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-

   

Sprayberry's: Sweet Sorrow

Before we embark on our new format, I want to say a little bit about Sprayberry's Barbeque in Newnan, Ga, since we just went there last night and it's fresh on my mind.

Sprayberry's has been around since 1929 and is partly famous for being the favorite BBQ haunt of the late Lewis Grizzard, beloved southern author and columnist for the AJC. Country singer Alan Jackson supposedly waited tables here when he was young as well.

It all started on a whim, with me calling up Grant an hour or so before quitting time and proposing the adventure of driving down the back roads to Newnan for a quick dinner at Sprayberry's. Grant gives in very easily to the "call of the pig". I also called my friend and former bandmate Daniel to meet us there, as he lives in the area.

Turns out we were the only patrons there as we arrived at about 8:00, so we had the place to ourselves. Our waitress was very friendly and stayed so throughout the visit.

I ordered the "Lewis Grizzard Special" which was everything that I normally order (a pork sandwich and an order of brunswick stew) plus the addition of onion rings. No wonder dear old Lewis needed a new heart valve, if this was his usual order! Grant ordered two different kinds of meat, some stew, beans and Texas toast. Daniel had "the Aristocrat", which consisted of a pork sandwich, onion rings and fries.

I have to agree with a number of reviews I read online in saying that, unless you're a local, Sprayberry's is nothing to write home about. But then again, if you are a local, what are you writing home for anyway? I guess it's one of those things you have to grow up with, not unlike my family's obsession with the Varsity: I just don't get it.

My meal was, for the most part, average but was ruined by that most humble of ingredients: the pickle. Sprayberry's uses sweet pickles on the sandwich, which just made it all wrong to me. I'm definitely pro-pickle, but sweet pickles don't work for me on my BBQ sandwich. On the other hand, the stew was serviceable, maybe even above the average of what I've been getting lately.

So to wrap it up, I'll say Sprayberry's gets a C, maybe even a C+, but just barely. I would probably go there again and give them another chance. Even with a C, they are better than your average generic strip mall BBQ place.