I am not surprised that the food can be pretty hit and miss here though clearly it leans towards the miss.
I will say I’ve seen the restaurant on a few BBQ shows and the process of making the food is highly entertaining to watch. But maybe they are trading now on nostalgia instead of quality.
Good to hear things are sorta OK at Big Bob’s. The staff shortage is everywhere. It is one of the more amazing things I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Thanks Ground Chuck!
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
Well, I know folks here have had a hit and miss experience at Big Bob Gibson's, and I've had any number of PM's over the years asking me about the restaurant, but despite living within 30-40 miles of it for decades, I had not been there except for a brief business lunch many years ago at their secondary location, well before I even know about white BBQ sauce and the story of Big Bob inventing it for his chicken.
Anyway, Yvonne and I took a little road trip to Decatur yesterday afternoon after church, for a late (2pm) lunch, to their 6th Avenue location. It was a road test for a transmission I repaired (myself) on a Subaru this week. Big Bob's was the bonus.
First - selfies outside!
While we looked at the menu - which actually has pretty reasonable prices ($4.50 for a pulled pork sandwich for example), I knew the reason to go to Big Bob's in the first place was the chicken in white sauce, so we both ordered that. I got mine with baked beans and Mac-n-cheese. Yvonne went for fries and slaw. When placing the order, the waitress asked the question "do you want all white or all dark meat", and I said... I want a half chicken like it says on the menu, haha....
Anyway, my verdict is this. The Mac is the first thing I tasted, and it was really, really good. So were the beans. Both were hot. I started eating the chicken with the leg quarter and wing, and it was truly perfect. The tanginess of the white sauce, the delicious moistness of the meat had me really going.
Then I got to the breast last. And considering Yvonne gave me her breast (i.e. half of her half chicken), I had two to reach this verdict. The chicken halves were cooked perfectly for dark meat, but the white meat was somewhat dried out. I've had worse, but I've also had much better. If there had not been extra white sauce on the table to dunk it in, I would have had trouble finishing the two chicken breasts.
So, the answer to me is, if the waitress asks all white or all dark, go with two leg quarters for your "half chicken" plate. Which was $14.99 with two sides, a roll and a pickle.
Would we go again? An overwhelming YES. And Yvonne said this piece of lemon meringue pie was worth the 30 minute drive each way! . It was the best one I've tasted since my grandmother passed away in 1986.
mrteddyprincess B, yeah, its thin, but its always been that way. To be honest, when I moved here in 1989, I saw some variation of it in squirt bottles on the tables of all the local BBQ joints. If you want thick clingy sauce, you gotta go with what a lot of the local joints used to call "rib sauce". The "bbq sauce" was always thin and running - vinegar based.
She was doing good this weekend, but it's the tail end of the last round of chemo. More details later in another thread.
+1 on Yvonne's and your smiles. Hang in there. BTW, that mac n cheese makes me home sick. Texas mac n cheese is not good compared to the southern versions.
jfmorris Jim, I know Yvonne has been through some rough stuff, but the pics of her smiling face would never let on. I finally got to stop at Big James a couple of years ago, and I pretty sure that’s where I picked up Covid. But back to their food. I really like their white sauce. It goes well with pork, too. I am with you that the breast was dry. Overall I would give the food a good and worth eating there again. We didn’t have the dessert. Of course, smoked chicken can’t have crisp skin unless you drop it into a fryer or crank up the heat near the end, but for me the skin distracted from the meal.
I was making the 30 minute trip to Big Bob Gibson's just so that I could answer questions I get in PM's from around the country, and to judge them based on what they are famous for - chicken with the white sauce they invented.
As au4stree points out, there were many "Gibson" BBQ places around, but I *think* as of about 2 years ago, the last ones other than Big Bob's went out of business. Gibson's BBQ in Huntsville, in business since the 50's, closed their final location after a fire in 2022.
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