Went to this little joint in Bull Shoals, Arkansas, 2x last week. It was called Al B.'s BBQ. Just a small joint near all the fishing and hunting territory you could ever want.
Anyway, one day I had the Pulled pork. It said "8 ounces" on the menu.... It was closer to 20 ounces! And it was ALL GOOD. I had it for 3 meals. Another day I went for his smoked Keilebasi platter. Also very good and very large. Both meals came with 2 HUGE sides and a slice of Texas toast. His sauce was good, not great, but the meats were FABULOUS.
So, it was slow and I met the owner. He took me back to his smoking area. He was using a HUGE LP tank, all of his own design. He even did all the welding. This baby could probably have smoked 750 pounds of meat at a time!
We chatted for half an hour.... So, he gave me one bit of advice: If you are married, or getting married, DO NOT OPEN A BBQ JOINT! ( LOL ).... He said " This business ruined 2 marriages for me, and it is working on killing a 3rd one".
As he said, and I am aware... ( 6 ) 12 - 14 hour days a week for work, and 5 - 6 hours on Sunday to clean the kitchen and pit. And no vacation in the last 7 years...
But this guy sure made some MIGHTY FINE Q.
On another note, I also had THE WORST BBQ ever in Arkansas. It was in a place called Nick's right off the exit of route 40, east of Little Rock. The meat was "OK", but the sauce was so nasty I actually only ate 2 bites. Threw the rest of the BBQ away. Good thing the catfish part of the meal was so good!
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