The TAFKAP family went down to North Alabama this past weekend to the Huntsville Space & Rocket Center. As part of our trip, we tried two different BBQ joints, and neither of them really stood out. One was just a greasy spoon at some sort of crossroads, and it ended up being OK. The Greenbrier Restaurant is about 20 minutes outside of Huntsville, and they cook shoulders, ribs, & fried catfish. We got there at 3:00 on July 4th, so expectations weren't too high. The shoulder was cooked well, obvious pink bark, and very moist. It was a little mealy, but we chalked that up to their end-of-the day 'que. Their untrimmed spare ribs were OK, but hadn't even been salted. It's apparent they rely on sauce for most of their meats. The end-of-the-day shift was refilling all of their sauce bottles, and the "traditional" sauce was scooped out of a big commercial bucket. Our first experience with Alabama white sauce was here, as well. "It's our simplest sauce.....salad dressing, vinegar, and pepper". I didn't bother to ask about the salad dressing.
On to Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur. In case you've never heard of Big Bob Gibson, they're the best BBQ cookers in the world.....just ask them......and their multitudes of BBQ Fest trophies.
After BBG, I've determined that Alabamaites rely on sauce for their ribs. It didn't even occur to me to ask for them served dry. Good thing, because they probably weren't seasoned. TO me, wet ribs always taste fatty. They were cooked well enough, I guess. Not sloppy, and not tough. They weren't "fall off the bone", but the meat came off too cleanly. The few nibbles I could take without sauce pretty much screamed PROPANE COOKER! The lack of discernible smoke ring was pretty important. When we drove away at noon, there were two unused chimneys in the building, and they were chucking a stainless cooker full of firewood. Neon green slaw wasn't turribul, but it was very heavy on the horseradish. Beans were straight from a can.
The sauce may as well have been KC Masterpiece. Just a bottle of chemicals. I expected a whole lot more of a place who bragged on their sauce making prowess. Just another commercial operation that long ago lost their touch for good BBQ. Overall, I give Big Bob Gibson's a limp 4 out of 10.
Steak sauce/bbq sauce
On to Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur. In case you've never heard of Big Bob Gibson, they're the best BBQ cookers in the world.....just ask them......and their multitudes of BBQ Fest trophies.
After BBG, I've determined that Alabamaites rely on sauce for their ribs. It didn't even occur to me to ask for them served dry. Good thing, because they probably weren't seasoned. TO me, wet ribs always taste fatty. They were cooked well enough, I guess. Not sloppy, and not tough. They weren't "fall off the bone", but the meat came off too cleanly. The few nibbles I could take without sauce pretty much screamed PROPANE COOKER! The lack of discernible smoke ring was pretty important. When we drove away at noon, there were two unused chimneys in the building, and they were chucking a stainless cooker full of firewood. Neon green slaw wasn't turribul, but it was very heavy on the horseradish. Beans were straight from a can.
The sauce may as well have been KC Masterpiece. Just a bottle of chemicals. I expected a whole lot more of a place who bragged on their sauce making prowess. Just another commercial operation that long ago lost their touch for good BBQ. Overall, I give Big Bob Gibson's a limp 4 out of 10.
Steak sauce/bbq sauce
