Hucklebuck Smoke and Grill

I really wanted to enjoy my meal at Hucklebuck, but the food just wasn't very good.

The decor is cute and homey, and features lots of mounted deer and elk heads.  The staff is very friendly and is quick with drinks and complimentary peanuts.  I ordered the 1/3 slab of ribs dinner plate, which comes with two sides and a slice of garlic bread.

There's no dancing around the fact that the ribs were not good.  They had a bizarre chemical taste to them.  I don't know what they smoke their ribs in, but it didn't taste like wood smoke.  I had to drown them in sauce just to make them palatable.  Even then, I barely ate two.  They were also very fatty, so overall they were not enjoyable.  On the other hand, the baked beans were quite tasty. My second side, the corn on the cob, was boiled beyond oblivion.  It was OK, but it would have been much better had it not been overcooked.  The garlic bread was delicious, but I'm pretty sure it's the frozen kind you get at the grocery store.

My friends have tried the pulled pork and brisket sandwiches, and they were both much better than the ribs.  I would go back to Hucklebuck, but I would stick to the sandwiches.

This is my new favorite restaurant in Ava.  I love barbeque, and I have been eying this place for weeks.  I went there twice in the last week because I have a little addiction to the pulled pork.

I love pulled pork.  The first time I went, I ordered the king-sized pulled pork sandwich with beans and slaw as sides for $7.50 after tax.  It was a massive serving, so the second time I opted for the queen-size, which was like $6.50 after tax.  The pulled pork is cooked well.  There is very little to no fat on it, which I like, and the little bits of the burnt crust are wonderful.  They do their bbq with a dry rub, which I believe is more the Memphis style than KC, but I love both.  I smothered my sandwich in bbq sauce, and it was wonderful.  The cole slaw was average.  It was a very basic cole slaw with nothing special, but at the same time, it was good.  You can't go wrong with simple.  I love the flavor combination of pulled pork and cole slaw.  I also liked their beans a lot.  They were reminiscent of baked beans that I've had in KC.  They were sweet and had bits of meat in them.  Delicious.  A co-worker got the baked potato that comes with sour cream, cheese, onions, and pulled pork on it.  This is seriously the biggest potato I've ever seen.  She was raving about it, and I'll definitely have to try it some time as well as the ribs and smoked chicken.

The dead animal decor is not exactly my thing, but I love it in here.  They have a lot of deer heads and two elk, which are pretty impressive.  They also have pictures up of people hunting and fishing.  My favorite is a kid with a pretty big fish and the biggest smile on his face.  The decor is really fun to look at and it is a bbq joint so the dead animal theme definitely works.