The Search for Smoke Leads South

After my disappointing experience at Ott's BBQ in Knoxville on Friday, the family headed out to Cleveland, TN on Saturday as my cousin was graduating from Lee University. After all the festivities finished, including a small family reunion and a brief tour around the alma matter, we decided to visit a local BBQ joint as the taste for BBQ had not fully been quenched on the previous day.

The wife and kids has eaten at a place called Jordan's BBQ before on one of their trips to visit Uncle Brad. My oldest had enjoyed a peanut butter and banana sandwich her last visit and aggressively suggested we go back their so she could partake of another. Having never been there myself, and the fact that my wife said it was good, I was agreeable.

The facility was what I would expect for a locally owned BBQ joint, had great atmosphere, and smelled of smoke! Ah, now this is how its supposed to be... Anyway, I ordered the combo dinner with ribs and a smoked chicken breast, corn-on-the-cob, and their hot slaw. Notice the semi healthy option for a side dish... Even better is that when the food came out, it actually covered the plate and didn't cost nearly as much as the trips to Ott's.

I have to say, I'm much more of a baby back ribs kind of person and Jordan's serves spareribs. Nevertheless, their ribs were very tender, had a good sauce (not great), and had a semi smokey flavor. The smoked chicken breast was very moist and tender, yet again, just a slightly smokey taste. The sides, well, they were sides...not a huge fan of the hot slaw and the corn was .... corn.

I would certainly eat there again and it was much better than Ott's. However, my top three or four BBQ favorite eating destinations are still secure in their rankings...