of the pork.
The potato salad there is listed as
“mustard potato salad”, which describes the flavor you get quite well. Also on
the sour side, smothered in a mustard infused mayonnaise, I enjoyed it very
much. The vinegar slaw, however, was a bit watery and of the sweet-and-sour
variety. Not bad, but also not top notch. On the other hand, a third component
that was “just sour” would have been probably too much, and so it was a
welcomed diversification.
I am not a big fan of cornbread,
but my wife is, and she assured me that the cornbread muffin that I traded for
her sauce was excellent. And so was the chicken – tender and very flavorful,
clearly the best meat of the three we had on our plates. Because the brisket,
while also tasting very good, was a bit dry and without the layers of fat
inside would not have been easy to chow. Of course, she could have poured the
tiny cup of white sauce that came with the chicken over it – but that would
have been pure barbarism. Plus, the white sauce was not so special, but merely
okay. It needs the very flavorful chicken to shine, not the other way around.
The baked beans were a bit sticky
and very thick – a clear sign that they had been sitting in the pot for more
than just a couple of hours. But the taste was great, not very sweet but
savory, without cinnamon but with some strands of meat in it.
The creamy slaw was crunchy and had
a very good flavor.
Together with sweet tea for both of
us, this meal for two cost us a bit over twenty-six Dollars. Not exactly cheap,
but the food was very good, although not really outstanding. We did see some
hospital personnel in the restaurant during our time there, but there was no
ambulance that disturbed our meal with its sirens. And quite frankly, I do not
believe the emergency room is something I ever want to connect with BBQ in my
mind – let alone in reality.
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