Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2017 - 58
Jim's Smokin' Que 4971 Gainesville Hwy., Blairsville, GA 706-835-7427 jimssmokinque.com Lynn Johnson says although she isn't a huge BBQ fan, she loves Jim's Smokin' Que. Ed Lukosavich agrees with her: "They're only open three days a week and when the food sells out, that's it. Good stuff!" Tracy Scott gave us the heads up on this one. It's been in the family for generations and even President Jimmy Carter loves to visit for their 'que! Galax Smokehouse 101 N. Main St., Galax, VA 276-236-1000 thegalaxsmokehouse.com Miranda Holdaway says: "Best BBQ and staff around! Eat there one time and you will see why people drive from all over to eat there!" Three Li'l Pigs Barbeque 120 Kingston Drive, Daleville, VA 540-966-0165 threelilpigsbbq.com Hickory House 1157 US 19 North, Jane Lew, WV 304-269-7373 hickoryhousewv.com Ridge View BBQ 5010-1 Fairlawn Ave., Institute, WV 304-400-4650 ridgeviewbbq.com -Liz Long 58 BlueRidgeCountry.com Larry Smith Pink Pig 824 Cherry Log St., Cherry Log, GA budspinkpigcatering.com At The Ridgewood, barbecue means hickory wood, smoke and fire, all at work in these pits designed by Jim Proffitt. best way she can pay tribute to her pioneering grandmother Grace is to keep the restaurant and its menu just like they are. "I want to make everything as consistent as it was when my grandmother was alive and my uncle Terry was alive," Peters says. Steeped in Great Depression frugality, Grace Proffitt was a saver, and she was full of Southern Appalachian tenacity. In 1987, the two-lane road where the restaurant is located, connecting Elizabethton to Bluff City, was by-passed. A new four-lane highway was constructed about a mile and a half away from the restaurant. Many people predicted that the new road would mean the end of The Ridgewood. Some people told Grace she would go broke. But she refused to give in to those predictions of doom, even though the business lost about $30,000 that year. Ridgewood would make it, she said, since she was not in debt to anyone. "Just wait until they get that road open," she would say, with defiant optimism. She was right. When the new road opened, her business boomed, even with no Ridgewood sign on the highway. The road suddenly gave diners much easier access to the restaurant. Grace's wisdom and patience had paid off again. As she always put it, "Stay with the pig until he makes a hog." Today, salespeople come by The Ridgewood almost every week, trying to sell Larry and Lisa gas or electric cookers. "Just think," they say. "You could cook barbecue with the push of a button and go home and forget about it." Larry and Lisa politely turn those salespeople away. And the hickory continues to smoke in Bullock's Hollow. Ridgewood Barbecue 900 Elizabethton Highway Bluff City, Tennessee 423-538-7543 Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate the foodways of Appalachia and the South from their home in Johnson City, Tennessee.