Lawler’s Barbecue Express #1 (Whitesburg Drive)

Quest Log No 45 – Lawler’s Barbecue Express #1 (Whitesburg Drive)
Huntsville, Madison County

The last Lawler’s on the list of BBQ places in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area that I hadn’t visited yet is the one with the 1 as the sequence number.

It is located right next to a gas station, in a small building that it shares with the gas station’s office.

It has a drive through, and also a small but relatively cozy space to sit inside with about half a dozen tables. The furniture is wooden, the walls are decorated with some fishing related posters and plaques, and everything is in good shape and the whole place is very clean, with a health score of 99 out of 100.

Of course, after already visiting the other four Lawler’s Express Barbecue restaurants, the menu has no surprises for me anymore. The only item I did not try yet was the ham plate. And with that I chose the BBQ beans and the potato salad as sides, just because I didn’t feel like going with green beans and chips.

Unfortunately, my order was screwed up a little, and instead I got a combo plate with pork and turkey, plus a cup of ham on the side when the mistake was discovered.

Well, that was a lot of meat and really more than I had intended to eat.

And so I only ate some pork and some ham, and just a little bit of the turkey.

The ham did not taste real smoky, and it did not have even a remote BBQ aroma. It was just baked ham, very tender and kind of mushy, but also very sweet. I like the savory version of ham better, and I kind of expected the flavor to go in this direction, because of the hickory smoke it should have been smoked in.

Alas, it was just so sweet that I had to pour a mixture of the hot and the mild vinegar sauce over it to make it tolerable.

Also, the pork and the turkey seemed to have been of lesser quality than I remembered it. Here too I could not detect a real smoky aroma – I had better at other Lawler’s.

So, that concludes the Lawler’s part of the Quest – until they open Number 6 at the new Madison Hospital sometime in the next few weeks.

Lawler’s Barbecue Express #2 (Jeff Road)

Quest Log No 43 – Lawler’s Barbecue Express #2 (Jeff Road)
Huntsville, Madison County

Another day, another Lawler’s. They are spreading like wildfire across the county, the next one (Number 6) already in the making near the new Madison Hospital.

This time, we went to the maybe smallest of the bunch, located in a tiny strip mall on Jeff Road, a mile or so north of the Kroger store on Highway 72. They have a drive-through window there, a small room with a counter, a soda machine and other useful stuff, and outside, in front of the store windows, there are two tiny tables with two chairs each. Well, since this December feels more mike March, and it was actually T-shirt weather outside, my wife and I sat down there and had quite a lovely meal.

True to my credo to have something different each time I visit a satellite restaurant of a franchise, I ordered the ham sandwich this time. It comes with pickles, mayonnaise and lettuce and what can I say, I like it. It is very good smoked ham, nothing special, but very tasty.

So, up until now, I did not have any bad experience at Lawler’s. They are certainly not in the Top Five of my list of favorite BBQ places. But as an alternative to some greasy burger joint, they are unbeatable.