Just got back from my trip to Tennessee. My brother-in-law, my sister and I decided to take an old fashion road trip with BBQ as an integral part of the trip. We stopped at 11 places. This is a trip report with a some pictures of the places we stopped at and my personal thoughts about each place. Forgive the quality of the pictures as they were taken with my phone.
Day one we we left WI through Chicago on our way to Louiville KY. We hit traffic in Chicago so we pulled off and began our BBQ trip at Smoque.
I got the ribs and brisket. The brisket was quite good, but the texture on the ribs was not perfect. The sides were baked beans, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. All were really good with the beans having a nice smoked flavor and the slaw was fantastic. It had a crisp, light flavor and was possibly my favorite slaw of the trip.
We got to Louisville around 1:30 AM and left for Mammoth Cave early in the morning so we didn't get to try BBQ in Kentucky. We stayed in Nashville and decided to eat downtown, but since the BBQ joints were packed we opted for non-BBQ.
The next day we headed down to Chattanooga, but based on recommendations from BBQ Brethren we had to stop and Martin's. This was my favorite place overall. Between the three of us we had the sausage, ribs, turkey, pork, and brisket. All were fantastic. Best brisket I had on the trip and ribs were in the top three. The beans were also my favorite.
While in Chattanooga we tried to stop at Hill Billy Willy's, but they were closed since it was a Sunday. We ended up stopping at Shuford's Smokehouse.
The food was really good. The pork was flavorful and not too mushy. My ribs were pretty good though a touch overcooked. The chicken was great and was fresh off the smoker. The sides were good, but nothing standout. The sausage had a smoke flavor, but tasted like bologna to me. The interesting thing about this place is that they didn't serve brisket. Their beef was bottom round, and though it was different than brisket is was still good.
After two nights in Chattanooga we headed toward Memphis through Alabama. After hitting the Space and Rocket Museum we stopped at Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. This place was my least favorite BBQ restaurant. That's not to say I didn't like the food, but there it was inconsistent between our plates. We all got the chicken, but one was juicy and another was dry. My pork was a touch dry, but the brisket was pretty good. One person in our group didn't care for the slaw.
I forgot to get a picture of the outside, but here is my plate.
We got to Memphis later in the afternoon and the following morning we headed to the National Bird Dog Museum. Field trialing is a big pastime for me so I wanted to post a picture of a statue out front. I'm a setter guy so this year has been a big year for us setter guys!
Setter's Rule.
To be continued.
Day one we we left WI through Chicago on our way to Louiville KY. We hit traffic in Chicago so we pulled off and began our BBQ trip at Smoque.
I got the ribs and brisket. The brisket was quite good, but the texture on the ribs was not perfect. The sides were baked beans, mac and cheese, and coleslaw. All were really good with the beans having a nice smoked flavor and the slaw was fantastic. It had a crisp, light flavor and was possibly my favorite slaw of the trip.
We got to Louisville around 1:30 AM and left for Mammoth Cave early in the morning so we didn't get to try BBQ in Kentucky. We stayed in Nashville and decided to eat downtown, but since the BBQ joints were packed we opted for non-BBQ.
The next day we headed down to Chattanooga, but based on recommendations from BBQ Brethren we had to stop and Martin's. This was my favorite place overall. Between the three of us we had the sausage, ribs, turkey, pork, and brisket. All were fantastic. Best brisket I had on the trip and ribs were in the top three. The beans were also my favorite.
While in Chattanooga we tried to stop at Hill Billy Willy's, but they were closed since it was a Sunday. We ended up stopping at Shuford's Smokehouse.
The food was really good. The pork was flavorful and not too mushy. My ribs were pretty good though a touch overcooked. The chicken was great and was fresh off the smoker. The sides were good, but nothing standout. The sausage had a smoke flavor, but tasted like bologna to me. The interesting thing about this place is that they didn't serve brisket. Their beef was bottom round, and though it was different than brisket is was still good.
After two nights in Chattanooga we headed toward Memphis through Alabama. After hitting the Space and Rocket Museum we stopped at Big Bob Gibson's BBQ. This place was my least favorite BBQ restaurant. That's not to say I didn't like the food, but there it was inconsistent between our plates. We all got the chicken, but one was juicy and another was dry. My pork was a touch dry, but the brisket was pretty good. One person in our group didn't care for the slaw.
I forgot to get a picture of the outside, but here is my plate.
We got to Memphis later in the afternoon and the following morning we headed to the National Bird Dog Museum. Field trialing is a big pastime for me so I wanted to post a picture of a statue out front. I'm a setter guy so this year has been a big year for us setter guys!
Setter's Rule.
To be continued.
