Dave Poe's BBQ

BBQ 116 – Dave Poe’s BBQ

Marietta, Georgia, USA

At lunch time, the line of customers stretches the whole length of the entrance way, which is a good 30 feet long. It is always a good sign, if the locals seem to like a place.

Fortunately, I was there right at when they opened the place. before that tidal wave hit.

The restaurant is located in one of those typical strip malls at a busy street that you can find in every American city. Right next to it is a Waffle House, which may serve as a beacon to Dave Poe’s BBQ, because you have to look kind of hard to find it driving by.

It is not even a small place, with maybe twenty tables and booths for four customers each, but there are no flashy signs, no advertisements, and the like to alert you that you are about to pass BBQ heaven. There is only the name of the place in big letters at the front, and it also says “Wood Pit Barbecue” near the top of the building.

And the sign does not lie. To jump ahead to the main reason to go there, the pulled pork I had definitely came out of the wood pit. It had a marvelous smoky flavor, it was tender and even came with some very crunchy bark. Hands down, one of the best pork I’ve ever had. Needless to say, that it was also very tender and juicy. At first, I thought it to be a shame to pour sauce over it – until I took a taste of it. Heaven. Well rounded, thick and red, clearly vinegar based but also tangy and a little sweet. Perfection in a refillable plastic bottle. The potato salad was superb, too. Only the cole slaw was a bit too watery for my taste – some more salt and pepper and maybe even some more vinegar would make it more to my liking. The pulled pork plate came with two slices of pickle and a Texas toast, which I drenched in the heavenly sauce after everything else was gone and basically used as dessert to that really splendid meal. For all that, plus a cup of unsweet tea, I paid about fourteen bucks, which falls in line with the price level in the greater Atlanta area, I guess. It was worth every penny, though.

As for the atmosphere there – very clean, very bright and very straight forward. I wouldn’t call the interior “modern”, and it certainly is not the coziest place you can imagine, but I liked the college sports decorations, including the long line of trophies at one wall, the old license plates on another wall, and the wooden floor and walls overall. A special shout out goes to the Bama sign (RollTide!) next to the UGA sign at the counter! It surprised me a little bit to find those two arch rivals next to each other, because clearly this neck of the woods is UGA country. I failed to ask Mr. Poe, who personally took my order, for the significance of the two signs. Well, I was hungry at the time and had to catch a flight later that day. But whenever I return, this will most certainly on my bucket list of things to do.

Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q

BBQ 115 – Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q

Marietta, Georgia, USA

Christmas Lights. It is March, and there are Christmas lights all over the place. Not those garish red and green ones, but the slightly less annoying white LED chains. Outside at the building, and inside surrounding the booths and the tables. I decided to think of it as unique and quirky – but seriously folks, I know you are from Bama, where this would qualify as “normal”, but now you live in a somewhat more sophisticated place near the big, big city of Atlanta, so is this really necessary?

The rest of this restaurant looks like a pretty standard family eatery. They got booths and tables, it is very clean and sparsely decorated, the interior is made of wood and it really looks and feels like a very charming and cozy place.

There is also an open pit in the middle of the restaurant, where you can watch how the meat is smoked. This also has the great effect, that you smell it all over the place. Very nice atmosphere there, and also a very friendly staff.

That said, lets get to the food. As usual, I had the pork plate, which came with a Texas toast and two sides. In must say, for all the show with the open pit and all, the meat was somewhat disappointing. Yes, it was tender and juicy, but it lacked any wood smoke flavor entirely. It was bland. But it served well as a basis for the superb sauce. A thick red mélange with a little kick to it, the sauce is undoubtedly the star of this place. The sides were also outstanding – both the cole slaw and the potato salad were savory and with the right amount of tartness.

With an unsweet tea I paid almost sixteen Bucks, which is a bit steep in my book for the quality and quantity that was served. Big city prices, I guess.

Porky's Bar-B-Que

Non-Quest BBQ No 28 – Porky’s Bar-B-Que

Grant, 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 ... 

The name Porky’s will forever have a specific meaning for us folks old enough to remember the teen-movie from 1982. In the movie, Porky’s was a place of ill-repute, a hillbilly-redneck gentlemen’s club where a group of Florida High Schoolers were treated poorly and then took revenge on the slimy owner and his goons. Great fun movie, the critics hated it, the kids loved it, and it is in fact the highest-grossing Canadian film of all time.

To name a BBQ place Porky’s is not really a revolutionary idea – it actually seems quite obvious to me -, but during almost two years of being on this quest now, I only found one restaurant that had the moxy to call itself so. Maybe it is the association with the place from the movie that let people shy away from this name.

Be it as it may, in Grant, Alabama, they have a Porky’s Bar-B-Que.

It is situated right at the main street in the middle of town, and other than the movie place that sports some outlandish big neon-piggys on the roof, the place in grant only has a simple sign with the name on it.

Well, it kind of fits the somewhat sober interior. About half a dozen booths on the wall, two rows of tables and on the other side of a six feet high wooden barrier the same layout. It is just a typical, nondescript eatery like so many along America’s highways.

Although, one thing sets it apart from many other restaurants – there is a smoking section in the seating area beyond the barrier in the middle of the room. This is quite unusual to find these days in restaurants, and rightfully so. I like my meat smoked, not the air that I breathe.

And quite frankly, their meat could have used some of that smoke that floated around the room when I was there. It was lean and tender and had a very distinctive pork taste, but no smoke flavor whatsoever, and it was very dry.

The sauce on the table was of the run-of-the-mill thick red sweet’n’spicy variety. I only noticed other sauces at a table next to the soda fountain, when I refilled my drink after the meal.

The slaw was made with vinegar and had a very nice peppery flavor and a good crunch to it. The potato salad was made with mayonnaise and tiptoed on the sour side of life.

In addition to that, the pork plate came with a slice of Texas Toast.

For just under nine bucks with a fountain drink, the amount of food was very fair, and the overall quality was acceptable. But the smoke was definitely in the wrong place at Porky’s in Grant, Alabama.

Marie's BBQ House

Non-Quest BBQ No 26 – Marie’s BBQ House

Heflin, 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 ... 

On my trip to Atlanta today, to attend two Braves games and spend some money at IKEA, I also looked out for a new BBQ place to visit.

Usually, when I go on a trip like this, I go online and check which BBQ places are located on the way to my destination, or at the destination itself.

This time, the rave reviews on the internet pointed me to a place in the middle of nowhere, adjacent to I-20 halfway between Anniston and the Georgia state line.

Marie’s BBQ House in Heflin, Alabama, was founded in 2005 and is one of those typical Mom-and-Dad joints you can find everywhere here in the South. The whole family, including children, grand-children, nieces and nephews works there.

They reside in a fairly new and custom built looking building that is littered inside with flags, pictures, and other decoration sporting the emblem of the other Alabama College Football team which won a National Championship in recent years.

There are some booths at the outer walls, and some tables in the middle of the room. The interior is bright and clean, and the furniture is modern and functional.

You order at a counter from a menu that has all the usual BBQ items on it – including Brunswick Stew all year long.

You can have your pork either sliced or chopped, but not pulled – which is kind of strange. My first thought was, is it not tender enough to just pull it off, so you have to use a metal object? Well, we’ll see.

As usual, I ordered a pork plate with potato salad and slaw. The pork came chopped – and with sauce already on it. Fortunately it was not drenched in it, but the sauce only covered about half of the pork. So I was able to actually taste the pork – it was tender. But a bit on the dry side, and not without some bigger bits of fat.

The taste was very smoky, yet not too intense. With a simple vinegar-pepper sauce, this pork would have made a wonderful meal. With the brownish-red sauce they poured over it, though, it was merely okay. The sauce tasted not very special, just your middle-of-the-road Memphis/St.Louis kind of stuff. What a pity.

The potato salad was of the creamy-mayonnaisy variety and had big chunks of egg in it. I like that, and the taste was fresh and just slightly sour, which made this salad one of the better ones I’ve had.

The slaw was also done with mayonnaise, and also tasted very fresh and creamy. There was a very nice crunch to the shredded veggies, and together with the smoky pork and the slightly sour potato salad, it produced a very harmonious taste.

You also get a thick slice of Texas toast, which is soaked in liquid butter.

For just a bit over nine Dollars, including sweet tea, the pork plate at Marie’s BBQ House in Heflin is a very good deal. The portion is fair and the taste, if you forgive them the so-so BBQ sauce, justifies a repeat visit. Too bad, that my next trip to Atlanta in two weeks will be by plane …

Uncle Kenny's BBQ

Non-Quest BBQ No 24 – Uncle Kenny’s BBQ
Clermont, 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 ... 

Why everybody who won a trophy at some BBQ cook-off does think opening a Restaurant is somehow a must then?

Usually, those folks win their trophy for a certain aspect of BBQ – for the meanest sauce, for the juiciest ribs, for the most succulent pork, for best garnishment, for most authentic cooking utensils, for the most crazy team name and so on.

Uncle Kenny, who “participates in BBQ competitions sanctioned under the Florida Barbeque Association (FBA) and Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS)” seems to win his prizes mostly with the sauce – according to the restaurant’s web site, “Uncle Kenny's Original Sauce is Ranked 14th In The World!!!!!!!!! But 1st in the Country!!!!!!!!!” (Note: Exact number of exclamation marks directly transferred from the web site)

14^th in the world – I wonder who did this ranking.

Alright then, this I had to check out. But first I had to find this place. The street address I entered in my GPS led me on a wild goose chase, and I almost settled with some other BBQ place along the way, after I had searched unsuccessfully for quite some time. But then I remembered that the web site said explicitly “under the Citrus Tower”. So I looked for a water tower in form of a giant lemon. There was none. The only tower in the vicinity was a garish looking concrete structure with more antennas on top than a green man from Mars.

And sure enough, there it was, Uncle Kenny’s BBQ in Clermont, Florida, under the Citrus Tower.

Well, there are certainly more appealing surroundings for a BBQ place. The little strip mall under the Citrus Tower has certainly seen better days, and the outside of the restaurant itself is also not very likely to win any style awards.

On the inside, there is a big counter where you get your take-out stuff, and a somewhat small area with some booths and a few tables. On the walls hang Uncle Kenny’s framed accolades from various competitions. All not very cozy and special, but a nice atmosphere, nevertheless. Which is boosted considerably by the extremely friendly and attentive staff. I thought the counter would be the place to order, but instead I was seated and treated like royalty. They even refilled my drink for me, although I sat directly in front of the iced tea dispenser.

Because I was hungry and also had heard about the ribs being the best choice here, I ordered a two meat plate with pulled pork and four ribs. As sides I chose baked beans and potato salad. Two slices of Texas toast came with it additionally.

Yes, the ribs are the better choice. Very succulent and tender, dry rubbed, and with a distinctive oak aroma, the taste was wonderful. They did not fall off the bone, but were not tough at all, just a little compact. The first three ribs had a fair amount of fat with them, which could be easily avoided when pulling the meat from the bone. But the fourth rib was more fat than meat and so I the high praise from before in regards of the taste is becoming a little less enthusiastic towards the end.

The pulled pork was also tender, although somewhat dry, and it unfortunately came mixed with Uncle Kenny’s Original BBQ Sauce. So I have no idea how the pork actually tasted, but I know exactly what the flavor of the sauce is: dominantly sweet.

There are three sauces to chose from – the Original, the Spicy, and the Mustard.

As said before, the Original is overwhelmingly sweet, with nothing else worth mentioning. Sweet. That’s it. The 14^th ranked BBQ sauce on this planet is just a sweet, sticky, otherwise bland concoction. Again, I wonder who did that ranking.

The Spicy sauce on the other hand is just that – very, very spicy. And that’s it. Spicy. Like the label says.

The Mustard sauce on the other hand leaves the one dimensional flavor of the two other sauces behind - it is sweet and has a mustardy undertone. I did not dare to pour it on the pork, though, because that was already contaminated with the sweet Original sauce. My curiosity stops where I have to add sweetness to an already sweet dish.

And quite frankly, the ribs were so good that I did not even think about spoiling them with either of those sauces. But with the Texas toast, the Mustard sauce was quite excellent.

Unfortunately, that cannot be said of the sides. The potato salad tasted like something you buy in a large container at the next super market, and the beans were quite bland. I probably should have drenched them with the Original sauce to get some taste on it.

So, this restaurant has its highs and its lows. Would I pay over sixteen Dollars for that again? Guess not. From where I stand, they do not need to fix the GPS error anytime soon. There is better BBQ to be found more easily.