While I was having lunch at Ford’s Barbecue last month, in talking with one of the owners, Justin, about Atlanta Barbecue, I was lamenting the loss of a great joint we used to have on the west side of town, South of Heaven, in Carrollton. Come to find out, the pitmaster at South of Heaven, Judd Foster, and Justin’s wife had been friends since middle school. Small world – turns out they moved to the coast after they closed South of Heaven.

Flip back, two months – when we had been in Brunswick around the 4th of July, a shopkeeper there told us about a new barbecue place that had opened recently – Hootenanny’s at the Yard. We were leaving on Wednesday of that week and they had just stopped serving on Wednesdays, so this visit was postponed to Labor Day weekend.

So we arrived in Brunswick in time for lunch, and I knew where we were heading. This in an interesting approach to ordering – you walk up to a window on the side of the building, then sit at a table – either in the yard or at one of the few tables inside the house – and await your food.

The menu was on a whiteboard on the building’s side, by the window where you ordered:

(Side note: I strongly considered heading back for steak night. That reverse seared tri-tip looked to be excellent.). There were some great looking options and my wife chose the mu shu brisket tacos, with white bbq sauce, pickled veggies and toasted sesame seeds. And I think that was potato salad, although I don’t specifically recall.

These were some great tacos – I’d never put white (mayo-based) barbecue sauce on brisket, with any success. I love it on chicken and it makes a fine pork sandwich, but I hadn’t found a spot for it with brisket. This taco was it. Killer, inventive combo.

I chose the two meat plate, with brisket and pulled pork, with sides of mac ‘n cheese and street corn. And three of their sauces – that same Alabama white sauce, a sweet sauce and a spicy sauce.

The brisket was excellent. It was good in the taco. It was just as good on its own – great bark, beautiful smoke ring and for tender. The pork was very smoky and moist and was grand with any of the sauces. The mac n cheese and street corn were good, but I need to accept who I am going forward and skip the sides and order more barbecued animal. This place moves onto the regular rotation when in southeast Georgia.