Last Monday, Labor Day, we decided to take a short road trip to Birmingham. Surely, with it being the last official holiday of Summer, everyone would be home cooking out and having fun with their friends, right? It should be an excellent day to try out a new to us BBQ restaurant, right? No, on both counts.
Saw's BBQ located at 1008 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL was extremely busy! The dining area is extremely small with only five or six small tables. Fortunately, there was (limited) seating outside on the sidewalk. We decided to take a leap of faith and order. Sweet Harold snagged a to-go menu and we retreated to the sidewalk to check out the offerings. I wanted to try an assortment so that I could give an accurate review here. While he went back inside to order, I kept an eagle eye on the outdoor dining situation so I could grab a table when one became available.
After SH returned to the sidewalk, I had been fortunate to get a table and we settled in to wait for our food. We were #66 and occasionally an employee would open the door, announce a number to the outdoor diners, and would deliver their food.
While we're waiting, we observe dozens of people go in and leave with to go orders. After about 45 minutes, SH decides to go check on our food. Wouldn't you know? He was told that they had called #66 repeatedly, but no one answered. Oh, they forgot to go outside and call #66, but here you go! Not a very good start to our meal.
By this time, we are more than ready to dig in to our lunch. So here we go:
I always want to try different versions of white BBQ sauce to see how they compare/contrast to my award winning sauce. As you can tell, there is an ample amount of smoked chicken along with LOTS of dill pickles. The chicken was very tender, had a delicious smoky flavor, and there was lot of sauce. My verdict on the sauce? Not quite as garlicky or vinegary as I prefer, but a good sauce.
The sandwich combo comes with one side and a drink. The sweet tea WAS sweet so if that bothers you go with a half/half. I wanted to try as many of the side dishes as possible, so I ordered an extra.
The baked beans were served hot and were well-seasoned. I wish there had been some pork in there though.
The mac and cheese was the baked variety with an ample amount of cheese. The topping was nice and crunchy which is a plus for me.
Sweet Harold ordered the sampler platter which included a chicken leg quarter with white sauce, two ribs, and a serving of pulled pork. He selected potato salad and cole slaw as his sides. Two pieces of white bread completed his order.
Y'all know me, I had to start with that pulled pork! There was a distinct smoky flavor which was the perfect amount and not overwhelming. The pork was tender and included both "inside" and "outside" meat which offered a combination of textures. The sauce was vinegar based and had the perfect bite.
As you can see, the ribs were served with a generous amount of BBQ sauce. They were tender and well seasoned. As I've learned through the Kansas City BBQ Society, perfect ribs are NOT "fall off the bone." Those ribs are overcooked. For the perfect rib, you should be able to take a bite in the middle of the rib, see the bone, and the bone immediately dry. That is a perfectly cooked rib. These passed the test.
Last, but not least, the chicken leg quarter was nicely smoked and seasoned. The meat was extremely tender.
We were honestly too full for dessert, but we shared a banana pudding to give a review. If they hadn't been so busy, I would have questioned the staff about the topping. It wasn't meringue, it wasn't whipped topping, and I thought for a moment it might be the jarred marshmallow topping, but I wasn't sure. It was a nice pudding, with lots of bananas and wafers. If any of you know the secret to the topping, please let me know!
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