First things first: St. Clair County, Alabama. It has two county seats: Ashville and Pell City. It is one of two counties in Alabama, and one of 33 in the United States, with more than one county seat. Its name is in honor of General Arthur St. Clair, an officer in the French and Indian War.
Cropwell is a small town and an unincorporated community. Cropwell was originally called Coosa or Coosa Valley until 1837, when it began to be called Cropwell.
Last week we traveled to St. Clair County to Cropwell which is near Pell City. Several people had recommended this restaurant and we were eager to sample their BBQ.
They opened for business in 1969. The waiting area is full of unique and fun items.
Here's the menu.
It's a counter service restaurant with a fix your own drink station along with a large dining room.
I'll always try the onion rings on the bbq tour. I continue to be hopeful each time that I'll be served freshly hand cut onion rings with a crunchy exterior and a tender onion slice that doesn't slide out with the first bite. These weren't those.
Thick cut, with a heavy chewy batter, these weren't the onion rings of my dreams. No dipping sauce was served with them. If these are your favorite kind of onion ring, you'll be pleased.
I ordered the pulled pork plate with fries and fried okra.
I liked that even though this was a "plate," I was served a bun in case I wanted to make a pulled pork sandwich!
The pulled pork was definitely finely chopped instead of the pulled version. However, the pork had a distinct smoky flavor, was moist and flavorful, and was a nice mix of inside and outside (bark) meat.
The sauce was thin and tangy. I liked it a lot.
The fries were generic in that they weren't bad and weren't great...just a filler on the plate.
Now to the best thing on my plate, the fried okra.
These little nuggets of okra goodness were as close to homemade in a cast iron skillet okra that I've ever had in a restaurant. If I had known how awesome this okra was, I would have ditched the fries and had a double serving of the okra.
Sweet Harold ordered the 1/2 smoked chicken, cole slaw, and baked beans. He was also served a bun in case he wanted to make a sandwich the chicken.
A delicious looking chicken, yes?!
The chicken was well smoked, but had no dry rub or seasonings on the exterior. The dark meat was better than the white meat. The breast meat was slightly overcooked.
The baked beans were actually baked. They had a small amount of ground beef with no discernable onions or peppers.
The cole slaw was mayo based and when asked how he liked it, his response was, "It's nothing to write home about." Again, you mileage may vary.
We elected to order dessert. He thoroughly enjoyed the Reese's Peanut Butter Pie.
This pie was extremely rich with a layer of chocolate topped with a layer of peanut butter filling. Drizzled with chocolate and topped with peanut butter chips, this is a Reese's Cup lovers dream.
I had the Chocolate Silk Pie.
A fudge like chocolate filling topped with a whipped cream layer and chocolate shavings! So delicious. A nice ending for our meal.
Standouts: fried okra, pork, desserts
Point Takeaways: fries, onion rings, sytrofoam/plastic
Our Score: 87
So many places for you to try.
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