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I have had several inquiries as to whether or not www.bbqhub.com and www.bbq-festivals.com were related. The answer is yes. BBQHub.com is the news and update side of BBQ-Festivals.com.

Why do you have two websites instead of putting it all together? I like the format of wordpress blog and thought it would be the easiest to maintain and the name BBQHub is more of an all inclusive name than BBQ-Festivals.

And here we are!!!! The BBQ-Festivals.com BBQHub.com Family……. (no we did not make the kids put chicken bones in their mouths….that was there idea……haha)

I suppose I could write this review of Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in Decatur AL with just three words; OH MY GOD !!!

I have had a lot of barbecue but I have to say this is as good as it gets. While on a business trip to Alabama we saw the billboard outside of Decatur AL on I-65 for Big Bob Gibson’s and decided on the way back home we would stop in. After all Bob Gibson is a member of BBQ royalty and we were not about to pass up this opportunity.

As soon as we got out of the car the aroma from the smokers swirled around hour heads and it was definitely a sweet sweet smell. The parking lot was packed which was another good sign. When we were in we were met by a gentleman who welcomed us in and told us to have a seat. Our server ( I wish I could remember her name ) came over to bring us our menu. Let me tell you, this gal was top notch…….. Cecil and I decided to go the full route and order the Ribs and three other meats and sides. I had the ribs, chicken, brisket and pulled pork with potato salad and baked beans. The photos tell the story. I can’t begin to describe the taste. It truly was out of this world. I picked up a rib and the bone slid right out of the meat clean as a whistle. I took my first bite of the ribs and I knew I had tasted years and years of experience. Next came the brisket, chicken and pork. All were out of this world. Being from Kentucky I am especially fond of pulled pork and am very critical of how people make it but I didn’t have a problem with this at all………..excellent.

ALL DONE - WHEW, I’M STUFFED

We sampled the sauces that were made by Bob Gibson and they were equally good and just added to the flavor, but we both agreed the barbecue stood on it’s own and did not need any extra help from sauces. By the way…….. the White Sauce is out of this world. The baked beans and potato salad were very very good. My mom makes great potato salad and at 74 she is an expert. Big Bob’s potato salad is just a good as my moms is and that says a lot.

Things were wound up with a Coconut Cream Pie that literally melted in your mouth. We were truly content and well stuffed when we were finished. The only bad part was we still had almost 200 miles ahead of us to get home and what we really wanted was a nap.

I will have to say that Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant is now at the top of my list. Also Kudos to the manager Rick Talley……… a great guy and very friendly.

My rating for this bbq restaurant is a full 10 out of 10

Yesterday I made a request for info on some barbecue restaurants in the Birmingham, Alabama area. One recommendation was for the Tin Roof BBQ Restaurant on Southlake Parkway. So after driving nearly 300 miles from Madisonville KY we checked into our hotel and rested a couple of hours then headed off to dinner at Tin Roof BBQ.  Cecil and I were really looking forward to eating some serious bbq and we were both really stoked. When we finally found the place it was in a strip mall……. hhhmmmm  well, we decided to give it a try anyway because it was afterall recommended to us.

We walked in and looked around and the walls were covered with all kinds of memorabilia and it had the look of typcial bbq joint with plain tables and chairs and booths….nothing fancy…  that made me feel better. Our server brought us a menu and got our drinks…..she was very pleasant and Iasked her if she was the boss.  She kind of laughed and said yes.  I told here we were with www.BBQ-Festivals.com and we were there on a recommendation and I gave her one of my cards.  She said ok and we proceeded to place our orders. The menu had a great selection and we both chose a platter with Ribs, pulled pork, brisket and two sides.  I had potato salad and baked beans, Cecil had fried corn on the cob (yum) and turnip greens (yuck)

We got our plates very quickly and the serving portionss were really good size. The three ribs really didn’t look that good and when I picked one up expecting it slide off the bone it just stuck straight out stiff. So we samples some of the sauces which were very good and we set off on our much anticipated authentic Alabama barbecue feast. The pork and the brisket were really good. I added a little of the mustard/vinegar based sauce and that tasted great.  The meat was a little tough but not bad. Then I decided to try one of the ribs. Well…… to be honest they were not that good. They were tough and chewy and my jaws started to get sore from chewing so hard. Finally I had to wash it down with some water. The back side of rib where the meat was really thin was fairly good but over all the ribs left a lot to be desired.  It seemed as if they had not cooked nearly long enough. The sides I had were potato salad and baked beans.  The baked beans didn’t taste to original and the potato salad had way too much mustard. In fact it tasted a lot like Wal-Mart.  I asked our server who by then confessed that she wasnt the owner and that the two owners were not there, if that was homemade potato salad and she kind of skirted around the answer saying she thought everything was made from scratch. It might have been….. I don’t know…… I just wasn’t impressed.  Then again it takes a lot of really really good cooking to impress this Kentucky boy.  I asked her what kind of wood they used in the smokers and she said she didn’t know………  I wish I could have gotten a peek at the smokers but that didn’t happen. Each of our meals came to approximately 19.00 dollars

I have to admit that my overall experience with Tin Roof BBQ was a let down.  On a scale of 1 to 10 I give them a 5.5.  The brisket and pork was very good if a little chewy. The atmosphere once you got over the strip mall location was fun. After that though…………. well I will leave that to your judgement.  In the end it seemed as if at one time they might have had a great lineup of ribs but for some reason have lost the touch. Of course I may have just hit a bad day………….it is Thursday afterall………….. 

Would I try them again? Of course I would…..  everyone deserves a second chance.  Maybe next time I am down Birming ham way I will stop in and give it another try.