Ollie's Barbeque

It is not often that someone moves a restaurant from Birmingham to the Gulf Coast. When one does, it says something about the growth and potential for our area.

James Barry and his partner John Kirkpatrick have done just that in Daphne. Ollie’s Barbeque had a well-regarded and popular outfit in Birmingham from 1928 until the mid-’90s. The founder, “Ollie” McClung, purchased an existing barbecue place and along with his wife created an institution. They were famous for two things, barbecue with a vinegar-based sauce and incredible pies.

Ollie’s was not too far from Birmingham-Southern College, where I went to school and located near the interstate, close to downtown on the other side of Legion Field from BSC. Birmingham has so many fantastic and unique barbecue restaurants, each with its own flavor that made them hard to choose from. Ollie’s was once in a great area, but became isolated by the mid-’80s. They hung on for several more years, tried to relocate in the suburbs, but did not have a good experience. The current owners of the name and secrets saw the explosive growth in Baldwin County and what they considered a lack of barbecue establishments and seized on the opportunity.

Ollie’s is located just south of the Daphne Municipal Complex in the Colonial Plaza (the same center where Samurai J’s is located). It is a typical strip center layout, rather cavernous and cold, with not much to encourage diners to hang out for any long period. There are televisions at every sight line showing sports games, which was great. It was good to be able to peer up at a baseball game and could be a popular place for ribs and football. There is a very small “bar” and Ollie’s has an extensive selection of domestic and imported beers and even a “Bucket of Beer” (4 domestics for $8).

The menu is large and encompassing. There are sandwiches, salads and potatoes, deluxe sandwiches, burgers and barbecue plates. The sandwiches have choices of sliced or chopped pork, beef or chopped chicken. You may get them on a regular-size (around $3) or king-size bun ($4). They also have regular sized hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs. Larger, specialty burgers ($6.95) are half-pounders served with one side. They have the usual bacon cheddar, mushroom Swiss and a “western” burger with onion rings, cheese and Ollie’s sauce.

The salads that stand out are a barbecue, smoked turkey chef along with spuds with just about any topping, from barbecue to chili cheese. Onto the deluxe sandwiches, which are really the king-size served with one side item. Others not previously mentioned are a smoked chicken breast, sliced turkey and a quarter pound dog (all in the range of $6-$7). Everything comes without sauce—with the vinegar and tomato-based sauces found on the table.

My wife ordered a barbecue sandwich ($2.79) and poured the vinegar sauce on top. Personally I do not care for vinegar sauce, but she loves it. This is a clear, brownish sauce with a strong vinegar taste. What appealed to and impressed all of us was the quality and flavor of the meats themselves. Hardwoods are obviously used in the process and impart a just-right smoky flavor.

Ollie’s knows how to cook some barbecue with this hint of flavor without drying out the pork or beef. My wife selected onion rings as an a la carte side ($1.50) and while they were pre-battered, they tasted fairly good but not crispy. I selected the Chopped Barbecue Chicken Sandwich ($2.99) and this was the only unimpressive selection of the group. I cut it in half, placing a sauce on each.

The more traditional sauce is slightly spicy, but not in an overpowering way, and was needed. The chicken was pretty dry and the vinegar sauce did not help this at all. I recommend you stick with the pork and beef items. My son ordered a chopped barbecue sandwich as well and gobbled it up. His fries were not grand but passable, crinkle cut and plentiful.

My daughter and I split a Half Slab of Ribs Plate ($10.95) and fought over the last one. We should have ordered an entire slab. These are phenomenal. The meat fell onto our plate, sliding off the bone when we picked them up. These ribs need no sauce and have little to no fat on them whatsoever. Just thinking about the juicy, smoky thick slabs of ribs encourages me to go pick some up now.

All of the “plates” come with two side items and we tried their vinegar-based cole slaw versus the mayonnaise-based selection offered as well. The cole slaw is good, but rather heavy on celery seed. With the fries, I recommend you mix ketchup with the tomato-based barbecue sauce for a tantalizing dip.

Always, always save room for the pies ($2.50). Ollie’s still uses recipes from the restaurant’s beginning, made in their kitchen daily in addition to banana pudding ($2). The apple pie is the only one we did not try, but I am sure it is good. The chocolate pie was silky, rich and puffed with a perfect meringue (as were all of them). It is wonderful, but the coconut pie is perfect, best ever. Slivers of coconut are densely packed into velvet custard—my wife and I tried to out-fork each other with this pie and the special of the day, lemon. Tart and sweet, this pie tied with all of the others. Their crust has actual taste to it, unlike the frozen ones we encounter just about everywhere else.

Welcome to town, Ollie’s. I will return for ribs and pie (that says a lot for me to drive 25 minutes for barbecue).

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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