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.

http://www.jimssmokinque.com http://www.budspinkpigcatering.com http://www.thegalaxsmokehouse.com http://www.threelilpigsbbq.com http://www.hickoryhousewv.com http://www.ridgeviewbbq.com http://www.BlueRidgeCountry.com

Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2017

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