Liz's Bar-B-Q

If you've never been to this part of the United States then it will be hard for you to understand and appreciate a place like Liz's Barbecue. In Tennessee and other states nearby barbecue means pulled pork or whole hog barbecue. The entire pig is placed in a pit or smokehouse using hickory wood and slow cooked for a day or two resulting in a rich, deep smokey flavor. A pig sandwich ($4) is a mound of this smokey goodness piled on a soft hamburger bun topped, at your request, with cole slaw (just "slaw") and sauce. The BBQ sauce, if it's authentic, is vinegar based with spices. No tomato ketchup!

My father, who was born in Henderson and is now buried there, would bring Liz's barbecue to me on his visits to California. Liz's pulled pork is phenomenal. To call it tender is an insult. Even an inch thick pile yields easily to your teeth. I've been eating pig sandwiches since I was a child on our annual summer visits and while I haven't done a comprehensive tour of pulled pork places there cannot be any better than Liz's. Comparable? Maybe, but not better.

On top of her fantastic pork a visit to Liz's is a true American experience. From the outside (see the pics I posted) it looks horrendous. Inside it's even scarier. Ah! But the aroma! I'm not a foodie, I'm an eater. Places like Liz's are on the same level with the finest restaurants in the world in that it produces quality food and it is run by a perfectionist. Liz can come off as unfriendly but after you have some of her barbecue tell her how fantastic it was. She might even smile. OK, probably not. But you'll be smiling.

Amazing.....simply amazing.  Jaw dropping good ole bbq cooked whole hog over hickory.  The BEST BBQ pulled pork you'll ever try!  This is what every other BBQ joint in the world strives to be....it is perfection of pork.  The owners are absolutely wonderful people and the BBQ is unbeatable.  Go today and you'll be there tomorrow.  I drove 2 hours and am already planning a trip back.  It's the real deal.