Southern Soul BBQ, St. Simons Island, GA.

Southern Soul. "We're Smoking Supper." Never again do you have to feel like you have to do seafood when you go to St. Simons Island. Of course, some of the best seafood in GA can be found in Brunswick and St. Simons, but some of the best bbq can be found there as well. Southern Soul has only been in business about five years, but they have made their mark in both Georgia and on the national scene after being featured on "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives." Southern Soul has been on my radar for a couple of years, but after about 3 years in business the joint burned. The owners opened back up in 2010, and everyone who had visited the joint had nothing but great things to say.

With my daughter having gotten married the previous weekend (Nov. 19), Debbie and I needed a get away. We slipped off to SSI with a couple of joints on our mind (Gnats Landing and Southern Soul). We got to Southern Soul a little after 1 pm on this day before Thanksgiving and the place was buzzing. Talking about a great location, and Southern Soul has it. Located just off the "roundabout" at Demere and Frederica Road, this is a truly great location. The place is done up in perfect bbq joint style with old car tags and car parts on the outside of the building. There are a few tables out front and a few seats at a bar along with a few (very few) tables to sit at on the inside. The menu at Southern Soul is perfectly bbq. Things like collard greens, macaroni and cheese, and fries to go along with pulled pork, ribs, and beef brisket, Southern Soul does it right. I ordered by typical first joint visit of a sandwich and stew. Debbie ordered the sandwich and collards. We sampled their four sauces being NC Vinegar, Sweet GA Soul, Hot and Spicy, and Low Country Soul Mustard. All of the sauces were truly excellent with the Sweet GA Soul being our favorite.

To the food.... The sandwiches were a heaping supply of attractive pulled pork. The bbq was clean with light barking and good moisture. The portion size even on the regular sandwich was quite generous. It's taste was "as good as it gets". Adding the sauce to it made for pure delight. The Brunswick stew was very appealing in appearance, smell, and taste. The ingredients appeared to include whole kernel corn, butterbeans, tomatoes, pork and chicken. Thankfully missing were chunks of potatoes. The stew was very good. I can't say it was the best I've ever had, but it was clearly quite good. Deb's collards were OMG good. Clearly apparent in the collards were the addition of sugar which made for some excellent tasting greens.

Southern Soul gets good ratings on its portion sizes of sweet tea! Though they don't use crushed ice, the glasses were large and the tea was sweet.

We left completely stuffed and totally impressed at this little joint that cooks it bbq out back on portable smokers on wheels. Overall, Southern Soul clearly gets a 4 plus on all entrees. I can't wait until my next trip to St. Simons for more outstanding bbq. Despite all of the great dining establishments on the island, Southern Soul and Gnats landing continue to rank among our two favorite joints as they are short on pretension and high on quality!!!