I have a hard time waxing on about barbecue restaurants. And this is actually surprising to me. I’m the guy that for years ran atlantabarbecue.com – a web site listing over 175 barbecue restaurants in the greater Atlanta area (no longer online).
As a child I hung around my grandfather’s open pit barbecue joint in Daytona, with a pork rib for a pacifier. I’ve got a wood-fired vertical smoker with modified baffles in the smoke chamber and plans to add Ethernet temperature control (http://rocksbarbque.com/). I’m seriously opinionated on the subject, yet surprising tolerant as well.
1/2 slab with pulled pork, macaroni and cheese and fried okra
Pig-N-Chik is a small local chain that opened a few years ago, and from the outset they’ve done a respectable job with pork. The pulled pork (hidden beneath the ribs above) is large chunks of pork shoulder (I prefer shoulder – it tastes more of pig. My grandfather used boned and rolled hams, which I find a bit milder). What sets Pig-N-Chik’s pulled pork off from most local places is the bark – the caramelized crust that forms on the outside of the meat over the hours spent in the smoker. A good bark is noticably absent from much of the pulled pork I’ve run across in town.
Ribs are good here as well, meaty and cooked properly – not too quickly (which makes them tough and chewy) and not too long (either dry and stringy or falling apart). That being said, the barbecue here isn’t as good as mine (c.f., “seriously opinionated” above). But since lately I don’t have a spare 14 hour stretch to tend the smoker, Pig-N-Chik is a solid fall back (c.f., “surpisingly tolerant”).
Town of Spectre
Pig-N-Chik
5071 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
Chamblee, GA 30341
If you like BBQ, I highly recommend “Garden Produce & Country Store” in Stone Mountain. This is a little mom n’ pop on the side of Stephenson Road. Their food is great!
Sounds like a good reason for a trip to Stone Mountain! Thanks for the recommendation.
It’s difficult to find good PP at restaurants. It’s even harder to find PP better than your own. I know, I never have. Glad you found something that will do in a pinch.
As long as PP stands for pulled pork, I agree!
Glad to have found this blog! Pig N Chik scored well on the AJC blog post I’ve recently “scored”, though opinions about the place are mixed (I didn’t post scores in the Pig N’ Chik range, but could probably be persuaded to). In any event, I’m going to link to this blog and best of luck to you!
FnS.