Whistling Pig - Pine Mountain, Ga

 My friend Alex introduced me today to the Whistling Pig Cafe, located in Pine Mountain, Ga. He declared it probably his 2nd favorite BBQ in the state (after Fincher's in his hometown of Macon). Let's see what I think...

 The Whistling Pig certainly is my kind of BBQ place, in that it's firmly in the blue collar category. It was buzzing with customers as we stepped in. I do declare that I am quite the sucker for black and white tile! The lady at the counter was a bit brusque in her demeanor: not unfriendly, just as busy as that proverbial one legged man in a derriere motivation contest. We sat down and I did my best to avoid the interest of a very loud man seated adjacent to our table. He was in possession of a humongous plastic beverage container that said "Thirst Buster" on it. It had to hold 2 liters, if it held a drop. "Bladder Buster" is more like it. But I digress. Our plates arrived and I said hello to a rather large pork sandwich and it's companion, a bowl of Brunswick Stew:

 Our hosts were generous with the pickles, as my sandwich came with three, to which I added three more, as Alex is not as fond of them as I am. I don't know how many pickles it would take for me to draw the line, but it must be more than 6! The sandwich was very satisfying, although I would have preferred a little more vinegar kick to it. The stew, however, was disappointing, mostly because it seemed to be noticeably watered down, like the staff had added water to make it go farther. I had to deploy the crackers as absorption devices just to counteract the sogginess. 

So, in a nutshell:

Sandwich: A-

Stew: D

Atmosphere: B

Overall: B-

   

Barbecue Time Machine

Yes folks, I went back in time tonight, courtesy of the Old Hickory House restaurant on Northlake Parkway. For those that don't know, Old Hickory House used to be a chain of barbecue restaurants all around the Atlanta area back in the 70's. There were quite a few of them. I fondly remember going to the one in Forest Park with my mom when I was a wee lad. I bet you've seen that one, even if you don't realize it. It stood in for a bus stop in Smokey and the Bandit ( that scene where Burt and Jackie are at the counter together).

Sadly, the Old Hickory Houses faded away. The one in Forest Park has long been bulldozed, and (what I thought was) the remaining ones had been usually re-purposed as Oga's or OB's (see my review of the now defunct OB's on Veteran's Memorial Parkway elsewhere on this blog). So it was with great glee that I discovered that there were still a couple existing: one in Dunwoody, and one in Tucker! My BBQ Blog partner ( I swear he still exists) Grant had been to the one in Tucker, so we set out tonight on a mission to go there.

Let me tell you, when I say Old Hickory House is a barbecue time machine, I mean it. It was so like the Hickory Houses I remembered as a kid, I could feel multitudes of synapses popping long dormant memories back to life in my brain. I swear even the barstools are as I remembered them! I don't think there was a single picture on the wall that wasn't 30 years old.

Oh yeah, the food: I was a bit nervous about that, because these two surviving Hickory Houses don't have the best reviews online, but I feel those reviews must be heavily Yankee-centric, because I thought the food at the Tucker location was great! Remember, of course, that I'm biased myself toward the more blue collar barbecue establishments. Those used to boutique barbecue will most likely be disappointed. But as I said, I was well pleased. The pork sandwich, especially, wins top honors. I'm not kidding. I hereby proclaim that the sandwich I had here tonight is EXACTLY what I think a barbecue pork sandwich should be. Not too big, not too expensive ($2.95) and with a pickle on it, as God intended. A working man's delight!

The Brunswick stew, however, brought me back down to reality. It wasn't bad, just average (maybe a little below), a tad too rich for my tastes. I got a combo which included the sandwich, a cup of stew and a cup of cole slaw, which was good enough to make up for the stew's mediocre performance.

So to review...

Pork sandwich: A+

Brunswick stew: C

Decor: A for authenticity!

Overall grade: A!            

O.B.'s or not O.B's

Hello there, Internet. Long time no see. I'm glad to be back. I apologize to all our loyal readers (all 3 of you) for being gone so long. What say we skip the awkward "You never wrote" part and take up right where we left off?

Up to now, the reviews have been pretty straightforward. We either liked a place, disliked it, or were ambivalent about it. I feel this review is gonna be different. I went into this one kinda excited, because I had went to this particular place two or three times before, and it was growing on me. I wanted to be able to right a positive review. But I tell you, Internet, it's a little harder than I thought.

The place in question is O.B.'s Barbeque at 499 Veteran's Memorial Highway in Mableton. It's a recent new addition to the barbeque places available to Grant and I around our workplace. We discovered on our first visit that the location was once an Old Hickory House, a long gone but fondly remembered barbeque chain from my youth. (Old Hickory House trivia: The scene where The Bandit and Sheriff Buford T. Justice meet at the Bus Stop restaurant counter in Smokey and the Bandit was shot in a Old Hickory House in Jonesboro, Ga., the very same one that I grew up going to.)

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not overly fond of barbeque chains these days, but the staff at this particular O.B.'s (if not a chain, at least a franchise) has a certain charm to them that goes a long way at dispelling any chain feel to the place. They do this by being very friendly, very casual, and honestly, kinda slow. Not speed slow, but, umm, brain slow. For example, I once heard one of the wait staff ask another, loudly:

"Hey, what's 12 minus 7?"

Another one has a entertainingly narcoleptic way of serving you. She kinda drifts over to your table and engages you in a style of conversation that most closely resembles the term "bedhead", if that makes any sense.

I know these statements sound derogatory, but they're not really. I find these things harmlessly entertaining, and they give me the opportunity to use that most southern of sayings: "Bless her heart!"

For entertainment value alone, the wait staff gets an A. (They do actually work rather well, I've never had a real complaint about the actual service here)

Let's move on to the food, shall we? To be honest, they do a lot of things that I don't like, but somehow seem right, for this place anyway. I'm on record as saying that I don't like it when a place doesn't make a commitment by not putting sauce on their barbeque. This place is one of those places. However, I like all three of their sauces that they provide on the table: mild, sweet, and hot. Therefore it doesn't bother me that you're obliged to put the sauce on yourself. But I'll tell you what I don't like is the large chunks of pork that make up their sandwich, and the lack of pickles on said sandwich. I've found I prefer the barbeque plate here, which is yet another contradiction to all I hold dear in barbeque. But seriously, go for the plate.

Casting our attention to their Brunswick stew, it started out pleasant enough, if a touch rich. However, as I got closer to finishing it, it lost a bit of it's character, becoming almost like stew from a can. This may have been because I ordered a mammoth 12 ounce serving. 12 ounces doesn't sound like too much when I ordered it. Oh well.


I'd also like to mention they something called "Frickles", which I assume is some sort of fried pickle. I'll have to try that next time.

So in review, I'm gonna have to give the food a C+, but I feel with a couple of tweaks, possibly on my part, it could easily rise to B- or a solid B.


So what do we have here? The exception that proves the rule? It's hard for me to say. I can say that I do like the place, and will return. And I guess that's what it's all about, isn't it?

p.s. I'd like to give a honorable mention to this here painting located above the booths in the back of O.B's. Like the restaurant itself, I find it contradictory, yet pleasing in it's own way. It features a deer couple serenely observing a flock of ducks from the lakeside. Relaxing, huh?

The Inevitable: Jim and Nick's

The Jim and Nick's Experience

Jim and Nick's is the place that inspired this blog. High praise, huh? Not hardly. I was inspired because I thought the place was fake. Now, I had been to Jim and Nick's a few times before this emotion took hold. I had always thought their fare was ok. Not spectacular, not bad, merely ok. I was not a fan of going there, because this merely ok barbecue is damned expensive. More on that later. But what ignited my distaste was this: One day, I saw their takeout menu. On this takeout menu, at first glance, is a picture of presumably an old Jim and Nick's barbecue shack. By old, I mean it looks like it was taken in 1947. But if you look at it closer, it's obvious that the Jim and Nick's signs on the building are photoshopped on. Look closer, and you see that the building isn't even an eatery, it's a gas station, for crying out loud! (You can see this photo on the homepage of their website. While you're there, check out "our story" on the left side. Surprise, surprise, there isn't one. It's a mission statement.)
Truth be told, a lot of why I dislike J&N has to do with their theme park atmosphere. It's like the Hard Rock Cafe of BBQ. They have these old timey looking pics on the wall of people cooking barbecue. A real barbecue place would have a pic of the cook of your restaurant on the wall, probably with his arm around somebody famous who had the good fortune of stopping at his restaurant. You would know it was the cook, because you could look in the kitchen and see him, probably a little grayer in the temples, still on the job! To cut to the chase, You could plop J&N right down in the center of Buckhead, and it'd fit in perfect. If you like your barbecue culture served up at arms length, sanitized and safe, by all means go ahead. Me, give me something with a little grease on it's shirt.
Decor/Authenticity: D

Ok, on to the food. my greatest complaint about their food isn't that it's not good. It is. It's average good. On a realistic scale of 1 to 10 (not the modern day scale where things have to be an 8 or it's crap), it's a 5. Completely average. What gets me all riled up is the price: $8.50 for a sandwich and a (small side). Hey, a theme park doesn't run on good intentions, does it? The total tab today for myself and the Lovely Lady La La was $25! (a word of disclosure here: We didn't actually pay anything today. One of my bosses was at another table, and he told the manager I had a BBQ blog going on, and she came over and insisted the meal was on the house. I tried to talk her out of it, but even though I told her it probably wasn't going to be a favorable review, she insisted on it being free. I guess it proves you can't buy my vote. Oh yeah, another disclosure: the ticket said $6.99 for the sandwich. I don't know if that's a lunch price, or because I turned down the side order in favor of a full stew bowl. Should barbecue be this complicated? How about one price, all day?)

First up was the stew, which truth be told, was better than I remember it. It's still not gonna win any awards, though. It was pretty watery, but that's about the worst thing I can say about it. Not a big fan of beans in stew, but these were unobtrusive. At least it didn't go too far one way or another. Lady La La may have a different opinion. I think we may hear from her soon... My grade: C+

Here's the pulled pork sandwich. That's a quarter laying in the plate, for size reference, although I have to say it looks bigger in the pic than it was in real life. I prefer the meat a bit more shredded, but that's just me. Again, It's not bad, it's not extraordinary. I can't tell you much about the sauce, because it just didn't have much personality.Just average.
Again: C+

As a side note, I have to say these are the most pitiful pickles I've yet to see on a barbecue sandwich. Poor little fellows...

Well, there you have it. Damned by mediocrity, cursed by high prices. If money is no object, you could do worse. If price and authenticity is a factor, you can do much better.

Overall grade: C

Branching Out; Dunk's BBQ

Hi, Folks. Hiwatt Scott here. Grant and I have decided that it's better for us to split up and go solo on some reviews, since he lives on the north side of town, and I am on the south side (on the weekends, at least). Expect reviews from Grant on Dreamland BBQ and Williamson Brother's BBQ, while I'll provide reviews on several places in Griffin (my hometown), places in Jonesboro (Dean's, Harold's), and beyond (Fresh Air Barbecue in Jackson, Fincher's in Macon). We shall continue to do reviews together of places we can reach on our lunch hour.

Moving on, it's with a heavy heart I submit my first review of a Griffin area barbecue place: Dunk's Barbecue. Why so glum? well I realized that now I have to cast a critical eye upon places that, as a result, might be the worst for it. Read on...

Dunk's is located on the spot where another barbecue place used to stand: Leon's. I have very fond memories of Leon's. I can remember going there with my uncle Ed, drinking coke from a bottle (later on, they switched to bringing you a can of coke and a glass of ice, which is somehow endearing, if a tad lazy). Leon's also planted the seed in my head that you had to have objects of pig worship in your BBQ joint: Statues of pigs, postcards of pigs, carvings of pigs, just all around pig idolatry. The kind of stuff that'd have you heading out the side door in a hurry if Moses happened in. Their barbecue was good enough to risk getting caught skipping school, which I did, just for lunch sometimes (it helped that Leon's was next door to my high school). Anyway, as things go, Leon's was eventually torn down, and Dunk's rose in it's place. Dunk's was a place famous in Griffin before my time, but was revived for this venture. Here's a front view:

(sorry for the lousy quality photos, they are from my phone)

As barbecue places go, it's a nice looking place, somewhere between the charm of a genuine hole in the wall and the bbq theme park look of some of your chain restaurants. There's a nice stairway leading up to the restaurant:




Here's where the trouble starts: The sign that greets you as you walk in...



It is quite a pet peeve of mine when people misspell "y'all". The apostrophe goes between the Y and the A, people! It's a contraction of the words "You all"! why would you put the apostrophe between the A and the first L? You're not removing any letters there!

Inside, the place is pleasant enough, although it feels unfinished. I have a love/hate relationship with the kind of junk that normally gets put on the wall at restaurants. It's become such a cliche to have a bunch of mismatched junk hanging on your restaurant's walls, so much so that there are now companies that provide such "flair" from a catalog! On the other hand, when the clutter is amassed genuinely over a number of years, such as the aforementioned pig paraphernalia, it can bequite comforting, which is why I guess places like Zaxby's have enough fake junk on their wall to choke a flea market. But check out the walls at Dunk's:

There's nothing on the walls! Perhaps this is a transitory state. I do admit that Dunk's looks a little different every time I go in, so maybe they're working on it as they go along.

So I sit down and order my usual from the waitress: Pork sandwich, brunswick stew, and a coke. She brings the drink while I'm fooling around with the camera phone, so I don't even take notice of it until she brings a curiously light brown liquid in a little mini pitcher, and leaves it on my table. Hmm, that looks like tea, I think to myself. At this point, I sample the cup.Sure enough, it's tea. Strike two. Soon, she brings the rest of the order. Here's what it looked like:




It tastes better than it looks, being quite vinegary, which is how most Griffin area places make it, and subsequently how I like it. The stew is actually a bit disappointing. It tastes ok, but looks like a soup with a bunch of cornbread in it. Overall, I'm going to have to give the grub a B-. It's good, but I don't expect it stand up to the offerings I will be experiencing in the near future. Like people say about the way kids are brought up today (i.e. constantly praised): "They can't all be above average".

Speaking of kids, take a look at this paper towel holder:

Now, does this belong in a family restaurant? Does it belong in any restaurant? Does it even make sense without a question mark?

So, it's with a sigh that I give Dunk's Barbecue of Griffin a grade of C-. You can do better, guys. I hope ya do. I'm pulling for ya.