BBQgeek

Pictures from the BBQ trail #1 - Pork and Hoecakes @ Papa KayJoe’s Bar-B-Que

 

My best buddy is on a five day run on the Tennessee - Arkansas BBQ trail and has sent me back some pictures to share.  His first stop was at Papa KayJoe’s Bar-B-Que in Centerville, TN for a serving of smoke pork and hoecakes with a sweet vinegar sauce.  This is a signature dish for Papa Kayjoe's.  The Southern BBQ trail website has a great audio interview with owner Devin Pikard and a great photo slide show of Papa Kayjoe's.  Papa Kayjoe's is a classic BBQ joint that relys on an old-school cinderblock pit complete with corrugated steel for a lid.  They burn down wood for charcoal and tend the pit by hand.  As soon as I received this picture, it made me think of Glady's Knight's popular chicken and waffle restaurant in downtown ATL.  Then I remembered a similar dish featured in the Atlanta Magazine BBQ issue in 2010.  Staq's BBQ in Smyrna had what they called a "mess" that was a waffle with a pile of pulled pork and coleslaw on top.   Smoke, savory, & sweet = slam dunk.

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Barkers Red Hots - Roswell, GA

 

Barker's Red Hots recently opened their second location on King Rd, directly adjacent to Roswell High School, in Roswell, GA.  The restaurant has been in the works for some time now and represents Barker's first step towards franchisement.  I wrote a glowing review of Barkers the first time I visited their original location.  Everything that was excellent before is just as excellent now.  The hot dogs are still the best in the city, as are the onion rings.  The loganberry juice is still the city's most interesting non-alcoholic beverage and is the perfect accompaniment to a dog and rings.

What has changed for the better is the space.  Where the original Windy Hill location was intimate and sometimes crowded, the new Roswell location is roomy and comfortable.  One of the quirky and fun parts about Barker's has been the intense effort to recreate the sights, smells, and sounds of a  boardwalk. Glenn and Vivian maintained the boardwalk theme in the new location and even expanded on it a little bit.  In addition to the sound of seagulls that has always been a Barkers mainstay, there is now the sounds of a roller coaster full of screaming people as you exit the main dining room and head towards the restroom.  Continue reading Barkers Red Hots here....