punkerque

On the Hartwell side of Danielsville is Zeb's BBQ. I had read that this was the place to go in the Athens area for proper Q. As we were coming down from SC, we pulled off I85 at R77 and then took R29S back into Athens. We saw many a Q shack on the way, so there are more places to try.

Zeb's looked like the place to get good Q as it was in a small building along the road not really anywhere near a town. The place was a flurry of activity even though it was 4pm on a Saturday. We stood in line at the counter to place our order, but were surprised to find out that we needed to sit down and order from a menu.

I ordered the pork plate with slaw, stew and SierraMist ( I HATE sweet tea) and Punkerdoo had the same only with Lemonade. The pork was very moist and tasted just like moist pork. That is to say, there was no hint of smoke flavoring whatsoever. We were really disappointed as this was purported to be the authentic North Georgia Q place. The sauce wasn't bad, but I think the sauce should be an option rather than a requirement. The sign outside says "Hickory Smoked". I guess that means that Andrew Jackson was addicted to nicotine.

We will try Zeb's again, but I doubt we will go out of our way to do so.

Ambiance rating: 3 Squealers

(short ceilings, everything you need on the table, posters and faded pix on the wall. No stuffed animals AFAIKR)

Food rating: 2 Squealers

(ZERO smoke, one good sauce, meat very moist, stew & slaw were good)

Beer rating: 0 Squealers

(Nada, unless sweet tea counts )

Labels: BBQ Tour, shelton+fireworks, Things we Did, Zeb Dean