Sunday, May 6, 2012

Mountain Man BBQ, Dillard, GA. I really hate to write a bad BBQ review. I really hate even more getting really bad BBQ. It may well have been a "bad day", but today's trip to Mountain Man BBQ was one of the biggest disappointments that Debbie and I have ever had in doing Q reviews. We decided late in the week, on like Friday to be exact, to take off and spend a couple of days and one night enjoying the Rabun County area thanks to the wonderful generosity of friends who own a home just outside of Dillard. We had enjoyed Oinkers the last time up in Clayton, GA, and on Saturday, Cinco de Mayo 2012, we had a wonderful time dining at a downtown Clayton joint called "The Universal Joint." While The Universal Joint isn't a bbq joint, it is a cute little old gas station turned into a bar and grill. Rumor has it, and you know how those go, that Alan Jackson frequents this place while staying at his Rabun County lake home. I do suggest you trying out "The Universal Joint" if you are in the area. Now, on to the Mountain Man. As always, we are looking for bbq joints we haven't visited. Mountain Man may well be Georgia's northernmost bbq joint. The place sits just a stone's throw away from the North Carolina State line. I got a little worried about what we may find with the Mountain Man experience when I looked at their menu online and found that it seemed that pizza was getting more attention than the bbq. The owners, I am told, are originally from Chicago, so as narrow minded as it might sound, I really wondered if Chicago deep dish was more the passion that slow smoked pork. Debbie and I got to the joint for an early lunch before we left town on Sunday. While secretly hoping for a really good bbq experience, I was anxious to place my typical order of a sandwich and stew. To Mountain Man's credit, the sandwich is fairly priced at less than $5 and comes with a little cup of slaw and home fried potato chips. The order came out quickly likely aided by the fact that we were only the second set of diners in the joint. While waiting on our meal to come, we sampled the two available sauces. Both the mild and the hot sauce were actually very good sauces. It is a shame that good sauce could not even make this barbecue very good. In one bite of the pork, Debbie is already giving a thumbs down. It wouldn't be long before I would join her in my opinion. Let me give the additional positives before throwing down on the bbq. The stew was actually a pretty good stew that was pretty much on the hash side. The color wasn't really that great, but the taste was some where around the 4 of 5 scale. The chips, while slightly off color like the stew, were pretty good. They were clean, warm, and not greasy. The slaw that came with the bbq was sufficient with good taste. Now, the bbq. As indicated above, Debbie had already tasted her sandwich and was throwing up red flags. My first thought, or maybe even hope, was that she was being overly critical. She wasn't. Upon first taste, I was wondering "what is wrong with this bbq?" I salted and sauced it, and no matter how much of the two that I added, you just couldn't make this work. As indicated, I really hate writing negative reviews, but when your main bbq partner leaves the joint swearing off bbq, that does not make me happy. As previously stated, I just hope this was a bad bbq day for Mountain Man. For the two of us, though, when back in Rabun County, we will either look for another bbq joint or hit downtown for a stop in The Universal Joint in hopes of running into Alan Jackson!

3 comments:

  1. Driven by many times and wondered if it was worth trying.

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  2. Ate at this place and it was horrible.. Their BBQ is absolutely the worst I have ever had the displeasure of placing in my mouth. I almost lost it at my table.. The Brunswick Stew was gross and the pork chops were dry and tasteless. My biscuit was soggy, soaking in something runny on the plate.. Avoid this place... I can't believe someone would actually call this mess BBQ. AVOID AT ALL COST!!!

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  3. My hubby and I ate there yesterday. Being from Ga, this was not Ga BBQ. We smoke pork butts on a smoker 8/12 he's a day. No smoke flavor at all..oven cooked we think. I got a side of baked beans and hubby the potato salad,both were really good. The table next to us had pizza, smelled and looked good.

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