Larry & Harry's Bar-B-Que

Non-Quest BBQ No 44 – Harry & Larry’s Bar-B-Que

Winter Garden, Florida

During my occasional travels, I try to sample BBQ at those near and far away places outside the Quest area. I just really, really like that stuff ... 

My experience after now three years of working on the Quest is that BBQ places in North Alabama are on average better than anywhere else I go. Once in a while you find a jewel also in other areas, but they are few and far between. Because my job involves frequent trips to Orlando, I had the opportunity to try many BBQ restaurants there over the years. I found many that are easy to forget, and only two that are up to par with the best ones at home - Yellow Dog Eats in Windermere, and Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que in Orlando. Today, this short list received a new entrance - Larry & Harry's Bar-B-Que in Winter Garden.

A hole in a wall – seldomly has this expression described the actual situation better than with Harry & Larry’s. Winter Garden is a town of about 35000 people some fifteen miles northwest of Orlando. The historic downtown has been beautifully restored and today contains an assortment of restaurants, shops, and cafés, a couple of museums and a performing arts venue. And, of course, a BBQ place, which you might miss driving by, because it is hidden behind a big old tree that covers almost the entire front. Immediately after you enter the place, you stand in front of a counter where you exchange your money for a card out of a poker deck that is sitting in a metal base. This you carry to your table and place it there, so that the server can identify who gets what. The dining room itself is a long narrow tube with five simple red wooden booths on each side. The decoration consists of several old signs for food and drink products from an era long gone, a large print of the place’s name, and some odd wooden birds. It is one the most cozy atmospheres I ever found in a BBQ place. Also, the staff is extremely friendly and nice, and if you want to, you can even sit outside on the boardwalk on a couple of iron garden tables and eat your Q.

Although it was 86 degrees in the middle of December, I chose to dine inside. As usual, I had the pork plate, which came with two sides – baked beans and fries in my case – and a slice of Texas toast. Unfortunately, they did not have potato salad, but I do not hold that against them, because nobody is perfect.

Nevertheless, the baked beans were almost perfect. There were two kinds of beans in it, Pinto and Red Kidney, with a good helping of smoked meat. Top notch. Very savory - maybe a bit more sweetness could have improved the taste - and with a smoke aroma you would not believe. That of course came directly from the meat – the pulled pork had a very distinctive smoke aroma, a perfect pink ring and an intensive BBQ taste straight out of the BBQ bible. Marvelous. The pork was pulled, but came in big chunky pieces, and I had a lot of very tasty bark on it. It was very tender and juicy, without being mushy. Unfortunately I also found a few pieces of fat, but due to the coarse cut of the meat, it was easy to spot and remove them. A little bit more diligence when pulling the meat would have prevented that.

They have five sauces there, of which four are of the thick red variety, in different stages of hotness. Nothing special there. But the fifth sauce is something else. It is mustard based and has just the right spiciness to make your mouth tingle when eaten on the Texas toast. Together with the smoked pork it is just BBQ heaven.

All this wonderful food has its price, though – over thirteen bucks for the plate with a fountain drink is not cheap. But it was surely worth every cent.

Cave Inn BBQ

Non-Quest BBQ No 43 – Cave Inn BBQ

Winter Garden, Florida

During my occasional travels, I try to sample BBQ at those near and far away places outside the Quest area. I just really, really like that stuff ... 

As the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. I usually never do that, always checking at least the describing text on the book jacket. Or, in the case of BBQ joints outside the BBQ Belt, I try to find their menu on the internet to check if it is worth my time. I also get an overview on the reviews that other people posted. And that is an especially good tactic in a place like Orlando, Florida, where you very easily can end up in some kind of tourist trap if you haven't done your homework.

And that is why, before I committed myself to the Cave Inn BBQ in Winter Garden, just a few miles outside of Orlando, I checked the menu on their website - and found all those familiar items on it like pulled pork, ribs, and brisket. Well, classic case of false labeling here. When I ordered the BBQ MMMEAT Sandwich, which consists of pulled pork, beef, sweet'n'spicy sauce, and red cabbage slaw on a pita bread, the friendly server alerted me to the fact that they do not smoke their meats, but grill them because "it just tastes better". They also smother them with sauce to "keep in the juices". Excellent. That's how you do ... well, if you do it this way, please don't call it BBQ, that is just plain sacrilegious.

So, this sandwich has basically the same right or reason to call itself BBQ, as I have to call myself King of the Tennessee Valley. Moreover, the sauce it was smothered with totally overwhelmed almost any other aroma that might have been present. Only the marinated red cabbage slaw had a chance to being noticed, the meat could have been cardboard, it would not have made any difference. Also, while the pork was reasonably tender, the beef was quite chewy. Smoking it for a few hours might have helped with that. And then, and only then, you might call it BBQ. And charge 13 bucks for it, with a drink and a side of fries. Oh, and over all this rant about the food, I kinda forgot to mention the actually very nice atmosphere there, the dinosaur themed decoration, and the very friendly and helpful staff. They also have live music there regularly and a very cozy bar area. What they do not have is BBQ. Except in their name. What a shame.

Ken's Bar-B-Que

Non-Quest BBQ No 39 – Ken’s Bar-B-Que

Oneonta, Alabama

During my occasional travels, I try to sample BBQ at those near and far away places outside the Quest area. I just really, really like that stuff ... 

There are BBQ places in places where your first reaction is: where the heck is that??! Oneonta, Alabama is one such place, you probably never knew even existed. This town of about 6500 inhabitants is the county seat of Blount County, which is situated about 30 miles north of Birmingham. Their greatest claim to fame is that there are three beautiful covered bridges within the county borders, which are actually still in use. There is an annual Covered Bridges festival in Oneonta, their High School Football Team is named the Redskins, the US Highway 231 runs through it and the official town motto is “A small city with big ideas”. That’s it. Oneonta, Alabama. Not quite the center of this planet’s gravity.

And if you type “BBQ, Oneonta” into Google Maps, the only result is a place called “O'so Good Bar B Que”, although I can vouch for the fact that there is at least one more – Ken’s Bar-B-Que, just adjacent to the WalMart, at this location since 1970.

I stumbled upon Ken’s Bar-B-Que by accident, being on the way of one of the covered bridges. As I do usually on my trips through the countryside, I had planned my food stops ahead, and based on the information that Google Maps gave me, I had chosen to visit the other place in Oneonta after I was done with the bridge. But since I already had driven for six hours that day, and thus was hungry as a lion, and Ken’s looked quite nice from the outside, I ditched that plan and decided to eat right here, right now.

Did I mention that I was really, really hungry? The combo platter on the menu, with pulled pork and smoked sausages, with fries, slaw and beans looked like it could satisfy my appetite, so I ordered it.

When it arrived, I almost regretted my bold decision, made out of an empty stomach, which is never a wise move. Man, was that a lot of food! And to be frank, I did not finish all of it, left the pickle, half of the slaw and the slice of toast behind. Together with some sweat tea, I paid about thirteen Dollars – I had less food and of lesser quality, too, for that kind of money before.

The pork appeared to be chopped, not pulled to me, but it was very tender and juicy, very lean and had a very subtle smoke aroma to it. Unfortunately, it also had the sauce already on it, which I really don’t like. What if the sauce does not taste good and I want to use ketchup instead? Am I supposed to wash the sauce off the meat with the sweat tea, or what? Yeah, right. Fortunately, this time the sauce was not too bad - a thick red concoction, with underlying sweetness and a bit of understated spiciness. But with pork that good, I wished they would serve a simple vinegar-pepper sauce. Also, there was no extra sauce on the table, just a bottle of Ketchup and some generic hot sauce. But when I ran out of sauce, I just substituted it with the sauce from the baked beans. Those came with big chunks of meat in it, and the sauce was not too sweet, as it is the case more often than I would care for. Definitely, they take their sides seriously. That is also true for the slaw, which came in a light sour crème dressing with only some pepper and salt. It tasted very fresh and the cabbage was also very crunchy. Too bad that at the end of the meal, I did not have any capacity left to gobble it all up.

That was certainly partly the fault of the smoked sausage. Also with a very subtle smoke aroma, and mildly spicy, they undoubtedly brought more calories from fat with them then the lean pork. But they were oh so good that I just could not stop myself and switch to the unquestionably more healthy cabbage.

Well, the fries were just that – regular fries.

The dining room is decorated with mostly Tide paraphernalia, although I also saw a couple small signs from the other team bashfully hidden in a corner. They have two lamps hanging over the cash register in the form of futuristic planes – very 1950s, very strange, very quirky. I like those kinds of details. There are also tiles in the ceiling, which display words like “Bless You” in neon colors. The atmosphere is very homey and the staff is extremely nice and friendly.

For a place that is not even on the map, Ken’s Bar-B-Que in Oneonta serves a very high quality BBQ with very generous portions for a reasonable price in a very nice setting. I just might need to write to the Google folks, to alert them to their grave mistake. 

Johnny's Bar-B-Q

Non-Quest BBQ No 34 – Johnny’s Bar-B-Q

Cullman, Alabama

During my occasional travels, I try to sample BBQ at those near and far away places outside the Quest area. I just really, really like that stuff ... 

What’s so great about the South is that you still find those old fashioned family businesses that are handed down from generation to generation. The pressure by those ubiquitous national chains, especially in the restaurant business, has certainly been relentless over the past few decades. But since the folks in the South are very traditional and keep loyal to something once they decided to like it, small family restaurants can still survive here. That is especially true for the area of BBQ restaurants, where the biggest competition comes from a few regional chains – no real national challenger is in sight yet. And when you drive through the South, it may occur to you that each county, each bigger city, each valley usually has their favorite BBQ place. Just ask the locals, they know what’s good.

Since 1949, Johnny’s Bar-B-Q in Cullman seems to be such an institution. The have won several prizes for their BBQ and are especially proud of the home made sauce.

The restaurant is owned by the same family since 1963, so they have reason to celebrate this year. The building is clearly of that vintage, and that is no reason for celebration. From the outside, it looks quite unassuming and dreary, and the inside looks, well, like a dungeon. It is dark as the devil’s soul in there, and without the modern flat screen TV in one corner providing a dim light, you probably won’t be able to even read the menu. Of course, I am exaggerating here, but not by much. The interior could use a serious overhaul, starting with the lighting. The rest is your standard red-faux-leather booths, metal-with-faux-red-leather chairs, with space for about forty people in the dining room, with an adjacent room for even more people, some BBQ related decoration at the walls, and a big rack with bags of chips in one corner.

So, the interior design oozes the charm of the early 1960s, which can be taken as old style, or as just plain old. But at least the food is fresh there.

Because I was very hungry, coming from a baseball game in Birmingham where I was so busy taking photographs that I didn’t find the chance to eat even a hot dog, I ordered the BBQ plate with double meat. You do not have the choice of sides, it is served with French Fries, Cole Slaw, & BBQ Beans. Oh, well, no potato salad, bummer.

When the plate came, I was shocked. The fries were piled on top of the pork, and the pork was drenched in BBQ sauce. What the heck?! Why can’t you let me decide whether I want sauce over my meat? Do you have something to hide? Does your pork taste like cardboard? I had to find out.

After I carefully removed about half of the fries from the pork, I was finally able to find a spot that had no sauce on it. One bite and I knew what was going on – the pork was tender, with a nice pink ring, and with a very pronounced smoke flavor, although rather dry. Without sauce, it might not have gone down as smoothly.

The sauce itself was a somewhat strange conglomerate of tastes. It reminded me of the sweet-and-sour sauce of your typical Chinese buffet, but then a healthy dose of peppery spiciness kicked in. Together with the very smoky flavor of the meat, it was a delightful experience.

The same can be said about the slaw, which came in a sour crème dressing with a good crunch. The flavor had a hint of spiciness, and I could imagine this slaw on pork sandwich very well – and actually, that is how they do pork sandwiches at Johnny’s.

The BBQ beans on the other hand rank a few notches below, being of the you-can-as-well-use-a-can variety. And I still consider fries with a BBQ plate as offensive to my (acquired) southern pride. I would rather eat just plain white bread instead, and thankfully that is what they serve as an additional side item.

For all this, plus an endless refill of Sweet tea, I paid just over fifteen bucks. No really cheap, but taking into consideration how much food was involved here actually, this still is a good deal. Especially when not only the quantity is satisfying, but also the quality of the food is generally top notch. So, I am looking forward to the next fifty years of Johnny’s Bar-B-Q in Cullman, Alabama.

Shane's Rib Shack

Quest Log No 50 – Shane’s Rib Shack
Huntsville, Madison County

Opening a BBQ place of your own is the dream of every backyard pit master. Very often, it is the sauce that everybody in the neighborhood just loves, which plants the seeds of the idea to go professional. Not a bad basis, but BBQ is more than that. If the meat is terrible, the best sauce in the world will not save the business. And what about the sides? Many of those restaurants of ex-backyard pit masters only concentrate on the meat and the sauce, and put rather pedestrian sides on the table.

And even worse, what can you expect from an ex-backyard pit master, who not only opened his own BBQ place, but then expanded the business into a franchise with about 70 locations in the Southeast, the Southwest, and the Northeast? Surely he had to cut corners, standardize the whole process, and rationalize the preparation of the food, so that it could be done with comparable quality everywhere.

That this does not necessarily mean adhering to the highest possible standards, but rather finding the least common denominator, should be self evident.

So, now Huntsville has been blessed with its own Shane’s Rib Shack. Hallelujah, just what we needed here to survive the BBQ shortage that plagued us all so terribly the last few decades.

It is located in a plaza with other eateries like Bonefish Grill, Subway’s, Nothing but Noodles, and Zoë’s Kitchen, so the local lunch crowd now also can have its BBQ cravings satisfied.

The fairly big inside of the restaurant is your typical sports-bar/family place, with wooden furniture and semi-booths dressed in red faux-leather.

You order at a counter in the back, put the sign with a number on your table and after a short while your meal is brought to you. The staff is very friendly and attentive, and the place is spotless clean.

The decoration mostly consists of flat screen TVs on the walls, and some framed football shirts. It was kind of odd to see a Raider’s shirt there, and no trace of a Tide or Auburn shirt, or maybe one from the Atlanta Falcons. The Raiders, really?! Not a team known for its success lately, like, oh well, some Alabama football teams. Just saying.

But it is surely a place you can go eat with the kids; they even have four different kid’s menu items.

Although the name of the name implies that they see their ribs as the main attraction, I refrained from that and had the pork plate instead, with baked beans and fries. They don’t have potato salad on the menu and I didn’t want to have chips or mac’n’cheese, and from the picture on the big menu behind the counter, the cole slaw did not look very special to me, so I deviated from what I usually order.

Big mistake, I should have taken something else. The fries were too salty, almost borderline inedible, and the baked beans were of the sweeter-than-sweet variety, and I could swear that I had very similar beans once out of a can from a supermarket.

The meat was very tender and lean, but a bit dry and with just a slight smoke flavor. Not bad, but I had better. The "Original" sauce, on the other hand, is a killer. Vinegar, tomato and pepper, with a hint of mustard, a little sweetness to it – I ate it on the toast when I was through with the meat.

But is that enough to justify a thumbs-up for this place? Well, it will find its fans, and since it is relatively kids friendly, my guess is that it will be there for a while. And what the heck, should I be ever in this part of town when a sudden BBQ craving overwhelms me, and my gas tank would only allow me to travel another mile or so, I would probably go there again. But instead of the two sides that come with each plate, I would order two additional slices of bread – for the sauce.