The Greater Good wasn’t our original lunch destination.  Working off my original list, we were heading toward Queen of Sheba, an Ethiopian spot that’s been on my list for almost 12 years.  I googled the address and the hours (not wanting to show up some place that was only open for dinner) and was surprised to find them closed when we arrived.  Not closed for the holiday weekend.  Or just not open for lunch.  Permanently closed.

So we went to the next spot (non vegetarian) on the list, that was nearby.   They were open and we were seated.   Then we looked at the menu of eight items.  Three were salads and one was a cheese plate.  Apparently, they serve a light fare menu between 3:00 and 5: 00. So we left and went to where we should have started (honestly, where all things should start)- with barbecue.

We’ve eaten at the Greater Good locations in Tucker and Buckhead, but had not been to their East Lake location.  They opened here, in August of 2016, at the corner of Hosea Williams and Second Avenue.  While they appear to be in a converted corner gas station, I believe it’s new construction.  Inside is clean, bright and filled with folk-y art.

My beloved ordered the pimento cheese potato skins, topped with chopped brisket.

These were very tasty.   They offer four barbecue sauces (house, hot, sweet and Carolina) and she had a hard time finding one that suited the skins.   But the ranch dressing and slaw seemed to work well enough to clear the tray.

I went with the Big Smokey plate: a three meat and two side combo, with sliced brisket, chopped pork and fried ribs (yep, fried ribs) with mac-n-cheese and green beans.

The pork was smoked well and was very moist and the Carolina sauce (which was much thicker than most Carolina style sauces I’ve had – like a cross between a NC vinegar and pepper flakes sauce and a spicy tomato and molasses based sauce) suited it quite well.  The same sauce worked on the brisket too, which was moist and sliced just thick enough.   Sadly, I left one of the fatty ends of the slice for my  “final bite“, but dropped it on the floor on the way into my mouth…

And then there were the fried ribs:

While I’ve eaten at Greater Good a half dozen or more times, I’ve never had the fried ribs.   I had not even noticed them on the menu.

For the last two months, we’ve been watching Guy’s Big Project on the food network.   And rooting for Rashad Jones to win.   And he did – he ended up with a series that could be my life motto – Eat Sleep BBQ.  Two Saturdays ago we were discussing going to Crackling B’s on Sunday afternoon and when we went to bed Saturday night, saw that Rashad was there.   And he also had fried ribs at the Greater Good – on the same episode!

How to describe the fried ribs?  They had a great smoke ring and were plenty meaty.   Then they were battered and fried like chicken fried steak.   I was torn between the barbecue sauce and wanting some white gravy to dip them in.   Maybe I’ll suggest that part when we go back for more.