Post up your reviews - Favorite BBQ restaurant?

[golfer]

I’m off work for the next 9 days. Can’t go on a real vacation because the wife has to work and the kid is in school.

So I’m just going go drive and eat as much BBQ as possible. And I need suggestions in North Georgia.

What is your favorite BBQ restaurant, and where is it? What’s the best thing they make?

Taking a statin and heading out this afternoon. Pics to follow.

Evans in Villa Rica

 

[Bellman2]

Wallace's bar b q in Austell

 

[th plumber]

meat is murder.

Sweet, Sweet, Murder!

 

[308]

I like pork long cooked over wood fire/coals…. if there’s a gas cooker out back, I’m not interested…
if i can smell smoke when I pull up, it’s worth parking…
Williamson Brothers is worth my time… and if interested they have a very good selection of sauces…

 

[Realtor]

Heirloom market bbq

 

[WallsGa]

Had to drive up North a little bit to snag a few fishing rods today. Then had a meet in Pendergrass after that. Afterwards we hit Smokehouse BBQ in Oakwood on the way back home.
View attachment 3068847
I’m not sure if they’re opened for inside dining or not. But there were no signs of life inside or on the porch, and they have a pickup window, so we hit the drive-thru. There were 2 other cars waiting ahead of us. It took about 20 minutes to get everything once we arrived. Not bad. I’d rather they take their time than have it all sitting under a hot line. The seriously cool old school OG food truck is on the side of the parking lot.View attachment 3068860
Pulled pork sandwich, beef sandwich, Mac & cheese, and Brunswick stew. They have a few sauces but I wasn’t asked or given an option, original is what came in the bag.
Sauce: Described as NC vinegar base on their website. A North Carolinian would challenge them to a duel over that claim. It’s cola based. It taste like cola syrup with a ton of unnecessary heat added to it. Way too spicy for the ‘regular’ sauce.
View attachment 3068887
Pork Sandwich: comes with pickles! Crinkle cut dill pickles, on the side so they don’t sog up the bread. Sauce is on the side, too. The bun is white bread hamburger buns. Not the cheap generic ones they would serve in middle school, at least one step up to Sunbeam or an equivalent. Not the greatest bun but adequate. The meat is pulled into small strands, though not shredded to death. There is a good amount of crispy outside meat and the portion is pretty good. I couldn’t really taste any sort of rub or sauce on the pork. I think it’s just a smoked butt. It did need sauce with the lack of rub, but I didn’t like the sauce.
View attachment 3068889 View attachment 3068890
Beef Sandwich: again, I couldn’t pick up any rub, marinade, sauce, or flavor. At all. It tasted just like pot roast on a bun. Big portion, but was kind of hoping for beef brisket sandwich.
View attachment 3068891
Sides: Mac & cheese just like you get at a church pot luck. Macaroni, cheddar cheese broiled to a brown top. The pasta was a little overcooked. Still pretty good. Brunswick stew - pork, crushed tomato/diced tomato, corn. Nice consistency, not too much juice or chunk. Just needed a bit more salt and pepper. A bit under flavored.
View attachment 3068895 View attachment 3068896
All in all I thought it was ok, but not great. I’d try the ribs if in the area or the pork sammy with a different sauce, but I won’t drive there again.

Golden Chicken Post!

I was jonesing for BBQ today at about 10:00, so I decided to re-visit Smokehouse BBQ in Oakwood after getting an oil change in the truck. Gratuitous Tacoma photo incoming:



My original review is above. I was a little underwhelmed back then, and I want to give a place 2 shots before I decide if they’re off the list forever.

I find it odd that they have a ‘Beef Sandwich’ but it’s not Brisket. They also didn’t have ribs on the menu. And they‘ve eliminated a few other items from their menu due to staff shortages. I was going to get ribs this time, so that was a letdown. Decided to try the pulled pork again, with Brunswick stew and green beans. To-go.

I went in and ordered from the counter this time ‘round. I got my order quickly, the lady behind the counter was friendly, and i was given a choice of sauces this time (they have 3, i asked for and received all 3 at no charge).




The Good: the bread was just a plain bun, but they try to jazz it up a bit. (Actually you get a choice of bun or Texas Toast) A little butter and a quick hit on the griddle goes a long way. Much better than just soggy white wonder bread. It’s placed on the side, above the paper liner, so it doesn’t get mushy on the ride. Great call. The stew is good. Corn/chicken/diced tomato in a good ratio, not too soupy or too chunky. No unnecessary filler. Could use a bit more salt and pepper (I think almost every restaurant underutilizes salt and pepper so take that with a grain of,…….um, salt). The meat is pulled, portion is good, and it is very well smoked and cooked. Not over cooked, not chopped to death. The texture is great. And a good amount of outside meat bark in the serving. I love crunchy bark. And pickles, on the side, in a separate container so the brine doesn’t sog up your bun. The price isn’t bad, either. $11.35 for a good serving of a BBQ sammy with 2 sides.

The Bad: once again I got absolutely no discernible flavor of rub on the meat. Just smoke. The beans are a #10 can of beans cooked, very little salt again, and no good pork-fatty pot likker in the to-go container. The pickles are out of a jar, not house made.

The Awful: sauces. There are 3, all terrible. Original: ‘Carolina Style’ as described on the menu. It’s not. All I tasted was Coke and Worstershire sauce cooked into an unholy abomination. Sweet: ‘Kansas City Style.’ The flavor of ketchup shows above all else. ’Sweet Heat.’ The heat makes it more tolerable but still not very good.


All in all I didn’t think the meal was either terribly offensive (except the sauce) or exceptionally awesome. It was a perfectly average BBQ joint. Which we have too many of.

 

[pavogrande]

Bubba's Bar b que --- Red Oak tex --
"don't need no teef to eat our beef"

 

[areno]

Golden Chicken Post!

I was jonesing for BBQ today at about 10:00, so I decided to re-visit Smokehouse BBQ in Oakwood after getting an oil change in the truck. Gratuitous Tacoma photo incoming:

View attachment 4380492

My original review is above. I was a little underwhelmed back then, and I want to give a place 2 shots before I decide if they’re off the list forever.

I find it odd that they have a ‘Beef Sandwich’ but it’s not Brisket. They also didn’t have ribs on the menu. And they‘ve eliminated a few other items from their menu due to staff shortages. I was going to get ribs this time, so that was a letdown. Decided to try the pulled pork again, with Brunswick stew and green beans. To-go.

I went in and ordered from the counter this time ‘round. I got my order quickly, the lady behind the counter was friendly, and i was given a choice of sauces this time (they have 3, i asked for and received all 3 at no charge).


View attachment 4380496

The Good: the bread was just a plain bun, but they try to jazz it up a bit. (Actually you get a choice of bun or Texas Toast) A little butter and a quick hit on the griddle goes a long way. Much better than just soggy white wonder bread. It’s placed on the side, above the paper liner, so it doesn’t get mushy on the ride. Great call. The stew is good. Corn/chicken/diced tomato in a good ratio, not too soupy or too chunky. No unnecessary filler. Could use a bit more salt and pepper (I think almost every restaurant underutilizes salt and pepper so take that with a grain of,…….um, salt). The meat is pulled, portion is good, and it is very well smoked and cooked. Note over cooked, not chopped to death. The texture is great. And a good amount of outside meat bark in the serving. I love crunchy bark. And pickles, on the side, in a separate container so the brine doesn’t sog up your bun. The price isn’t bad, either. $11.35 for a good serving of a BBQ sammy with 2 sides.

The Bad: once again I got absolutely no discernible flavor of rub on the meat. Just smoke. The beans are a #10 can of beans cooked, very little salt again, and no good pork-fatty pot likker in the to-go container. The pickles are out of a jar, not house made.

The Awful: sauces. There are 3, all terrible. Original: ‘Carolina Style’ as described on the menu. It’s not. All I tasted was Coke and Worstershire sauce cooked into an unholy abomination. Sweet: ‘Kansas City Style.’ The flavor of ketchup shows above all else. ’Sweet Heat.’ The heat makes it more tolerable but still not very good.
View attachment 4380545View attachment 4380546View attachment 4380548View attachment 4380550View attachment 4380566View attachment 4380567View attachment 4380568

All in all I didn’t think the meal was either terribly offensive (except the sauce) or exceptionally awesome. It was a perfectly average BBQ joint. Which we have too many of.

Damn, that’s a good review.

 

[Treehawk]

Damn, that’s a good review.

Sure is and thanks for saving me a trip.

 

[WallsGa]

Beach BBQ!

Drove past a few joints on the way to Rosemary Beach last week on vacation. Didn’t stop because I was making good time, and, you know….

There was a cool little BBQ hut outside our condo complex. We walked past it twice a day for 7 days. I caved on day 5 and had to try it. Name is 98 BBQ on 30A. There is also a location in Santa Rosa Beach.

This violates several BBQ guidelines I have for BBQ joints, the biggest of which are: it’s in a tourist trap area; i go to the beach for seafood, not BBQ; it’s owned by Florida Man; no smoker on site which means it‘s carted in.


It was located in a cool little outdoor area. 6 or 7 different walk-up huts made up of a bar, ice cream shack. pizza restaurant, and a couple of bougie shops, all around an open grass area that had 2 pavilions and picnic tables. They would do live concerts here every night. Very open, lots of shops in the buildings behind the stage, things to entertain The Kid while I ate BBQ (he got a Henna UGA tattoo. Go DAWGS!).


Ordered: Sliced Brisket sammich with a side of Cole Slaw; tried all 3 sauces just because.


The Good: if you’ve read any of these you know I’m a sucker for quality bread and house-made pickles. Well, they had both! And they were both good. The bun was a big ol’ substantial piece of yeasty goodness that would hold up to a heapin’ helpin’ of sauce. The pickles were just great. The brisket had a great rub, was well cooked, still moist when served, and even had a dash of rub sprinkled on top for good measure. The bark was crunchy, the meat was tender. It was good. Vinegar sauce was passable vinegar sauce. It had a good balance of tang/sweet.

The Bad: sauces. Spicy was barely spicy. Mustard sauce tasted like it’s French Dressing / mustard mix. (Not always a bad thing - my dad’s BBQ is based on French Dressing, but it’s much better.). The Cole Slaw - it was chopped really small. Personally I like a coarser style. It was a weird flavor mix of vinegar marinade, very little pepper in it, and I swear it had crushed pineapple in it. It was barely there, but there was definitely some fruit. It was too small to visually tell what it was, and the consistency was similar to pineapple. Can’t think of anything else it could be. It was weird. Anyone else put pineapple in their Cole slaw?

The folks at the counter who took my order were very nice, the meal was a good value, it was served very quickly. I’d go back again for sure and get a different side. And a frozen drink from the next shack over.