Beefing Up Eats in Oglethorpe County

If you ask a resident of Crawford, Georgia, how many red lights his city has, he'll tell you, "Just one."

If you ask a resident of Oglethorpe County in Georgia how many red lights her county has, her answer will be the same. Hint: It's the same light.

For the longest time, that red light had an old car dealership on one side. I drove past it every time I went from Athens to Evans and vice versa when I was in college. It had some antique cars in the showroom and new wheels outside. The dealership closed a couple years back and the beautiful white building sat vacant. Crawford is a rural area — all of Oglethorpe County is, honestly; there's a reason why it only has one stoplight and that's because there's a lot more farmland than anything else — so part of me wasn't overly surprised to see a big, shiny place like that close shop in a tiny city. But I did wonder what would go there next.

I'm never a fan of progress for progress' sake. Small-town Georgia shouldn't be overrun with commercial businesses and fast food franchises [y'all don't even get me started on That One Giant Clothing Store That Opened In Downtown Athens ...], in my humble opinion. But at the same time, that was a gorgeous, historic building. It had potential. And I'm not talking about the "big developer from big city wants to tear it down and build high-rise apartments" potential. I'm talking this place could be anything and draw people to Crawford, people who may learn to appreciate the charms of this little place as more than just the only place in Oglethorpe County with a stoplight.

A former Ford dealership gets new life as Crawford,
Georgia's latest restaurant.

One day a few months back, I scrolled through Facebook and stopped at a picture of a familiar building. That old dealership was getting a makeover as a barbecue place! And even better, it was going to be owned by some of my favorite beef friends in the state, the Gretsch family. Yes, it's the same family that owns the guitar company.

The first day I saw the "coming soon" sign up on the building, I was so excited that I accidentally forgot that I was at a stoplight and I drove right through it. Sorry Oglethorpe PD; that's my bad.

G Brand BBQ (the name coming from the "G" brand the Gretsch family uses to market its Angus beef cattle, under the moniker Gretsch Brothers Angus) opened to the public last week, and y'all know I was there opening day!

I rolled up after work and was a little concerned I wouldn't be able to find a parking spot. Let me tell you, the place used to be a car dealership, but it barely had space for the amount of BBQ fans coming out to eat and to support this new venture for the Gretsches! The building itself is spacious, with plenty of seating on the right-hand side and a large waiting room area and to-go counter on the left. There's nothing fancy. It's Southern, it's homey, there's some pig decorations; it's exactly what I want a barbecue place to be like.

The menu is straightforward: you choose your meat(s) and your side(s). Plates come with two sides, or you can snag favorites a la carte. Meat choices include chicken, St. Louis ribs, babyback ribs, pulled pork and brisket. Sides are stew, beans, coleslaw and applesauce. I got JE a half-pound of pulled pork, which comes with bread in case you want to make a sandwich, and for myself ... I couldn't help but get the brisket sandwich plate.

Pause for reflection ... I met the Gretsch family in about 2012 or '13, not long after I started working as the communications director for Georgia Cattlemen's Association. Now, when you work for Georgia Cattlemen's Association, or you're a GCA member, or you know a GCA member or maybe you just show up for a random membership meeting, you don't eat fish. You sure as heck don't eat chicken. You can maybe get away with pork. But you are 99.999 percent more likely to be eating a hamburger, a steak or brisket for whatever meal is provided. We ate A LOT of beef brisket. So it seemed completely appropriate to indulge in some nostalgia on opening day of G Brand BBQ.

Brisket is the cut of meat that comes from the chest area of a beef animal. Think of it as the beef version of the chicken breast. Because that's a pretty heavily muscled cut of meat, it's best done rubbed down or marinated, then slow-cooked or smoked to get it nice and tender. Then you can chip it or slice it. My sandwich was chipped brisket (a little messy; don't be me and wear a white shirt, as you will regret that life choice) and I could've eaten two, I was so hungry. The meat had that iron-rich flavor of beef and was a little dry, but it had such good taste that was fine by me.

The stew was a tad sweet, thanks to the corn inclusion. I loved its consistency — very even, not overly chunky, but not runny, either. (Wow, that was a lot of commas in that sentence.) It got eaten straight with a spoon, but I bet if there was an option to serve it over rice that would be incredible. Since I'm into spicy food lately a touch of heat wouldn't have been a bad addition.

And the slaw! There are only two places I will now willingly eat slaw, and this made the list. It's crunchy, a little sweet and tastes good on top of a brisket sandwich or mixed with the stew or by itself. I love that it had mayonnaise as the binder, but it wasn't watered down and gross like a lot of Southern slaws tend to be in my mind.

A brisket sandwich, stew and slaw from G Brand BBQ.

Now, I didn't get dessert ... but G Brand also has dessert options, including banana pudding, peach cobbler, cakes and brownies. Some are provided by a local bakeshop called The Crafty Spirit, and I believe the 'nanner puddin' and cobbler are in-house. By the time I got there, it looked like there were only a couple slices of cake left, so that's going to be a return trip treat for sure! And maybe I'll grab some peach cobbler while I'm at it (y'all know how I feel about bananas ...) for, you know, taste-test purposes.

I'm going to be hard-pressed not to stop in on every single dad-burned trip to and from Evans. It's hard for me to say "no" to BBQ, especially when there's so much more on the menu left to try! Like, I am pretty sure the ribs were gone within hours, so they were long-gone by the time I was able to slip out that far down 78. In fact, they were sold out of everything on opening day before 8 p.m!

Between the food and the family who owns it, I think G Brand will be a destination joint for Athens townies, Georgia fans on their way into town and residents of Oglethorpe and Oconee. You should find time to stop in, too. I'm a firm believer in supporting our farmers and entrepreneurs. Patronizing these locally owned, family-run, one-of-a-kind businesses is what keeps them around. And as much as I love me some McDonald's French fries ... there's a whole lot more charm to your meal when you can take a left just after a county's only stoplight and know your brisket sandwich purchase helps keep a family farm afloat to feed the rest of your country.

High on the Hog

There are two kinds of barbecue in this world: the kind that is finely shredded and every square inch of meaty surface is drenched in sauce, and the kind that is haphazardly shredded and topped with sauce so that the flavor of the smoked meat shines through. Both are, generally speaking, incredible feats of cookery.

At D.B.A. Barbecue in Atlanta's Virginia Highlands, you get the second kind. It's thick hunks of pulled pork with a sweet charred bark and a visible smoke ring (that's the slightly pink ring just under the crust). The pork is tender and full of smoky, woodsy flavor.

You can get plenty of different barbecued meats at D.B.A. -- in fact, there are some sampler platter options that were hard to pass up -- or you could go a more traditional route and order a barbecue sandwich with a side.

And for those who ain't got no time for forks, D.B.A. does you a flavor and has the option of your side being on the sandwich. Presenting The Archie Bunker:

Your entree and side, all in one. The Archie Bunker at D.B.A.

Inch-thick crusty, crisp, buttered, browned Texas toast.

A veritable mountain of that delectable smoked pulled pork drizzled with house-made barbecue sauce.

A gooey mound of hot macaroni 'n' cheese melting on top.

I don't know who came up with this menu item, but they deserve a raise. There are layers of texture in every bite: first your teeth hit that thick toast with a satisfying crunch. Then you sink into the mac layer; creamy al dente pasta melds into those chunks of pork barbecue and you are transported away to your happy place.

Barbecue has been one of my favorite foods for as long as I can remember, so I've had my fair share. By no means am I an expert, but from my experience, this sandwich is something special. Each bite is salty, smoky and sweet. And if you want to spice things up, there's a habanero sauce on the table to do just that.

According to a fellow food writer, the acronym stands for "Doing Business As" and dang, they do good business doing good barbecue. D.B.A. may end up being my first return trip for Meatetarian Eats. There are so many good things on its menu (like a brisket Philly, hell-o!) and I'm quite interested to see what on Earth a Pickled Moonshine Martini tastes like. If your tastebuds haven't been turned on yet by my descriptions of its food, then that statement should convince you to come check it out yourself ... because it takes a helluva lot for this red and black bleedin', "Glory" singin', Gator hatin', proud member of the Bulldog Nation to go in any place with as much University of Florida memorabilia as D.B.A. has.

But for as high on the hog as this place gets you, it's very worth putting up with the more than usual amount of blue and orange decor.

Guest Post: Mama Visits San Antone

A Note from the Meatetarian: Being from the good ole Augusta, Georgia, area, you know three things to be unavoidable -- death, taxes and an influx of tourists the first full week in April as the Masters golf tournament descends on the Garden City. That means the rest of us fly outta there like bats outta Hell. This year, Mama and her sister Aunt Robbie flew (like, actually flew on a plane) to San Antonio, Texas. I asked Mama to share her thoughts on a favorite meal. Here y'all go.

Starting off a San Antonio evening with
bread and a brew. Photo by Terri Duncan

As a child of the South, I was practically birthed into the world of barbecue. Fresh out of the womb, I was raised to understand that those north and even west of the Mason-Dixon line were dead wrong when they referred to this Southern delicacy. They were even grammatically incorrect since they referred to grilling as "barbecuing," bless their hearts! Everyone in the South knows that real, genuine barbecue is a noun defined as a hunk of pork that is smoked low and slow and smothered in a vinegary, tomato or perhaps mustard-based sauce. Until recently, I would have argued that no region outside the South was capable of competing with the mouthwatering barbecue that has always been a staple in my diet. Then I went to Texas and discovered that maybe I have been misled for almost 50 years.

I should have suspected that Texas barbecue would give my Georgia meat some stiff competition because as soon as I hit the Lone Star State, the surprises started slapping me upside the head. For instance, that delightful little river walk area in San Antonio actually stretches for some 13 miles, and one of the greatest cultural influences in that area is not about cowboys and Indians like I was brought up to believe. Imagine my surprise to discover that the Germans brought their own unique styles and customs across two continents to Texas! Then, there was the discovery that this state is one of the largest producers of wine in the country! Lord have mercy! What other surprises would this state hold?

A warm welcome to San Antonio's Pearl area. Photo by Terri
Duncan

During my stay in this Western nirvana, I definitely expected some fine Tex-Mex cuisine as well as tequila-enhanced refreshments, and I was not disappointed. What I did not expect was some of the best barbecue ever to pass through my innards! We were visiting the Pearl area, a former brewery and cannery that has been transformed into a retail and dining mecca. Our goal that evening was actually not barbecue, but local brews, so our final destination was to be The Granary ‘Cue and Brew. The establishment featured selections from craft breweries around the state and appeared to be the perfect destination for our purpose.

As soon as we walked in the door, we felt right at home in the restaurant’s interior. I felt as if I was fixing to embark on an upscale picnic. As we perused the extensive drink menu, we asked the server for her recommendation for our entrée. I was skeptical of her suggestion, which was the barbecue board. Obviously, she did not realize that our discriminating palates were accustomed to the “real” stuff originating from pork, not the beef brisket and ribs she described. Nevertheless, we were feeling brave and took the plunge. I am so glad we did.

The sign beckoned us -- not to mention the
smoky, meaty aroma wafting toward us!
Photo by Terri Duncan

When the food arrived, the brisket and ribs were literally served on a board along with a selection of traditional side dishes: baked beans, potato salad and homemade bread and butter pickles. The sauce was also served on the side. My intention was to stick to the side dishes, but the  smoky aroma was simply too enticing. I took my fork and knife expecting to have to saw through the beef, but I could have used a spoon. That brisket fell apart as soon as I touched it. I lifted a forkful drizzled in sauce to my mouth, and Lord have mercy on my soul! I swear I heard the angels singing! That brisket was the best stuff I have ever put in my mouth. The sauce was tangy, but not overpowering, and that smoky goodness almost melted it was so tender. You barely needed to chew. The ribs, which were more reminiscent of that to which I am accustomed, practically fell off the bones. The sides did not disappoint either; I could have eaten a quart jar of the sweet, paper-thin pickles. I also devoured the flavorful baked beans. Why, there were as many chunks of meat in that bowl as there were beans, and the potato salad was perfectly seasoned; lots of real flavor and not swimming in mayonnaise.


As a Southerner, I am proud of my heritage, but y’all, I am now a barbecue convert. Beef is indeed intended to be the primary ingredient in this delicacy. The South may have met its match with Texas-style barbecue!

Terri Kaye Duncan is a published author and songwriter. Her works have been featured in a number of anthologies, including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Not Your Mother's Book On ... Her most recent book, Camping Reservations: Body of Lies, a murder mystery geared toward middle school readers, is available in print and for the Nook.