BIG SMOKEY BAR-B-Q : BIG SMOKEY CHARACTER

I've been driving by Big Smokey BAR-B-Q for years on my way to my favorite Soul Food restaurant, A Family Affair, and every time I would tell myself I needed to stop some time and give it a try because as the sign says... You know you want some ribs.

Today marks one year since I started the blog and the very first blog I wrote was for Smokey's BBQ & Diner. So I decided I would stick with the Smokey theme to begin year two.

Smokey Ray's trailer was my first thought but last time I tried to catch them on a Wednesday they weren't there and I have already blogged about them.

So I took into consideration that I may be meeting a friend for lunch at A Family Affair on Friday and decided the time was right to finally try Big Smokey BAR-B-Q.

Now, it's no secret I'm a big fan of the hole in the wall Q-Raunt. I've eaten some really good BBQ in a lot of places that most people would never set foot in. At the same time I've eaten some not so great BBQ at a few of them too.

The menu, much like everything else, at Big Smokey is very simple. If my math is correct you have seven choices. Yes I realize the sign in the first picture says links but I don't think Big Smokey still serves them.

I went with the rib dinner which is served with white bread, beans, potato salad, and sauce.

I'm not going to talk much about the food in this blog. It wasn't some of the best I've had at a hole in the wall. The ribs were a little tough. The sides were good enough. The beans had celery added to them. I don't think I've ever had them like that before and it worked very well.

The sauce reminded me of what used to be served at Tom's at NE 10th and I-35 in Oklahoma City. It was served warm and was tomato based. I talked to the owner quite a bit and he mentioned he was from East Texas. I've not made it to East Texas to try BBQ yet so that may be the style of sauce from that area.

The indoor dining area can seat eight people. There is one very tiny booth, a table with three chairs and a counter with three stools.... I loved it!

I also loved this pit! It's rare I get to take a picture of a Q-Raunt's smoker but this one is sitting right up front and when the opportunity presented itself I took advantage of it.

I also took advantage of being the only person in the place to have a really enjoyable chat with the owner. We didn't talk about much about Q but we talked about everything else and he passed on a handy piece of wisdom that his father had passed on to him....

"The place you never want to be is
the place where two fools meet."

We were talking about how inconsiderate drivers are these days but I can appreciate how many other situations this advice could apply to.

I can't really recommend going to Big Smokey BAR-B-Q for the food. Although I do plan on going back to try the beef. But I do have to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and try it for it's character. 

The owner is one of the nicest men you'll ever get the chance of meeting and sometimes that can overcome everything else. I get so wrapped up in my search for the best BBQ I can find that sometimes I forget to just enjoy the little things.