We’re coming to you today near the end of the Six Gap trail, in Blairsville, with lunch at Jim’s Smokin Que.  This spot comes to us courtesy of a Trip Advisor ranking of barbecue joints from a couple of years back, in which they ranked fairly highly, nationally.  Being on Six Gap trail, there were plenty of motorcyles in the parking lot, even on a day when rain was coming.

You order at the counter, oddly, right as you walk in the front door, you’re standing in the order line.  And dividing the restaurant.  There is no menu on the wall, but there are carry-out menus in a bin as you walk in.  They actually had one of the funniest t-shirts that I’ve seen in a while for sale.  It read:

A cow, a pig and a chicken 

Walk into a Bar-B-Q. 

The end. 

Had the picture of the chicken, pig and cow between lines 2 and  3 not been so cheesy, I’d have taken one home.  We ordered what ended up being a de facto sampler plate: 

a pork sandwich (one bonus to these sandwiches was the bread – it wasn’t a standard bun, but rather a hard crusted roll – like on a good Philly cheese- that held in the juiciness of the que);

half a rack of ribs; and

a brisket sandwich, with fries.   The brisket was excellent and the sandwiches were both abundantly over flowing with meat.  There were three sauces on the table:

• house (which was fairly sweet);
• hot (which was like the house + a cayenne-based hot sauce); and
• a vinegar sauce with pepper flakes. 

We both were most fond of the third sauce and ended up using it on everything.   The pork was smoky, with plenty of bark.  I’d recommend both the pork and the brisket, without hesitation.  We shared the fries that came with the brisket and  as the side for the pork sandwich,  ordered banana pudding.

The banana pudding appeared to be home-made and had plenty of vanilla wafers, although we only ended up with one banana slice in the cup.  To speak to the quality of the barbecue, of which we eat a lot, it’s rare that we take the leftovers home and have them for another meal.  We had the brisket and pork for dinner on Sunday.