Cuisine Review

By Billy Curtright

Lagniappe columnist

I’ll be filling in this week as a guest restaurant reviewer while Kinnon takes a well-deserved break. I was honored to be asked to get back into the critic’s role, as I used to do a few years ago.

While “up the country” with friends and family a few weeks ago, a reliable food source told my Lovely Companion and me to stop at a spot in Mt. Vernon to pick up some great barbeque. I asked him the name of the place, and he had no idea. But he knew there was a large cut-out of a pig dressed up as Elvis by the front door.

We did finally find the small building and took our B-B-Q with us. I’ll get into the actual food in a minute, but we did find out that “Bar-B-Quing With My Honey” (yes, that is the whole name) also has a place in Mobile out on Moffett Road.

Our Mt. Vernon take-out was exceptional, but it was time for the complete experience. I took the whole family including my Lovely Companion and my 10-year-old daughter. After heading west on Moffett, we arrived at the built-up double-wide trailer with fancy white trim. The décor was 1950’s-Elvis with a black & white (and leaning) tile floor and ‘57 Chevys painted on the walls. While some Jackson Five music came out of the stereo, we were greeted by a pleasant hostess who was also our server.

We had plenty of choices on drinks starting with frozen strawberry or margarita daiquiris. I saw one of my favorite libations in the cooler and went with the Bud Light in the new 16-ounce aluminum “milk-bottle” container. I’m convinced the thick metal keeps it extra chilly.

I have always loved a menu with pictures – usually seen in Chinese restaurants. Well, this place also had one. If our food looked as good as the staged photos in our menus, we were in good shape. Pit-cooked ribs, chicken, pork and Conecuh sausage were the featured attractions. Other hits listed were shrimp, oysters, fish, burgers and wings. Enough was enough, we had to choose something and get on with it.

My Lovely Companion chose to go against the barbeque grain and get the bacon cheeseburger loaded up with extra stuff ($4.99). It was big and bold. It was obvious the burger had been cooked in the pit along with the other goods. It was cooked medium, just like my Lovely Companion had ordered, and the juicy mound was handed over to me for a taste. Right on, brotha!

I got the rib dinner ($9.99) that was a combo of ribs and two side dishes. The first noticeable feature of the ribs was the dark glaze of sauce. My first bite revealed a tender piece of pork meat slathered with the signature honey glaze that had a delicious smokey flavor. I then understood the reason for the restaurant’s name. And like their menu said, it was love at fist bite.

Another surprise was that the side dishes were not the usual afterthought. The turnip greens were excellent and reminded me of the old-fashioned version at Zitsos Cafeteria downtown. I also had the baked beans, which were stewed in the honey sauce to tie the whole platter into a winner.

My daughter got the basic kid’s meal with a filet o’ catfish and fries ($4.99). The two things to know about this are that they welcome kids and also have all-you-can-eat catfish and ribs on Friday and Saturday nights.

Besides the great food, Bar-B-Quing With My Honey is a real neighborhood-type place. One of the owners, Tim Witherspoon, recognized us from our first visit to the Mt. Vernon locale. He came over and gave us an update on all of their big events and even bigger plans for the Moffett Road eatery.

During this discussion, Tim’s cell phone rang, and it was his wife and business partner, Glenda. Tim handed the phone to my Lovely Companion, and they had a conversation like long-lost buddies. Didn’t I say this was a friendly place?

After we paid the bill, Mr. Tim gave us a tour of the back deck where they have live jazz on Sunday nights and karaoke parties (I’m in on that). The crew at Bar-B-Quing With My Honey work seven days a week and offer great food for a pleasant & casual dining experience. I’m just left wondering where they get all of that energy.

Billy Curtright is a former Lagniappe cuisine editor who currently works distributing Latino Wines in the area, and who graciously agreed to fill in while Kinnon Phillips traveled to France. Billy can be e-mailed at ??.

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