BBQ roadtrip – 1. 17th Street Marion IL 2. Big Bob Gibsons Decatur AL 3. The Shed Gulfport MS 4. Old South BBQ Smyrna GA 5. Jacks BBQ Nashville ….. 7 days and 5 top bbq joints.

We parked and went in and were told we could sit anywhere we wanted.  There are several seats at a bar and in another section booths and tables.  We were seated at a table and our server was there in an instant.  We asked what was good and we decided on a half slab of ribs with baked beans and potato salad. I mean, come on, what else should one have at a bbq joint ….. ribs ribs ribs.  Now I have been to some of the best bbq restaurants in the county including Big Bob Gibson’s and Interstate BBQ so my expectations for ribs are very high.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Our plates where there within a few minutes and we dug in. I picked up the end rib and the bone slid right out and the meat was cooked perfectly.  A slight smoke ring was visible but there wasn’t an overpowering smoke taste.  I did not add any sauce at this point and the flavor of the ribs stood on it’s own.  They were excellent.  On the side were baked beans and potato salad, both of which were good but the ribs were definitely the main attraction.  To be honest I probably could have had a couple more slabs but alas I was a good boy.

For desert I had a peach cobbler and my travel partner had a chocolate pie that must have been stacked 6 inches high. Both were very good and a great end to some good old fashioned Kentucky bbq.  I did order a side of pulled pork and mixed in a little of the home made sauces, both a sweet and hot and polished it off as well. 

All in all my experience at Backwoods BBQ was great and I give them a big thumbs up and recommend anyone going through Paducah stop by.  For those of you not from Kentucky but are travelling on Interstate 24 it is just a few miles of exit 4 and very easy to find. Definitely worth the detour. View Mapquest Map Here

Best of all when you list your barbecue business on one of these sites there is no charge. Thats right…. it’s FREE to be listed.

If your barbecue business has a press release or some kind of news send it to us and we will post it on this blog.  Advertising opportunities are available. We are about to cross 60,000 unique visitors so far this year and our emailing list is growing daily.

We can get the get the word out about your bbq business.

OK …. enough self promotion here………..  take advantage of our websites and list your business……… thanks and have a great bbq day.

Well today I stopped and am I glad. The building itself looks kind of run down and old but it really isn’t bad at all. In fact it ads to the whole “bbq joint” feel of the place. Walking in the door we were met by a very pleasant woman named Laura who told us to take a seat anywhere.  You could tell this place was near a major military base as there were posters and photos supporting our troops everywhere (I like this). She asked what we would like and after looking over the menu I decided on the Brisket and Cecil my travel partner said he wanted the same plus a side of pulled pork. In about 5 minutes we got our plates and it looked like some top notch barbecue brisket. There was a generous helping of sides (for me potato salad and baked beans with corn bread) and the brisket looked very good. There was a nice smoke ring penetrating the meat about an eighth of an inch and the meat was definitely juicy. I took my first bit without any sauce or any thing added and let me tell  you it was first rate. The meat was very tender and juicy with just a slight smoke taste. I wasn’t disappointed!  These gals knew what they were doing.  For the next bite I added some sauce which was in an unlabeled bottle and it was very good. I should have asked what kind it was and if they made it themselves……. hhhmmm now I have an excuse to go back.

I like barbecue that is easy to chew…… no work involved here. The meat was not tough and it pulled off very easy.  This was some really good barbecue and I could kick myself in the butt for not stopping in before this.  Overall the experience at Old South Bar-B-Q was grade A and I thoroughly enjoyed our stop there.

I give Old South Bar-B-Q a BIG THUMBS UP. If you are ever travelling Interstate 24 between St Louis and Nashville and you are looking for someplace to eat be sure to stop off at exit 86 and go north on Hwy 41-A for about a mile and it is on your left.

The address is:

Old South Bar-B-Q, 11275 Fort Campbell Blvd (Hwy 41-A) Oak Grove/Fort Campbell KY.

Map Here by Google

Owners are Mike and Connie Mathews – 270-439-0351

We arrived at 1145 just as the lunch crowd was coming in and from the look of the parking lot it was going to be full.  We met our friend Larry from Birmingham and we went in and had a seat right away. I remembered the last time I was here last year and I was definitely looking forward to some good ribs.  The last time I visited I had the full platter and paid for it later…..  It was so good I just couldn’t stop and that sin of “gluttony” reared it’s ugly head. Oh well…….. I enjoyed it anyway.  This time I decided to go a little smaller and had a half rack of ribs, brisket, potato salad and baked beans.  The serving portions here are very large and it was more than enough. When I left I was comfortably full without hurting myself.  That didn’t stop me from ordering a full rack of ribs to go.  My wife threatend me………if I didn’t bring any back then I might as well not come home.

The ribs were cooked to perfection. Unfortunately the photos I have here don’t do justice to the meal. I forgot my camera and these were taken with my camera phone. I picked up my first rib and bit into it and the meat just slid off the bone and my mouth was alive with flavor. These ribs obviously were made by a master. There was a slight smoke ring but it the smoke flavor wasn’t overbearing. It was just right. I added a little of Bob Gibson’s sauce and it was perfect.  The brisket was just as good.  Once again great flavor and easy to eat. There was no toughness and the brisket just about melted in my mouth. In a word WOW.  The sides of potato salad and baked beans were very good. In fact I dare say the potato salad was as good as my mom’s (I hope she doesn’t read this…….sorry mom).

To top everything off, our friend Larry is friends with Don McLemore the grandson of Bob Gibson and he stopped by and joined us for a few minutes. Wow…what a treat.  I felt as if I was in the presence of barbecue royalty. The fact is I was in the presence of one of the legends of barbecue. Don is a great man with a great barbecue heritage and a lifetime of experience, and just as importantly a great personality and friendly.

All in all it was a great day and a most excellent eating experience. If you are anywhere near Decatur, Alabama (northern part of the state on I65) then you need to stop.  Tell them Eric from BBQ-Festivals.com told you about the place. When I say in the area I mean if you are within 300 miles then make the stop. You won’t be disappointed.  Big Bob Gibson’s is at the top of my list and I have a feeling I will need to journey to Decatur at least once every quarter on one kind of business or another. And if I cant find a busines reason then I will just go to go.

Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q gets FIVE STARS from BBQ-Festivals.com and BBQHub.com

Address: 1715 6th Avenue SE, Decatur AL
Phone: 256-350-6969

Ribs at Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q in Decatur Alabama

Big Bob Gibson's

All Done - Big Bob Gibson's Ribs

Lunch crowd at Big Bob Gibson's Bar-B-Q

I have to admit this wasn’t the first time I had been to Jack’s Bar-B-Que but it was the first time I ate there. Last summer I was in Nashville taking family to the airport to catch a flight back to California. We decided on some BBQ and went to Jack’s but the line was long then too. We didn’t think we would have time so we went across the street to another bbq place…. bad choice. I won’t mention the name of that barbecue restaurant but it was not good at all and I would not recommend it.

So back to this visit. Cecil (my new barbecue convert) and I had decided that while in Nashville on a business meeting we were going to give Jack’s a try and we allotted plenty of time for our visit. As soon as the door opened we were hit with the smell of smoked barbecue and it was a sweet, sweet smell.  We looked at the line and said this must be a good place. Jack’s is small with the a crowded seating area downstairs and a sign that said additional seating upstairs. It was dark with lots of stuff on the walls from photos of country music stars, to barbecue stuff and neon. This is not a typical sit down restaurant. You wait and go through a serving line like a cafeteria and after you have your food try to find a place to sit.  When we finally reached the area to order (it really didn’t take that long) we placed our orders. We both decided for the three meat platter and two sides for a total of $13.00. Not bad at all. I had two ribs, brisket and chicken with baked beans, cole slaw and cornbread.  The smokers are located right by the serving line and the meat comes straight out of the smoker to the chopping board where it is cut and on to the plate. There was a great selection of sides and I wil be honest it was hard to resist what looked like some terrific macaroni and cheese.

We paid at the counter and then went to the little bar area where the sauces where located. I had their Kansas City Style sauce which is a thick dark red sauce with a very nice sweet taste and some of their Tennessee Original which was a thinner traditional vinegar based sauce for pork.  Now we had to find someplace to site. The line was now out the door as the it was lunch time in downtown Nashville. We found a table for four with two young men sitting their and I asked them if they would mind sharing their table and they said go right ahead.  If you guys are reading this thank you very much……. who says people don’t share anymore??

So now we were seated and ready. Like a dummy I had opted to wear a white shirt. Take my advice, do not wear white to a barbecue joint. I grabbed a couple paper towels and stuck them down the font of my shirt and made a bib and surveyed the feast in front of me. I decided to go for the ribs first and when I picked up my first one and put it in my mouth the meat slid ride off the bone. It was so tender it almost melted in my mouth. There was a heavy smoke taste to the ribs and you could tell they had cooked for many, many hours. I decided to try some of the Kansas City Style sauce on my next bite and it was perfect.  I went for the brisket next and it was just as good. They heavy smoke flavor was there as well but once again the sauce balanced it out. The sides of cole slaw and beans were good. The slaw was a traditional vinegar based slaw and the beans were in a very thick beans sauce which I really liked.  The chiken was plump and juicky. The skin slid right off and when I bit in the juices just came out all over. The chicken didn’t have quite as heavy a smoke flavor as the ribs or brisket and was really very good. I have to admit I was full when we were done and it was well worth the long wait in line.

I have to give Jack’s Bar-B-Que in downtown Nashville a 4.75 out of 5. The only thing that kept it from a perfect 5 was the crowded seating. I guess that is just a result of their success. The food was just about perfect and the atmosphere great. So if you are looking for some truly smoke flavored traditional barbecue and you don’t mind a crowd then I highly recommend Jack’s Bar-B-Que in downtown Nashville. I noticed on their website they have a second location in the Trinity Lane area.

www.JacksBarBQue.com
416 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
615-254-5715

Here are a few photos I took with the camera in my cell phone. They really don’t do justice but I hope you will get the picture.

Here are some of the latest updates to the BBQ Festivals website:

BBQ Restaurants

• Baby Blues BBQ in Venice, California
• Billy’s Tip n’ Inn in White Lake, Michigan
• Beale Street Smokehouse BBQ in Fenton, Michigan
• The Rib Hut in Wilson, North Carolina
• Taste E Bones Barbecue in Slidell, Louisiana
• Smokey Sloe’s in Northpoint, New York

BBQ Sacues

• Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce

BBQ Rubs and Spices

• Willinghams World Champion Rib ‘n BBQ Spice
• SmokinRub Dry Rubs and Steak Seasoning

BBQ Teams

• Smoke In Da Eye BBQ Team - Garden City, New York

If you have a bbq related website that  you don’t see on www.bbq-festivals.com be sure to send us the website address and information and we will add it our site.

Thanks and have a great bbq day……….eric

I suppose I could write this review of Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Decatur AL with just three words; OH MY GOD !!!

I have had a lot of barbecue but I have to say this is as good as it gets. While on a business trip to Alabama we saw the billboard outside of Decatur AL on I-65 for Big Bob Gibson’s and decided on the way back home we would stop in. After all Bob Gibson is a member of BBQ royalty and we were not about to pass up this opportunity.

As soon as we got out of the car the aroma from the smokers swirled around hour heads and it was definitely a sweet sweet smell. The parking lot was packed which was another good sign. When we were in we were met by a gentleman who welcomed us in and told us to have a seat. Our server ( I wish I could remember her name ) came over to bring us our menu. Let me tell you, this gal was top notch…….. Cecil and I decided to go the full route and order the Ribs and three other meats and sides. I had the ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork with potato salad and baked beans. The photos tell the story. I can’t begin to describe the taste. It truly was out of this world. I picked up a rib and the bone slid right out of the meat clean as a whistle. I took my first bite of the ribs and I knew I had tasted years and years of experience. Next came the brisket, chicken and pork. All were out of this world. Being from Kentucky I am especially fond of pulled pork and am very critical of how people make it but I didn’t have a problem with this at all………..excellent.

ALL DONE – WHEW, I’M STUFFED

We sampled the sauces that were made by Bob Gibson and they were equally good and just added to the flavor, but we both agreed the barbecue stood on it’s own and did not need any extra help from sauces. By the way…….. the White Sauce is out of this world. The baked beans and potato salad were very very good. My mom makes great potato salad and at 74 she is an expert. Big Bob’s potato salad is just a good as my moms is and that says a lot.

Things were wound up with a Coconut Cream Pie that literally melted in your mouth. We were truly content and well stuffed when we were finished. The only bad part was we still had almost 200 miles ahead of us to get home and what we really wanted was a nap.

I will have to say that Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant is now at the top of my list. Also Kudos to the manager Rick Talley……… a great guy and very friendly.

My rating for this bbq restaurant is a full 10 out of 10