Fresh Air BBQ, Bogart, GA. http://www.freshairbbq.com/ After having been disappointed this past weekend with a bad bbq experience, the opportunity to rectify that came just 3 days later while in Athens, GA. I'd known for some time that there were actually a couple of Fresh Air locations in the Athens area, but it had been several years since I had been to the location on Hull Road. Today's trip to Athens worked out perfectly for a trip to Fresh Air. I'd gotten down to the UGA offices at Rivers Crossing nearly 90 minutes before when I needed to be there completely by accident! :-) Running into 3 colleagues affiliated with the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders right before lunch could not have been any more fortuitous. Hal, Dusty, and Jack agreed to indulge my bbq fetish, and honestly, three of us thought that we were going to another place that I'd never been called "The Butt Hut". Rather than driving us to the closer location, Jack actually drove us over to the Bogart location of Fresh Air. The Bogart location is not really that convenient to the UGA campus, but the Hull Road location may actually be a little closer. Since I've done reviews on the Jackson and Macon Fresh Air locations, I am not really going to go into a great deal of detail regarding the meal other than to say that the stew and bbq were up to Fresh Air's long history (since 1929) tradition. The bottom line is simply the fact that there are a number of good eating establishments in Athens. From a BBQ standpoint, there may be a couple. Fresh Air exceeds expectations on either side of town!!!

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!

Community BBQ, Decatur, GA.

Community BBQ, Decatur, GA.

Often times you just choose to do bbq where you are at. What determines where you choose to eat is often based on word of mouth among us bbq junkies. Today's visit to Community BBQ in Decatur, GA was created by both of those circumstances. I seldom go into Decatur as frankly, I just don't have much reason to go there. Some time back, though, at least one of my bbq friends had suggested Community, so it has been on the radar for some time. Finding myself in Decatur following a good little educational meeting, me and my friend and Board Chairman Tom honed in Community BBQ. Finding the little joint, really wasn't that tough. We plugged it into the GPS, turned on Clairmont Rd., and within just a few minutes were there.

There were good signs in the parking lot quickly suggesting to me that early reports of that this was a good joint were true. First, the parking lot was packed. Secondly, there were folks eating at picnic tables in front of the building. Thirdly, the people that I could see eating out front and walking to and from the joint were of every size, shape, ethnicity, and dress code. Fourth, there was a completely restored 1957 Chevy parked in the first parking spot in front of the building. All of that really made up for the fact that the restaurant is located in a strip mall. Once inside, you don't recognize that fact either. In fact (see this pics of course), the inside has as good of a "joint" feeling as most any q spot I've been to.

This is another one of those low maintenance kinda joints where you line up to place your order at the counter. It is a really efficient set up. While in line, you can peruse the t-shirts they have for sale. The shirts have such things written on them as Smokin' (in big letters followed by little letters) Whole Hog and NICE RACK (in big letters followed again in little letters by) Of Ribs. Me and Forrest really didn't know what they meant by all of that. I was sufficiently entertained to the point that I did't even seem to remember waiting in line. The big menu board at the beside the order station had pretty much told me what I needed to know in that yep, they had pulled pork sandwiches, Brunswick stew, and collards....easy pick. I definitely give Community points for having a good q joint menu. There was no pizza or other things to appease the types who somehow think they are too sophisticated to eat bbq in a joint.

Tom and I decided that we'd eat at the "big" table. This was sort of like a community type bar table that offered us a full view of the restaurant and the people in there. As indicated earlier, which is always a good sign, there were those of us in there in suits seated next to two members of a SWAT team and most everything else as far as occupational backgrounds. Our food came out fairly quickly and the waiter (as such) brought us our food (of course after calling out TOM...BUSTER!).

Now I can joke around from time to time, but when it comes to evaluating the final product, I like to be as serious as I can be, but that may not be saying a whole lot. This bbq sandwich friends was one to fight over. I'm talking about a nice mound of pulled pork resting atop a big ole piece of Texas toast with the other piece of toast flipped to the side. Oh my, now this was a pretty picture (yea, the one of up top). The Brunswick stew was just about the perfect size. I've had smaller and I've had bigger, but to compliment this BBQ, it was just right. The bbq was really, really good. It was a consistent cook, it was clean, it had just a bit of bark, and it was free of excess fat. I couldn't wait, but I had to do the stew first.

The Brunswick stew was among the best I've had anywhere. The consistency was perfect.. The detectable vegetables included whole kernel corn, an occasional English pea, and tomatoes. There was none of this quarter sized filler of potatoes, just some really fine stew. The coloring was right on target. The taste was perfect with just a hint of "heat". Without really thinking about it much, I'm giving them a 4+ (out of 5) on the stew.

Now, back to the pulled pork. Before digging into the pork, I had to sample the sauces. Community has only two sauces: sweet and NC vinegar. Honestly, both sauces were exceptional for their variety. Not only was the bbq clean and of really ample quantity, it was awesome!!! The moist, flavorful bbq was tender and tasty. It was truly one of the best examples of naked pulled pork that I've stumbled across in months.

There's little doubt that if I am in the Decatur area again sometime, I'll try Community BBQ again. You can check out their menu at http://www.communityqbbq.com.

The Brisket House, Houston, TX.

The Brisket House. Houston, TX. www.thebriskethouse.com

One of the things on our to do list while in Houston was to once again experience some good Texas BBQ. Much is boasted about who has the best Bbq, and our previous trips to Texas have always had good BBQ but clearly there has not yet been anything that would lead me to claim that Texas BBQ is better than that available in the southeast. Yes, perhaps the brisket may be more readily available in Texas, but it is often hard to find pulled pork!

Debbie and I ordered ourselves the 3 meat plate at Houston's The Brisket House. After navigating two airports and a 20 mile taxi ride we were ready for some good BBQ. A little about this joint The Brisket House breaks a couple of desired rules as first of all it is in a strip mall despite that, it is cute, clean, and a good little joint to sit down in for q.

Our 3 meat selection included brisket, sausage, and pork ribs. The sides we ordered were cold slaw and mashed sweet potatoes. While the sides and the selection of them left something to be desired, the meats were awesome. The sausage was hot, spicy, and exceptional. The brisket may honestly be the best I've ever had. Debbie kept saying "it just falls apart". A combination of succulent meat with some burnt ends and I was in brisket heaven. The ribs were actually very good as well. The meat, what there was on them, pulled nice and cleanly from the bone. The sauce was actually a good vinegar and tomatoe based, but you had but one choice.

Overall, this was a good experience, but on the next trip, there are plenty of other BBQ joints to try out in Texas.

Smokin Gold BBQ, Dahlonega...New Location!

Smokin Gold BBQ, Dahlonega, GA... New Location!!! Debbie and I had found the original Smokin Gold location a couple of years ago on one of our motorcycle rides through the mountains, but when we ran across the new SG location in downtown Dahlonega, we knew that bbq would be on our agenda for the day trip to Dahlonega. On the weekend before Christmas 2011, we had ventured north for a final opportunity to Christmas shop in beautiful downtown Dahlonega. Of course, shopping can really build up an appetite, so as long as I knew bbq was on my the schedule, I could keep a pretty good frame of mind while we shopped.

As pictured, up and running out in front of the new location were Dan Dieterle's Big Green Eggs that were really being used to smoke the bbq. The location is absolutely perfect for Dahlonega, and with a slight southern wind, the streets of Dahlonega will smell a bit like bbq being smoked. On my previous trip to SG, Dan had told me all about his great burnt end brisket, so that had been in the back of my mind. When we walked in the door, on their specials board was the traditional pulled pork sandwich special along with a burnt end brisket sandwich special. While the waitresses will bring you your food, you have to place your order at the counter. Debbie decided to go for the pork sandwich and Brunswick stew while I opted for the burnt end sandwich. We had barely gotten our drinks fixed when the waitress brought our meals. So while SG doesn't get bonus points for crushed ice, they do for quick service time.



Both sandwiches were very generously adorned with meat. Debbie's pork sandwich, though already lightly sauced was a great looking sandwich. We really like their touch in having lightly toasted the buns. My burnt end sandwich was DIVINE!!! The large, tender chunks of brisket were moist, flavorful, and easily pulled apart with just a gentle pull. The smoke ring was just about perfect. It was really a larger sandwich than it had to be, and we were both happy with our selections. Debbie tried the brisket (for perhaps the first time in her life), and she actually liked it better than the pulled pork. I tried her pork, and honestly, it would be a hard decision to rank one over the other. SG's Brunswick stew is ok, and I'd give it a middle of the road ranking. It was a bit disappointing that the temperature of the served product was less than preferred. I'm not sure if they were rushing or if the temperature had just not reached a sufficient warm up temperature. Overall, the taste and appearance was just between average and slightly above.

I am pulling for SG to be one of North Georgia's hottest bbq joints in due time. The location, friendly folks, and great food put this as a must do while in Dahlonega.

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!!!

Buddy's bar-b-q. Athens, TN.

Buddy's Bar-b-q, Athens, TN. To begin with, let me go ahead and say this is a chain that is based in Knoxville. Buddy's has 12 locations in Tennessee, and straight up front that it really doesn't qualify as a joint, or at least the Athens location doesn't. This Buddy's is more of a fast food bbq diner, but when the bbq itch strikes, you'll do most anything to scratch it. My son, Jed and I, were headed from Cumming, GA to Knoxville for the GA/TN football game on this absolutely beautiful October 8, 2011 fall day. We had already sort of scheduled our agenda to include a stop along the way to check out a bbq joint. After we got on the road, we both agreed that we would wait until we got to Tennessee before stopping to both break up our trip as well as to check out a new bbq adventure. I was pretty sure that I wanted to avoid the Chattanooga area, so we exited I-75 in Cleveland, TN to find some joint call the BBQ Shack. After getting let down by my GPS, I was a bit annoyed and decided to head back to the interstate to do something else. We used both Google and the GPS to see if we could find another option, and within a few minutes we'd identified Buddy's as an option. Hey, with a name like Buddy's, Bubba's, or Buster's, you must be headed in the right direction.

We got off I-75 and headed east for about a mile to where we spotted Buddy's. I could immediately tell it was a bit more like stopping at Hardees than a real joint, but by this stage in our journey, I wasn't willing to do anymore scouting.... Upon walking in Buddy's I was again reminded that we were walking into a diner that was more akin to fast food than I liked, but we scouted the menu behind the walk up counter. We both immediately noticed that the menu was absent of Brunswick stew, but hey, this was Tennessee, what could you expect? I should have recognized that with the letter's colored "Gosh Aweful Orange" my expectations should not have been too high!

Jed ordered a sandwich and slaw while I ordered a sandwich and bbq beans. The food was placed on the tray right at the counter, and we proceeded for our bbq review. Actually, friends, what we experienced was some really surprisingly pleasing bbq! The sandwiches came out with a dab of the mild sauce already on them, but the portion size was excellent. I started my tasting with the bbq beans. They were actually very good, but if there were any bbq in them I couldn't detect it. I then tasted the sauces. The mild was good and slightly tangy and marginally on the sweet side. The hot sauce lived up to its name. I went easy on the hot variety. To the bbq...good stuff! Given the "appearances" of the diner, the bbq actually was very good. The meat was moist, clean, and very tasty. There was enough moisture that the bbq held together well. Jed had the same opinion, and for both this father and son to totally agree with little debate was a tribute to Buddy's. Overall, I'd give the Buddy's bbq a 4 out of 5, but if you are looking for a joint with a back in time feel, this one doesn't fit the bill.

The overall trip was awesome. 15 hours of time with a grown son, bbq, and a UGA win over TN....Priceless!!!

http://buddysbarbq.com/