Tennessee Hickory Smoke BBQ

Regretfully now closed. Replaced by a Chicago BBQ joint not yet visited. Very sad.

The old boy seemed to have moved on. I know he had health issues in the past and that the area never developed like he was waiting for, so it was (I’m guessing) in his best interest to sell and retire.
I will miss him and the only pork I would eat out here, glad to have just gotten back from NC though, my veins are full again with NC pork greatness.

I stopped in here last week while in the neighborhood, craving a pulled pork sandwich (which I’ve had here before an LOVE!). They were all out of pork so I tried the ribs. OMG! So delicious– why hadn’t I ordered these before! They were cooked perfectly; not falling off the bone but still tender. The flavor was great; smokey but not overly so. I ended up forgoing the BBQ sauce and just chowed down on the ribs «dry».
In short, if you stop into this modest building with its plain décor and order up whatever is available, you won’t be disappointed!

I’m torn… although the ribs were cooked perfectly (by def would be «not» falling off the bone but coming off cleanly with the meat still tender and having a nice bark), they’re also served from off a steam table taken out of tin foil. I’d prefer a quick warm up over coals to add a little crisp or at least fresh smoke flavor and aroma to the meat. The other problem I had is that I could see the smokestack of the smoker, sans smoke. No smell of smoke as I entered the restaurant. BBQ for me is a visceral experience. Part of the experience comes before you ever taste the food. The half slab I ordered had a mild basic rub, decent bark, was tender, tasty, overall a pretty good bone. There were two slightly thin sauces in squeeze bottles on the table. One sauce a very mild «hot» the other a less flavorful «mild». The combo nets you two sides. I chose the slaw (in a smallish plastic container) and the beans (slightly larger). Both were okay, neither bad nor great… just okay. I’ll probably make it back to try the brisket and pork. but I may have to bring my own HOT sauce. You know, ’cause some like it hot.

I was lucky enough to grow up near a place called Mo’s BBQ, where two college students had spent their senior year researching the legendary BBQ spots in the South and stealing their best recipes.
This place is better.
Ribs are smoked for 5 hours each while beef brisket goes in the pit for 13 hours. This is serious stuff. Pull out the dental floss, damn the sugar content in the BBQ sauce and go to town. Sure, the place is industrial-​esque and the menu is expensive. This is true Southern BBQ and its time to quit screwing around with semi imitators.
This guy uses hickory wood exclusively and if you can’t smell the hickory on your ribs, send ‘em back — they’ll definitely have a batch that will just reek of the wood. The sauce is good as are the sides, but let’s get real — when you want some BBQ, you want the real deal.
This is it.

I’d driven past this place a hundred times and finally had to stop in. Not bad. Not great, but worth checking out.
The «restaurant» is reminiscent of a bus station. Not very welcoming, in fact more like the opposite. You walk up to a counter to order. I felt like the menu was a bit overpriced. I was looking for some kind of bbq combo plate, like you get at other bbq places. They had 1 and it was $ 16 for beef brisket, pulled pork, sausage, St. Louis ribs and fries OR two sides. Yeah, fries do not count as a side. Weird, right. I went with the potato salad and baked beans. Overall, it was a good meal, nothing to write home about, but definitely hit the spot. Not a huge fan of the brisket, it was sliced, not pulled, so it didn’t have much flavor without drowning in sauce. The sausage & ribs were quite good. The mild sauce is really good and just spicy enough.
This is definitely a to-​go restaurant. I can’t imagine eating there. But, luckily it’s in the neighborhood, so I may stop in again for some grub on the way home.