Heading west, we had been driving on I-40 for a while, when a barbecue stop was necessitated.  Based on two references, over three or four years, from Garden ‘n Gun, we took the exit towards Devalls Bluff, Arkansas.  As we approached the white sign for Craig’s Bar-B-Q, it looked like my kind of place.  Middle of nowhere.  Gravel parking lot. A  couple of trucks on the side.  We parked the trailer in the church parking lot next door and walked over for a mid-afternoon barbecue snack.

As we walked in, a young lady stepped from the kitchen door and guided us to the menu on the wall (in the photo above).  It was a small place – I was seated at the table in the corner, against the front wall when I took that photo.  The wallpaper, which is hard to see in the photos, looks like a Japanese art print imagination of a Southern duck hunt.  They are known best for the sandwich creation of the former pit master, Lawrence Craig, so we made it simple and ordered a couple of sandwiches and teas.

They gave us a choice of heat levels and I chose “hot”.  Unwrapping the checkered paper, we found the sliced pork , slathered in sauce, covered with a finely diced slaw.

You can just catch a glimpse of the slaw in the photo below of the bottom of the sandwich, after opening.

Flipping the sandwich over, both of us took a bite.

Mine was not crazy hot, but it had a bite to it and the spicy sauce mixed with the slaw made for a spicy, sour and sweet combo.  The sauce on the sandwich was a lot like an enchilada or tamale sauce, in both thickness and in taste.  I’m not a big slaw fan, on its own, but it really worked on this sandwich.  And I’ve never been the biggest fan of sliced barbecue, but this could have converted me.  I guess I’ve just never had that type of sandwich that was done well.  The sad thing about this visit was that there was a customer there who knew we were from out of town and recommended this fabulous pie shop down the road.  But when we went looking for it, they were closed on Mondays.

Note: this place is cash only. And there’s not an ATM near, so be prepared.