I decided to treat myself this week and go to a BBQ restaurant that I had read about and seen on T.V. Harold’s BBQ in South Atlanta is what you think of when you hear about southern BBQ. Harold’s is a BBQ restaurant that every BBQ lover needs to experience once if not more in your lifetime. They have been in business since the 1940’s and with such good food, great service and a very unique atmosphere, it’s no wonder they have been around so long.

I ordered a sliced pork sandwich with Brunswick stew and slaw. The pork was smoked in the back with electric ovens and then brought out and heated up above a charcoal pit grill. You get your choice of sliced or chopped and it is served atop toasted sliced white bread and smothered in a tangy ketchup-vinegar based BBQ sauce.

The Brunswick stew was by far the best I have ever tasted! The stew had such a nice base to it and the flavor and texture was outstanding! The pork sandwich was served hot and was very good. The slaw was very fresh and was on the sweet side. To top it off my stew was served with a piece of cracklin cornbread and a big ole glass of sweet tea! Now it just don’t get much more southern than that.

The décor was old school with the red and white checkered table clothes and old autographed pictures of athletes and politicians lined the walls. The waitresses were very attentive and service was just great and friendly. If I ever decide to open a BBQ restaurant Harold’s is the blueprint that I would follow. A great atmosphere, great BBQ served hot and fresh along with wonderful service.

Do yourself a favor and if you ever head downtown to a Braves game, stop by Harold’s and treat yourself to some outstanding BBQ !!

I give Harold’s a 4.9 on the squeal meter! It just don’t get much better!

Check out my pics of Harold’s BBQ in the pic section of this website.

On our latest excursion we found ourselves heading up Georgia Hwy. 441 to Clayton Georgia to check out a BBQ restaurant that was shown in the book “BBQ Joints”. They were also recommended to me by a few of my customers. I had tried their BBQ pork sandwich a few years back, and I was not that impressed. However, I figured they deserved another chance since they were recommended. Oinkers BBQ in Clayton Georgia was this week’s destination. I decided to order their BBQ ribs since I was not that impressed by their sandwich on my last visit. The BBQ ribs were not baby back ribs, but were St. Louis style ribs or spare ribs. The ribs were served hot and presented with a coat of their sweet BBQ glaze on top of them.

The ribs were quite good and tender. I also ordered their Brunswick stew and baked beans as sides. The Brunswick stew had a flavorful balance to it, and the baked beans were good as well.

My wife ordered their Pork BBQ sandwich and again, I just wasn’t impressed by it. The restaurant has a nice hometown feel to it and when I walked around back there was a smoke house behind the restaurant where they smoked off their BBQ. I took a few pictures of it, but I didn’t go in there since it was fenced in I didn’t want to get in the way on a busy Saturday night.

All in all it was a decent dinner and the ribs were tasty, but I still think they could kick up their sandwiches a bit. A little more meat and sauce would help. I posted a few pics in the pic section for you to check out.

I give Oinkers BBQ a 3.25 on the squeal meter.

This week I’m going to give you two reviews in one, and you’ll see why as you read on. On the advice of some co-workers and customers, I took my family to Rib Country up Hwy 129 in Cleveland Georgia . Rib Country is a small chain BBQ restaurant with a look and feel much like a Sonny’s type of restaurant. When we arrived we found Rib Country to be a nice clean family restaurant with a country appeal. It was lunch time, so my wife and I decided to split the combo plate of a full rack of ribs, smoked BBQ chicken, beans, and slaw.

When the food was served, my wife and I looked at each other and thought…“where’s the rest?“ The ribs were not much bigger than a size of riblits and the chicken was a smoked breast that was very dry tasting. The sides came in those little plastic side cups that are barely bigger than ketchup holders. Feed me Rib Country…Don’t tease me !!!

I will say that the ribs did have a good smoked flavor to them and were tender and delicious, but the portion size didn’t even scratch our craving for some good BBQ. It was about $20 for the combo plate and the portion size left us wanting more.

We left rib Country and headed back home with our craving for some good Q! Not satisfied at all, we came up on a little BBQ restaurant in Clermont Georgia called Gibby’s. I thought to myself…why not. So, I pulled over and went into this nice little country restaurant where I ordered my wife and I a pork sandwich to go. Gibby’s was offering a buffet style lunch like a meat and three type place. I didn’t check it out much as I was only wanting to satisfy my BBQ craving with Gibby’s BBQ. I ordered two pork sandwiches to go. When we got into my truck and open up the sandwiches, we were pleasantly surprised by the nice hot pork served on a fresh bun with Gibby’s sweet BBQ sauce on the side. The sandwich was hot, moist and delicious! It did the trick to satisfy our BBQ craving, and I can say we definitely were satisfied thanks to Gibby’s BBQ’s fine sandwich.

Since they left my BBQ craving unsatisfied, I give Rib Country and 2.5 on the squeal meter and since Gibby’s came to the rescue with a very good pork sandwich. I give Gibby’s a 3.25 on the squeal meter.

You can see the pics in the pic section