In a recent article from Eater Atlanta, I found a barbecue place of which I had not heard – Taylor’d Bar-B-Q, in Avondale Estates. Housed in the building that was previously MoBetta Wings, this former competition barbecue team (headed by Josh McDowell) opened Taylor’d in July, 2020, in the heart of the pandemic.

We asked Cooper (who was manning the register and was extremely helpful) what the building used to be. He provided the MoBetta story, but didn’t go back any further in time. As my beloved grew up less than a mile from there, but hasn’t had family in that house for almost forty years, she was trying to place what it was. Based on the sign inside,

it (just) may have been the Nifty Thrifty Food Store. This is located just down from the original Waffle House location on College Avenue, and is a fairly narrow building front to back – with seating for less than thirty inside. I think that’s okay as most everyone was ordering carry out and appeared to be from the area.

I will go ahead and wage my only complaint with this meal – and it was all on me. We went too early in the day. Ribs are not available until after 4:00 pm – and we were there at 2:30. Darn it! Now we will be forced to return…

If you saw this carry-out box, and didn’t read it, you’d assume it was pizza. This is the not the first time, we’ve seen this – several Oaxacan restaurants serve their tlayudas in these boxes. It makes sense – they fit well. So did the quarter sampler.

It was named “the quarter” because it’s a quarter pound of pulled pork, chicken, brisket, usually ribs (but as it was before 4:00 we substituted another pulled pork) and 4 of their jumbo smoked wings. This was a terrific way to get a little of everything. We also ordered a 4 “sides” plate of

Brunswick stew, baked beans, mac-n-cheese and (unpictured) creamy cole slaw. As to the sides:

The mac-n-cheese was good, but not a particular standout. The beans, otoh, were excellent and very meaty. I was told that the beans and the chicken would make a seriously good meal, by a reputable source (sitting across from me). The slaw was vinegar and creamy and good, but not as good as the beans. From the sides, the Brunswick stew was the standpoint. The soup itself was thin, but there was so much meat, potatoes and “stuff” in it that it was as thick as hash, but had a flavor equal to my favorite Brunswick stew in the city, at the Brick Pit. On to the meats:

We were advised how good the wings and pork were. And that was good advice – the wings were meaty and the skin was crispy, with the right amount of smoke. And the pork was very-obviously pulled (I believe these were shoulders) and was excellent. Great smoke ring and very moist and tender and it didn’t need sauce. But, as to sauce, they had several:

OG – a traditonal sauce, sweet – I’m guessing this was molasses based, spicy, mustard, habanero and lingering ghost pepper. We tried them all but the mustard and the ghost pepper. Frankly, we overlooked the mustard, when we both generally like mustard sauces on brisket, and the habanero was hot enough.

The chicken was a surprising standout – this may be the best smoked chicken we’ve had at a cue joint in a long time, and the sweet and spicy sauce were both great on this. I did enjoy the habanero sauce on the pork, though. The brisket was also amazing – the bark on it seemed simple, but the smoke ring was great and it was moist, moist, moist.

This is a restaurant that deserves a regular spot in the rotation. Of course, we’ll go back for the ribs, but the chicken, pork and brisket are all worthy of a drive, from wherever you are in the city.