Southern America BBQ Joints

[crizmo]

Hi Guys,

New member here. Purchasing a ProQ Excel20 soon with a few goodies to teach myself how to smoke meat. I just returned from a 2 week road trip in the South of America. I thought I'd put a few words about the BBQ restaurants on here that I visited. It might give a little help to anyone around these areas looking for some BBQ.



The Brick Pit - Mobile, Al

http://brickpit.com/

I saw this place on Man Versus Food and I couldn't stop thinking about it for months before my holiday. The place is a little shack type place which seems to be the case of most authentic BBQ joints in america. They're not concerned with having modern decor or fancy furniture. It's all about the meat. I ordered some Pulled Pork, Slaw, Beans, Ribs and chicken. I was pretty dissapointed. Maybe it's because I hyped it up too much or maybe it was just not that good,. The pork is smoked for 24+ hours so has a really smokey flavour, which I like, but some people may not. It was just not very moist. Same goes for the ribs. Their coating was nothing to write home about either. The beans and the slaw were ok. The chicken was easily the best bit as it was pretty moist and had a nice peppery kick to it.





The Pig on Beale - Memphis, TN

http://pigonbeale.com

I didn't actually have many expectations for this place. The service was pretty poor to start with but I ignored that as I was willing to put up with that for nice food. The flavour of the ribs was really nice but they weren't the most tender. The pulled pork was very nice, however and the chicken thighs has a really nice, vinegar based sauce with a bit of heat in.



The Smokehouse - Monteagle, TN

http://www.thesmokehouse.com/

This place made me realise how much we're lacking in good BBQ over here in blighty. It was just off the freeway where we'd usually have a KFC, Little Chef or McD's. I had the Pulled pork sandwich and it was delicious. It was a bark on it that provided a really n ice crunch in the bites where you got an edge piece. Get some fudge on your way out.


Franklin BBQ - Austin, TX

http://franklinbarbecue.com/

If you're ever anywhere near Austin you HAVE to visit this place. I have never tasted BBQ like it. Everything there was easily the best of that type of meat I've ever had. The brisket was to die for. The smokeyness was just right and even though he only uses salt and pepper I thought it was seasoned to perfection. I could have took the original brisket and cut it with my finger it was so tender. The ribs were the same, as was the pulled pork. I have also now seen that Turkey can be really moist. I would highly recommend this place


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Cheers

Chris

[The Social Smokers]

Thanks for this post! Aren't you a lucky guy going round sampling all these goodies!

[Pecker]

It's a shame we can't have this sort of thing in the UK.

I suppose that's because these places appear to be individual joints, rather than big chains, like McDonald's or KFC.

Still, if they turned it into a chain they'd only ruin it.

Steve W

[The Social Smokers]

It's a shame we can't have this sort of thing in the UK.

I suppose that's because these places appear to be individual joints, rather than big chains, like McDonald's or KFC.

Still, if they turned it into a chain they'd only ruin it.

Steve W

There are places like these emerging in the UK...

[RobinC]

I don't particularly want to see BBQ chains in the UK. Much prefer the individuality of places.

Ambition of mine is to do a BBQ roadtrip across the States at somepoint.

[Pecker]

It's a shame we can't have this sort of thing in the UK.

I suppose that's because these places appear to be individual joints, rather than big chains, like McDonald's or KFC.

Still, if they turned it into a chain they'd only ruin it.

Steve W

There are places like these emerging in the UK...

Do you know of any in Yorkshire?

If these places are starting to open, maybe this site could have a page on that with links.

Steve W

[RobinC]

Well there's the restaurant reviews section.

[crizmo]

I've been to 2 in the North West. Southern Eleven in Manchester City centre which I was not that impressed with. I've also been into Hickories in Chester city centre and that was really good.

Cheers

Chris

[RobinC]

I've been to Hickories in Chester and can't say I was impressed. Had a platter there with pulled pork, ribs & brisket and everything was drenched in BBQ sauce making it difficult to taste the meat. The service was good though.

[Pecker]

Cheers for the tips.

Just found there's at least one in Leeds:

http://ribshakk.com/

Anyone been?

Steve W