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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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Great post, bodacious. Glad you enjoyed Arkansas, and sorry you found a p***poor BBQ joint in Little Rock. There are 2-3 good places in Little Rock, but most good Q joints are usually off the beaten path or in some of the smaller towns, like Batesville. Also glad you appreciate our wide open spaces. We hold alot of pride in being the Natural State.
quote:
Originally posted by GLH:
Great post, bodacious. Glad you enjoyed Arkansas, and sorry you found a p***poor BBQ joint in Little Rock. There are 2-3 good places in Little Rock, but most good Q joints are usually off the beaten path or in some of the smaller towns, like Batesville. Also glad you appreciate our wide open spaces. We hold alot of pride in being the Natural State.


I had heard about a place called Corky's, but I didn't actually eneter L.R. I was in my rental car and out the door.

Arkansas is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.... and CLEAN. I saw virtually no litter on my trip to Bull Shoals / Mountain Home.
Wheelz is correct. McClard's is supposed to be Bill's favorite, but we all know how reliable Bill's tastes are. Confused

Without dumping on someone's livelihood, let me just say we were disappointed. Their pulled pork isn't. They puree it or something. It comes to the table looking almost like mash potatoes, having been forced through a fine mesh strainer of some kind.

The baked beans didn't taste like anything I've ever had before, but maybe that's their signature dish, who knows? The slaw was good, but not good enough to ever get us back.

We live close to Bull Shoals and we'll give our neighbor's Q a try.
quote:
Originally posted by arkansasQer:
Wheelz is correct. McClard's is supposed to be Bill's favorite, but we all know how reliable Bill's tastes are. Confused

Without dumping on someone's livelihood, let me just say we were disappointed. Their pulled pork isn't. They puree it or something. It comes to the table looking almost like mash potatoes, having been forced through a fine mesh strainer of some kind.

The baked beans didn't taste like anything I've ever had before, but maybe that's their signature dish, who knows? The slaw was good, but not good enough to ever get us back.

We live close to Bull Shoals and we'll give our neighbor's Q a try.


right on 178 in Lakeview, really... not exactly Bull Shoals.

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