Tommy's BBQ in Vicksburg, MS

[texastweeter]

Today for lunch, we decided to try Tommy's BBQ in Vicksburg Mississippi. Pulling up it's a small joint, looks to seat 50, maybe 60 indoors.. to the left is an old flatbed pickup set up as a stage with chairs and tables outside (more on that later. As we walked in, you could see a 1,000 gallon offset chugging along to the right, outside a plexiglass set of windows, and a small raw wood stage inside. The tables are simple picnic style affairs (as they should be for a hole in the ball que joint) and raw plywood adorned the walls. The simple concrete floors were clean and tidy. You could tell the metal roof had just been spray insulated in the past few days, and did a good job of keeping it cool, despite humidity of 80% outside, and it being 88°. A small ramp takes you up into the kitchen structure. Inside there was a line of about 10 people, but they were moving fast. (Sunday at about 1330). Various knicknacks for sale, Mason jars of homemade sauces, coke bottles of hotsauce, and various pickles salsas, and relishes that were all clearly made adorned the shelves for sale. There was a small refrigerated cabinant with various desserts for sale, all home made. Key Lime pie??? "Don't mind if I do" said Amanda liberating a plastic clamshell full of its precious cargo from its fridged prison. As I got to the counter, I noticed that everyone working in the establishment seemed to be teenage. At the counter I ordered a pound of brisket (1/2 lb each of point and flat), a 1/2 lb of pulled pork, 1/2 rack of ribs (babyback), 1/2 lb of sausage, some Texas Twinkies, and 1/2 lb of turkey. "I'm sorry sir, we are out of turkey, however we do have some going in the pit that should be done soon." said the young casher. I replaced it with a 1/2 chicken. I asked what was the best side, and he recommended the collards or the mac&cheese. Amanda is a sucker for greens so it was an easy choice. I told them I wanted to do a little review here on their establishment, and asked if there was anyone that could let me outside to tour the pits, and I could talk with about their establishment. The cashier flashed a huge grin, and said "how about the owner that is also the pittmaster?" I said that would be great. He said hand on, disappeared around a corner, the immediately came back with a guy about my age. "This is the man himself, Tommy!" the kid said proudly. Tommy shook my hand, and introduced himself. He said give him just a bit to finish spritzing what's in the pit, feed it a few logs and check the meat that he had going. As I turned to walk away I realized I had forgotten drinks. I turned around and apologized and asked if I could buy 2 drinks. The cashier winked, tossed me a couple large Styrofoam cups and said "On the house sir" we took our key lime pie, headed out to the dining area to get our drinks and settle in for our food that they said would be delivered to us. As we walked to the table, I checked the receipt..."HOLY SHIT, ALL THAT WAS ONLY $72?!?!"

[smokenoob]

Just a snack? 😁

[Draznnl]

It’s a good thing y’all weren’t hungry.
Most. Importantly, how’d it all taste?

[LA Pork Butt]

We are waiting for the food review. I don’t go through Vicksburg anymore, but if the food is good I could take a little longer on my next trip to NOLA.

[texastweeter]

We only waiting about 5 minutes before a kid came carrying 3 bags full of clamshells to our table. It was a lot different than TX joins with their trays and butcher paper service. We opened the first one...sausage. Amanda immediately snatched it from me! Ohhhkay...uh, what's behind door number 2? HELL YEAH, TEXAS TWINKIES!!! I immediately inhaled one. OH MY GAWD BECKY.... this was the best Texas Twinkie I had ever had!! WHAT THE HELL, WE ARE IN MISSISSIPPI THOUGH?! I took a second to try to decide if I was going to move on to the next Pandoras box and immediately decided to go ahead and freebase the rest of these little jewels of decadence. (For the record, Amanda can't even handle jalapeno heat, so it was a safe move). About that time Amanda goes "Oh wow!! This sausage is FANTASTIC...uh, Adam, I think it's better than your homemade beef sausage." My heart sank..."but baby, you live my sausage?!" "It's OK, it's not your venison sausage, but it has your beef sausage beat." With a bit of my manhood salvaged, I muttered to myself "challenge accepted." So, we were off to a good start. I opened the next clamshell...chicken. as I do e in, I noticed the skin was quite tough, like really tough. Dang. Peeling g off the sking, I dug out several bites from the thigh meat. The flavor and texture under the skin was ok. Not great, but not bad. Maybe a bit dry, and a little light on salt, but passable. Kind of disappointed I tried a piece dipped in the sauce that was provided. Sauce was good but REALLY sweet. I'm not a sauce guy, and when I do use it, I like acid and heat. I knew Amanda would love it, as sweet sauce was her jam. I was right. She was a big fan. She gave the greens a try, and started to swoon... "damn, am I gonna lose my girl to this guy?!!" I thought. "Well?" I asked "these are the second best greens I have ever had!" She said. Starting to get mad "who the hell makes the best ones then???" "You of course, your greens are the best in the world she said." It felt honestly so I tool it. "Well his chicken is not very good babe, so don't get any ideas!" She laughed. I toom a bite of the greens, they were indeed wonderful. A+. Next clamshell. BRISKET, FINALLY!!! I took a bite of the point first. The cook was spot on, super tender, nice and moist, great flavor, but needed a bit more salt. Solid A-, and I'm a tough judge of brisket. Taki.g a bite of the flat...he nailed it! For the first time, I think his flat was better than the point. Maybe since it was thinner the salt proportions were correct, but it was great! Amanda asked for a bite so I gave her a slice of each; flat and point. "Pretty good she replied, and went back to her sausage, lol. "Can I get a bite of sausage?" I asked. Amanda glared at me and cut off two small hunks. Maybe a bite each. "That's all you get, the rest is mine." She replied staring dagger in my direction. "Pretty sure she psychically put "reach for that sausage, and I'll take your hand." Run through my brain at that moment. Next meat...baby back ribs. Opening g the box I got excited. They were DRY RIBS! my favorite. Amanda and the kids like glazed so I rarely get to cook me some dry rubbed ones. I selected a big fat one with a Hollywood cut, and dug in. DANG, they were a little under. I kept chewing. Flavor, smoke, salt, were all perfect. Hell flavor was great. One of if not the best flavored ribs I had had. Thinking things through, I realized that the texture was like Charlie's at Rendezvous who is famous for his almost grilled ribs in Memphis. The flavor was very close to Carey's at Peg Leg Porkers in Nashville. Even being a bit under for my taste, I'd for sure eat them again (and I will, we had plenty of leftovers). Amanda tried the ribs and agreed that they were very similar to Carey's but that they needed sauce, and agreed that they could have remained in the pit a bit longer. Ok, last box. Pulled pork time. Screw the fork, I just grabbed a three finger handful and shoved it in my craw. Let me tell you...it was AWESOME. Perfect texture, perfect smoke, perfect salt, and the flavor from the rub was astounding. Probably the best pulled pork I have ever had. How the heck does a guy in Mississippi beat Texas at Texas twinkies, and Carolina at pulled pork?!?! Your guess is as good as mine. "OK BUDDY, I've got some time now. Let's talk BBQ" a loud voice bellowed behind me. Turning around, I saw Tommy walking down the ramp carrying yet 2 more clamshells...

[Panhead John]

“A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent, and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized into paragraphs. This is because paragraphs show a reader where the subdivisions of an essay begin and end, and thus help the reader see the organization of the essay and grasp its main points.”

[texastweeter]

Omg, lol. You're as bad as my English teacher mother, lol. I can't get away from it!

[Panhead John]

😂😂 Love ya bro!

[Mosca]

On the other hand, sometimes a narrative works better in continuity.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m saying it’s a choice that might work for some stories. I didn’t find the lack of breaks intrusive, but rather cohesive; on the other hand, I would have used breaks myself, it’s part of my style.

[texastweeter]

Tommy walked over and said "here's your turkey, it's hot off the pit, so might want to let it cool a bit. Also I noticed you got outta there without some of my grandmother's banana pudding, and that's not ok." He sets down a black box that I knew was turkey, and a plastic clamshell with a HUGE helping of nanner pudding. For the record, Amanda will do things a crackhead won't for a good banana pudding. Pretty sure it was on the table o e nanosecond before it disappeared to her side so fast the little dust devils from behind road runner spun up. Tommy took a seat at our table and said, "so what do you wanna know bud? I told him just start at the beginning. Tommy retired early from a large big box store, where he was hired in their bakery to help them do away with all the "junk" like artifical colors and flavoring and try to clean it up with more wholesome ingredients. After sitting around a while, he decided to open a BBQ restaurant about a year and a half ago. When he opened all he had was one pit, and the kitchen building. Dining was all outside with the flatbed as a stage for small local bands to play on Friday and Saturday nights. He said that he rapidly ran into a problem. If it was too hot out, or raining, of course his business suffered and he could not sell out that day (a big no no at a bbq restaurant), but on good weather days, he couldn't keep up with demand and would sell out in hours. He decided to close in the porch dining area, attach it to the kitchen, and air condition it. This exasperated the supply and demand problem, so he had Primitive Pits make him 3 more 1,000 gallon to go with his rotisserie pit in the back. Finally able to keep up with demad production wise, he needed help. Tommy said all he hires it kids 17-19. He pays them almost DOUBLE what other restaurants pay, plus tips. He also works around their high-school and college schedules, and encourages them to stay with him year round. After a year of working for him, he gives them a week of paid vacation (unheard of apparently for part time restaurant workers in Mississippi). They don't just work the counters, he is teaching each of them. They take turns learning to trim, make rub, tend the pits, even gives them the recipes for the sides and that banana pudding I never got a bite of. His goal he said was to give them the skills needed to stay employed for the rest of their life, if not with him, at any other bbq restaurant, or even start their own. You could tell by the way his employees acted, they adored him. That hoe's a LOOOONG way in my book. Now he is open Tuesday thru Sunday until he sells out. He invests all his profits back into the business (yes it turned a profit year 1!). He now has the ability to cater on or off premise. Talking about the pits and his process, he runs everything at 300° with red oak. Tommy likes red oak (so do I, it's my main smoking wood) because it's forgiving, and very plentiful. His brisket rub is simple, kosher salt, black pepper, and lowreys. Turkey gets salt and pepper, pork ribs get salt, pepper, paprika, garlic, onion, brown sugar and cayenne. Same on his pork shoulders. He said his sausage is not house mad though (whew, I get to keep my wife). It comes from a but her that his family has been using since his grandfather's days. The butcher has handed down the recipe through the generations, and claims it's 150 years old. All the sides are scratch made, as are the sauces and condiments he sells. He took me on a brief tour of the pits, and I got to watch one young pittmaster in training spritz some shoulders and shake a couple briskets (wobble test). I invited him to join us here on The Pit, gave him my honest feedback (which he asked for). We chichatted a while about everything from guns, hunting, bbq, The War Of Northern Aggression, and travel. Pretty soon, cars started pulling up, so I bid him goodbye, and told him we would stop back by Tuesday so Amanda could get some more sausage and banana pudding. He came jogging out of the building as we were getting in the truck, and handed amada a couple peaches. "You gotta try these. They were just picked this morning. Was them and eat them just the way they are. Best peaches on the planet. Also here is some of our house made tomatillo salsa. Use it with that brisket, a tortilla and some cheese to make you breakfast in your hotel room tomorrow morning. Be safe!" Honestly, after meeting the guy, hearing what he is doing for his employees, and taking the tour, I REALLYlike this place. It's not just good food, but good people's too! Stop by if you are passing through the area, and hopefully Tommy will join the pit!

[Mosca]

Tomatillo salsa. Brisket. Tortillas. Cheese. And a hotel room turns into heaven on earth.

[CaptainMike]

Nice writeup, Dashiell Hammett. After the first couple of sentences I was reading it in Sam Spade's voice. Seriously, great job of leading us through your experience. Especially the part where the dame says: " Key Lime pie??? "Don't mind if I do" said Amanda liberating a plastic clamshell full of its precious cargo from its frigid prison." Classic!!

[texastweeter]

Thank you!

[Draznnl]

Nice write up. Even if PJ is right about the paragraphs. But don’t worry, I won’t tell him. Really enjoyed your descriptions of the food. Not surprised the chicken skin was tough if he cooks it at 300. Gotta go higher.

Oh, how was that key lime pie?

[texastweeter]

Solid! Great pie.

[au4stree]

I have no reason to be in Vicksburg anytime soon, but I got an itch now. Thanks for the write up, very thorough. Y’all stay safe with that storm coming through.

[Purc]

Next time I'm driving through Vicksburg, Tommy's BBQ is where I will be going. Thanks for the great write up.

[Donw]

Really glad you all enjoyed it so much, and I enjoyed your write up too.

[wrgilb]

Thanks for the write up. My wife's cousin lives in Vicksburg and will be coming out to visit us this fall. I sent him your write up and asked him to bring some stuff with him when he comes.

[Mosca]

I did some research. Tommy grew up in the food business. His father owns The Tomato Place, a fruit, vegetable and home made goods market that also has a cafe. It looks like he is passing down that wisdom and commitment to service and community through good business to another generation!

[texastweeter]

Yep we are headed there now for breakfast.

[synodog]

Great write up. My goodness, I love hearing about these small places. We drove by Vicksburg on our way to my sister’s in Georgia 2022. If we do that road trip again imma gonna have to stop at this place if only to support a guy that believes in his community and is working to build up the next generation.