Hometown BBQ

For anyone who doesn't live in the South, let me explain something to you, BBQ can make or break your town! It sounds dramatic, but it's true. Down here, good homemade barbecue is a staple of Southern pride and culture. Ever since the 19th century when the Spanish Conquistadors brought it over to the US, after first discovering it in the Carribean, it became a hit in the Southern US because of the large number of pigs that were available. From there, it just expanded rapidly. To find out more, please check out this article I found:

Now you may ask, why am I talking so much about BBQ? Well, that's because I'm going to talk about my favorite BBQ place as of recent years, Lively’s BBQ & Breakfast. And why out of the dozens of restaurants I frequent, I choose this one above all the rest for a good time.

We, my brother and I, stumbled across this gem while driving by one day with some friends. It looked like a small, charming place to eat, but we were busy, so we didn't have time to stop. Several months later, we went for a walk to explore the town more. We came across Lively’s again. We were hungry, thirsty, and tired, so we decided to sit down and eat. I do not have pictures of us in the restaurant, but we had a great time either way!

The kitchen was small but well-stocked. I lost some of my pictures of the interior but thankfully, I have friends for that!

Some acquaintances of ours on Yelp said we could borrow a picture or two for old times sake. The aesthetic was rural but also rustic out of a small town Ma and Pa establishment. There were enough tables to seat maybe eight parties of two at most, but it was a very home-like environment with fresh hot cooking, vintage memorabilia, a rule about if you were caught cussing, they would tax you. Very charming. At the entrance is an old-fashioned cast iron bell that has a sign next to it saying, “ring bell if service was good!”. We ordered at the front, where the register has now been replaced with a modern Apple checkout assistant thing and waited 25 minutes for hot and fresh food.

We were given two large glasses of sweet tea, as per our order, two containers of coleslaw, two checkered vinyl placemats, and two red baskets containing our foods. Mine was chicken tenders.

I couldn't get a good picture, so the waitress lady helped us out. I got marinara sauce and honey mustard for my sauces of choice alongside the crisp, fresh fries. My brother got the specialty bacon egg hamburger plate, minus whatever that green stuff on it.

The picture was taken on a different table for better lighting. The food was amazing! Smoked to perfection by their 24-hour smoker outside the building, with excellent service that made both of us happy. We left content, full and relaxed before going about our day.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to go back. Just recently, they have opened it back up with limited capacity and their drive-thru options as well. We plan to visit them again in the near future because the barbecue is just that dang good! The local business market has been really sluggish since everything was shut down a year ago, but every morning we still see a line down the road and around the block for their signature, homemade barbecue specials. The smell alone makes me wanna cry from how good it is.

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