There was a recent article in Texas Monthly (you can read a few free articles in TM per month – I try to make mine about barbecue) about the brisket boom in the Southeast.  It referenced Lewis Barbecue (in Charleston, which we loved), others in SC and one Georgia spot – Slow Fire Barbecue, in Savannah.  As I would be on a solo road trip down to the Georgia coast in the weeks after reading this, I did some research.

As they don’t have a brick and mortar location, I followed them on Instagram to see where they were going to be.  As I was driving south on Labor Day weekend, I thought surely they would be serving someplace on Friday.  I’d hit Savannah around 3:00 and that would be perfect.  But  no such luck.

Resigned to my inability to give it a try, I filed it away for later.  But as I was headed home on Sunday, I saw that their food truck would be at Starland Yards – a food truck park in downtown Savannah, starting at noon.  This would push me a little later getting home, but I could make it work.  I got to the food truck park a little before noon and waited for them to open. This place was unique (at least, to me) – as you go in, you (effectively) open a tab with a credit card / debit card and, if you are interested, get the wrist band that shows you were 21.  I’m not the biggest fan of this concept, but they were open about it and I was willing.

But that’s where the rub was for me, on this visit.  I walked to the Slow Fire truck right after noon, BUT they weren’t connected to the park’s “payment” system.  Twenty-five minutes later, I was able to order…. two meat combo, with mac-n-cheese and street corn, pork belly and brisket.

If you know me, you know I stopped reading the menu when I saw “pork belly”…. So I took a seat under a tent and waited to be called.

Chef Terren Williams left Georgia and spent a stint in the Dallas area and fell in love with the Texas approach to brisket a decade ago.  When he moved back to Savannah, he worked at the Grey Market (sister business to the Grey), but left there during covid.  In the ensuing years he honed his barbecue skills over his Primitive Pit smoker, to the point where Slow Fire is now at Starland Yards multiple times a week.

The macaroni and cheese was topped with a combination of crushed Ritz crackers and chili cheese Fritos warmed in brown butter.   The street corn was topped with a harissa seasoning.  Both were very good and showed that they had actually given thought to the sides (so many times it seems like canned beans and somebody’s mother’s slaw are the options).  I think the same rub was on both the pork belly and brisket – which are both locally sourced.  The pork belly fell apart on the fork and the brisket was just as tender.  The brisket had a great smoke ring, as well.  I’d definitely try it again.