Blogbecue

Being Southern born and bred it was just a matter of time before I decided to seek out the best barbecue in Athens. Northerners think we have BBQ sauce in our veins when it comes to cooking. I took along my friend Pamela with me since I don't eat pork and wanted another opinion.

We decided to try Jot Em Down Barbecue after getting referrals from friends. We found the small wooden building on Macon Highway and entered to experience the distinctive BBQ ambiance of a mishmash of pig décor, checkered table cloths and bread loaves. Their menu consisted of the typical fare of pork, beef and chicken as well as some interesting alternatives: trout, catfish and quail.

Since a tornado warning was issued just after our arrival, we decided to take our order to go. I ordered the beef rib plate with potato salad and green beans and my friend had the pulled pork plate. There were eight different sauces to choose ranging from sweet ketchup and tangy mustard based all the way to XXX Green Hell vinegar based. We tried the Medium Bill's, the house recipe with a zesty ketchup base, and Mild Elrod's, described as flavorful vinegar based sauce.

Rather than a rack of ribs like most people think of when they order ribs, mine was one large rib. The beef rib was awesome. It was charred black and crispy on the outside and the meat inside was juicy and tender with a distinct smoky flavor. The sides, however, were just mediocre. The potato salad was good, but nothing out of the ordinary and the green beans had a little too much pepper for my taste. The sauces were both full of flavor but the drawback was they didn’t give us enough! Overall, I thought the food was really tasty and would love to go back.

Since pork is such a large part of barbecue for most people, I asked my friend to write her opinion on the pulled pork plate and her take on the restaurant in general: "I absolutely loved Jot Em Down! I had the pulled pork, green beans, and Brunswick stew and it was exactly what I expected and more. The atmosphere gives off a typical hole-in-the-wall small town barbecue vibe and the food completely reinforced it. There were so many sauces to choose from and the pulled pork was tender and delicious. Everything was just great and I would tell any barbecue lover to go there asap!!"

Weather permitting, I will have to go back to try their dessert selection of banana pudding, chocolate pecan pie and cheese cake. I think I will need to try some of the other barbecue places around before I decide who really has the best barbecue in Athens.