Birmingham BBQ Joints -- for future reference

[Darrell KSR]

Next time Kentucky has a Birmingham Bowl Appearance, or if you're in town for SEC Media Days (football), or if UK finally plays Samford in basketball, or if you're attending the SEC baseball tournament (this year; may not return to Hoover), or just passing through--

the Birmingham Business Journal posted a list of the top 25 Birmingham BBQ joints, as compiled from Yelp, Zomato, restaurant websites and Birmingham Business Journal Records.

Top 10, by Yelp are:

1) Ken's Hickory Pit BBQ. This is in Pinson. It is a hike for everybody, even Birmingham residents. But it's good BBQ.
2) Saw's BBQ
3) Saw's Soul Kitchen
4) Rusty's BBQ
5) Jim 'N Nicks - Five Points
6) Saw's Juke Joint

You HAVE to go to Saw's Juke joint. Little known fact--it is located on Dunston Avenue, just outside of Mountain Brook. When I moved to Birmingham ten gazillion years ago, my wife and I rented a house on....Dunston Avenue, just down the street.

7) Jim'N Nick's - Hoover
8) Jim 'N Nick's - Trussville (seeing a trend here)
9) Jim 'N Nicks' - Alabaster
10) Moe's original BBQ - Lakeview

Here's the link to the online version:

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/blog/2015/05/top-of-the-list-birmingham-s-most-popular-bbq.html

The top 25 compilation will have them in a little different order. I have attached a bad photo I took from the print edition.

My recommendation--Jim 'N Nick's is safe, albeit now a chain all over. Still, it's good BBQ, and the cheese biscuits are worth the trip by themselves. Get a little adventuresome, go to Saw's on Oxmoor Road. That's safe, and outstanding, in the Homewood area.

I really like Ken's--we used to go there occasionally when I worked downtown, but Pinson is a hike from there, and a day-and-a-half drive from where I am now. OK, that's an exaggeration, but it's sorta in the middle of nowhere and a good drive. No real reason to be there for most people.

I like Full Moon BBQ just fine; but it has more of a chain feel to me than even Jim 'N Nicks does now. But it has a UK connection in Pat James, former UK football coach, so it's worthy. The one on Highway 280 is close to me, so we go there occasionally. Don't forget the half moon cookies!

And I guess, if you want to be a little touristy, you can go to 14th and 14th (avenue and street), near UAB campus, and go to Dreamland. Do it right, order ribs and white bread and nothing else. That's the way it used to be, although the original one is in Tuscaloosa.

Honestly, I've never had bad BBQ in Birmingham. Just varying degrees of good.

http://www.kysportsreport.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=5523&d=1462396754

[blueboss]

Are there any good BBQ joints around Clanton AL? Which is where I'll be holeing up next week.


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[MickintheHam]

Are there any good BBQ joints around Clanton AL? Which is where I'll be holeing up next week.


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Not that I know of, but for sure stop at PeachPark and get some ice cream. Peach and strawberry are great! They have a pretty good pimento cheese sandwich as well.

[MickintheHam]

Are there any good BBQ joints around Clanton AL? Which is where I'll be holeing up next week.


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I have had BBQ at B&K, ithink that is the name. Its on the road to Lay Dam.

[blueboss]

Not that I know of, but for sure stop at PeachPark and get some ice cream. Peach and strawberry are great! They have a pretty good pimento cheese sandwich as well.

I'll definitely stop in for the ice cream. But seriously? Pimento cheese sandwich in a conversation about BBQ?

Blasphemy!! Blasphemy I tell ya!! Lol

[Darrell KSR]

I had their pimento cheese sandwich last time I went through there. It's very good. Not your "pimento spread" you'd get at the grocery store, for sure.

But a pimento cheese sandwich, to me, is a snack. Then again, I guess that's why I weigh 230 pounds. Sigh.

You going to be in Clanton all next week? Working, playing, visiting?

I have some friends from Clanton; I don't know any place other than the place right off the interstate that has the excellent homemade peach ice cream and cobbler that Mick referenced (same place as the pimento cheese sandwich. Also connected to fruit stand). I'd bet they have a good BBQ place there; it's big enough for a good hole in the wall place to develop, but I don't know what it is. I'll check and see what they say and relay, but I don't have any first-hand knowledge.

[Darrell KSR]

I just googled and it refreshed my memory--again, though, I have no first-hand knowledge of this.

Sweet Alice's BBQ is a place that sells different foods--lasagna, an Easter ham, or a chili dog, or, yeah, barbecue. I remember a guy I used to work with talking about eating there and liking it. I'd go just for the name.

"Log cabin facade with a food truck feel" is how it is described in a review.

But it's just open for lunch and closes at 6? I think. I think that's the same think Mick's B & K does, too (so eat early; Clanton is a "close the streets down early" kind of place, unless you know where you're going, I'm told.

[blueboss]

We're only going to be there overnight. Mrs. boss has me going through Bell Buckle Tn on the way down. Supposed to be some kind of crazy good diner there so a early dinner might be a problem.

I can always eat BBQ though.


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[Darrell KSR]

Ahh. I asked a friend, but she lives in Huntsville now and wanted to give me better information than she had. Coincidentally, she was in Clanton today for her grandmother's funeral. Man, my timing...

She promised to check around and get back to me.

[MickintheHam]

I have to put in a plug for Saw's Soul Kitchen on 41st Street South in the Avondale section of The Ham. It is absolutely unique. FANTASTIC food. If you have someone in the crowd who doesn't like BBQ (I know there is always one) the burger there is the best I have ever had. But they also have fish and other menu items.

I know a lot of folks when it comes to BBQ either want a sandwich or ribs, but let me tell you the Pork and Greens steals the show!! We are talking about a plate filled with cheese grits, piled with the best collards I have ever eaten. It forms a bed for the tastiest BBQ Pork and it's all topped off with shoestring fried onion rings. My Golly it is fantastic. This is from a guy who didn't particularly like collards until I had these. It is a complete meal and will leave you fully satisfied. Now be forewarned. It is a soul kitchen. 7 crowded tables in the restaurant. 4 tables on the sidewalk in front and about 6 picnic tables in the alley. Last time I was there for lunch there were two gorgeous belles sitting at one of those picnic tables and Tony Ray's brother and I sat right down next to them. If you still can't find a spot walk two doors down the street to Avondale Brewery and order yourself a Vanilliphant Porter or the Scottish Ale. Haul it all out back and eat underneath the trees in their beautiful beer garden. IF the weather is bad you can sit right there at the bar and chow down. If you don't like what you had, I will pick up your tab.

[MickintheHam]

One topic not often discussed is how to get your BBQ fix at breakfast. Head to Demetri's in Homewood, Al. BBQ omlet is fantastic.

[Darrell KSR]

One topic not often discussed is how to get your BBQ fix at breakfast. Head to Demetri's in Homewood, Al. BBQ omlet is fantastic.
Never had it. I should do that some day I have an 8 or 9:00 engagement downtown.

[TRUCKERCATFAN]

Not that I know of, but for sure stop at PeachPark and get some ice cream. Peach and strawberry are great! They have a pretty good pimento cheese sandwich as well.

Never tried the ice cream but have bought many baskets of Chilton County peaches in Clanton. Best peaches I've ever ate come from there along with South Carolina peaches. Georgia may be known as the "Peach State" but what they produce pales in comparison to Clanton and SC peaches.

[Darrell KSR]

Their peach cobbler and ice cream is really worth the drive.