Location: 3451 Cobb Pkwy NW #13 Acworth, Georgia 30101
(770) 529-5227
Parking: Located in a strip mall at the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Mars Hill road, there is plenty of parking available.
Menu: Zeigler's menu
Service: Counter service with food trays delivered to the table. Our server this day was friendly and pleasant. Drinks are DIY with a drink station located near the counter.
Cooking on: Southern Pride
The Vibe: I'm not sure why, but I expected Zeigler's to be bigger. I guess I had pictured a larger restaurant due to some of the high accolades this restaurant has received from notable local food writers. However I've learned over the years that in BBQ bigger rarely equals better. Zeiglar's websie states that the owners got into the restaurant business as a natural progression from competition team to caterers to restaurant owners. The restaurant's homespun feeling has plenty of evidence of the Zeiglar's competition and catering history with awards and photos scattered around the walls. There is pleasant seating and lighting, a nonobtrusive tv, and a clean feeling to the place.
Who is the creepy guy in the corner photobombing my interior shot with a thumbs up sign?
The Food
Zeigler's has received high praise for their meats in the past couple years from some of notable local magazines and bloggers. The consistent complaint has been that the sides just don't keep up to the quality of the meat. My dining buddy and I both had three meat samplers with a pair of sides each. In all we sampled ribs, pulled pork, brisket, pulled chicken, brunswick stew, BBQ beans, potato salad, and mac and cheese.
This day the ribs and the brisket were the best. Ribs were not overcooked, and the smoke and rub were spot on. The brisket was tender but lacked a well defined smoke ring. The brisket seemed like it could have used a little more rub and had a mushy texure. We were less impressed with the pork and chicken. The meats looked to be chopped as opposed to pulled and were presauced. Presaucing isn't a big deal for some people, but for me it is a huge foul.
The Sides and The Sauces
Sides are commonly an afterthought at most BBQ restaurants. But at several of Atlanta's best BBQ joints the sides can stand shoulder to shoulder or even taller than the meats. Heirloom, Community Q, Grand Champion, and Big Shanty BBQ all offer excellent sides and baked treats on a daily basis that break the mold of BBQ sides-as-an-afterthought. I don't think it's a big knock against Zeigler's to say that their meats are well done and that they could stand to put a little thought and time into trying to raise the bar by rounding out their sides (but I wouldn't mess with the stew - it's just fine as is) There's nothing wrong with being in the majority and having a little room to grow.
Zeigler's sauces are designed to be crowd pleasers. Both the Apple Bourbon sauce and the Spicy sauce are solid choices that are somewhere between a western NC sauce and a Memphis sauce. I like that Zeigler's has resisted the trend to clutter the table with four or more different sauces like a few of the BBQ joints I've been to recently. Two sauce options is plenty as far as I'm concerned.
Bottom Line
Acworth has a solid BBQ option with Zeigler's. Bar-b-cutie is right across the street, but I would skip it 100% of the time so I could enjoy Zeigler's.
