Carlile’s Barbecue, Birmingham AL

Just about every time we’ve visited the Magic City, it’s been either on the weekend or after lunch, making it difficult to find time to visit one of Birmingham’s oldest and most highly regarded barbecue joints. Carlile’s celebrated its 75th birthday last year. We were pleased to finally visit this fine old place and enjoyed a very good lunch. Continue reading “Carlile’s Barbecue, Birmingham AL”

A Georgia Barbecue Circumnavigation

Over the last two days, we drove 720 miles to have ten very quick visits at some very good restaurants, every last one of them better and more satisfying to me than anything we found within a lunch drive locally. I wanted to get out and recharge my batteries again, so we left Chattanooga a little after eight on Friday morning and started the day with lunch at Sprayberry’s BBQ in Newnan, which opened 95 years ago, in 1926. Continue reading “A Georgia Barbecue Circumnavigation”

A Lexington Sampling Tour (part one)

Marie wanted a few quiet days to sip tea with her mother, and I wanted to drive fast along curvy mountain roads. So we packed our masks and said our goodbyes and I decided that I could find something to eat as well. I’d been through Lexington NC three times before but never really stayed to linger. I wondered whether any of the town’s famous barbecue restaurants were open on Sunday… Continue reading “A Lexington Sampling Tour (part one)”

The SmoQue Pit, Statesboro GA

As anybody traveling in southern Georgia knows, it’s difficult to find a good local place that’s open on Sundays. Last week, we found a fairly new place about ten minutes off the interstate that offers a very good Sunday brunch and a take on barbecue that has one eye on modern dining and one in the traditions of the region. Continue reading “The SmoQue Pit, Statesboro GA”

Righting Wrongs: Our June 2019 Barbecue Road Trip

When we were much more ravenous about collecting content, we often only had the opportunity to visit a distant restaurant one time and form an opinion on what might not have been a good day for the place. Earlier this month, we spent three days on the road eating barbecue, and one of my goals was to give a couple of restaurants another opportunity to amaze me in the same way that they’ve amazed so many other happy customers. It was a big success. Continue reading “Righting Wrongs: Our June 2019 Barbecue Road Trip”