Shack On Main

Well it just ins’t the same anymore. They aren’t closed but they just about are. Only open on Sundays apparently with odd hours. Really disappointed as the whole place got a nice face lift.

FYI — I think there has been a change of hours — ONLY OPEN ON SUNDAYS from 1p until 7p.
It was open this afternoon 8.24.14. We had the bbq chicken (good not great) potato salad (think they came across my great grandmother’s recipe, delish) & baked beans (very good). Over all winner, winner chicken dinner.
The lemonade was pretty darn good too! Plus we got a free show from the East Point locals… a definite hole in the wall, but worth a repeat visit.
Just to recap — NOT CLOSED only open on SUNDAYS (cash only) — plan accordingly :)

My boyfriend and I were riding by this place on a lazy Sunday and HAD to turn around. The food was great! As of right now they are only open on Sundays but that was fine with us. We got the pulled pork and baked beans. They come in pint sized containers (to take home the leftovers!) we spent like $ 12 and still had a good two servings to take back with us. Only one thing, CASH ONLY…
I’ll definitely be coming back!

Hours have become unpredictable, a vicious cycle, I believe: business isn’t so good, so hours get cut back; folks can’t know when the place will be open, so they go elsewhere, which means business falls off …
For awhile, there was a sign up explaining the Shack’s method for producing BBQ «fit for a king.» If I understood it right, the method involved steaming the meat after it had been smoked. A bad idea. Sure, you get really tender, fall-​off-​the-​bone meat, but at the expense of watering down the smoky flavor. I think this method was a change that accompanied a change in family members running the place.
Still not bad, but there’s more competition in the area these days.

I had my mouth ready for some BBQ and I wish I could of had some here but at 4pm on a random Saturday they were closed. CLOSED!

I was hoping to try the restaurant after reading the reviews but there was a sign on the door indicating it was «officially closed.»

Rolled up on Saturday afternoon shortly after they opened. Saw and smelled the smoke coming out the back and that got me excited, but once I walked in the door, I was concerned. I wasn’t expecting much, but DANG! This shack is more like a human chicken coop! Glancing over the menu helped to me to refocus. I’m sorry, does that say Brisket Dinner for only $ 8.75?HUH? I’ll take it! I got the brisket dinner which comes with two sides and your choice of bread. Also got a pulled chicken sandwich. I started digging thru the bag as soon as I got to the car. The brisket was tenderly PERFECT. It still had plenty of fat on it which I think is needed for both tenderness and juiciness. I was able to separate it from the meat and still have a good amount of meat leftover. I got the sweet & spicy version of their sauce which I loved. The mac & cheese is so good, I had a hard time sharing that one. The greens were ok. They were fresh and a little light on seasoning, but not overcooked, over salted or greasy. Probably because they use turkey meat and not ‘thine swine’ like other places. The chicken was just okay, but paired with the sauce it made a heck of a sandwich. I can understand people that expected more seasoning on the items, but I’m more of a fan of just cooking it well and let the actual food do all the talking. The sauce more than seals the deal. For the brisket dinner plus pulled chicken sandwich my total was about $ 13.60 or so after tax. This brisket dinner is about $ 5 cheaper than the one I got a Pit Boss and it was so much better and the portions were larger. I’ll probably end up here at least twice a month. So happy I finally tried it after driving by for YEARS.

Pretty good, and the best BBQ in the area, but not worth driving past Daddy Dz for.

Give them another try. I think because it’s family-​run so it’s not consistent, but when they get it right, they get it right! The sauces are sweet and tangy, and the meats are nicely smoked. The side dishes are more than an afterthought (I’ll take Texas Toast over the corn bread, thank you) and the candied yams are breathtaking!
Don’t give up yet!

My daughter highly recommended them to me so I decided to throw away the wide range of reviews and try them.
It is a shck and that for me was encouraging… some of the best ribs I have had in my travels come from random looking outfits and shacks. So Iactually felt better because it looked like it would fall down if a good wind came through and if it rained hard it would come thru the screens and put out the wood.
THey were very entertaining and outgoing and the ribs were very good! SHe decided to give the center cut which I prefer anyway … they were tender — tasty and meaty. I had no real complaint. I just prefer ketchup based sauce over the mustard based sauce they provided but at least they didnt charge for extra sauce like Spooners did while I was here. The mustard based sauce was pretty good though.
The mac & cheese was pretty good and so was the yams …
They are the best ribs I have had in my many visits to Atlanta — the best and better than Matts.
I will go some more and see how consistent they are but for my first time — they definitely merit a second and even if they completely mess them up — they were soooo good the first time — I would give them a pass and try them again.
Try them

I went by the Shack on Main, in East Point. Got a BBQ sandwich, with loads of meat, very tasty. They have several flavors of sauce, I tried sweet and tangy — very good flavor. Outdoor dining only, with two picnic tables and four café tables, I guess seats 20. $ 7.22 for a sandwich and iced tea. That’s on the expensive side. Worth it, though — a good area BBQ restaurant. 4 stars. This place is closed Sun.-Tues., but is open Wed. & Thurs. 11 – 8, Fri. 11 – 10., and open Sat. 12 – 8.

CLOSED! Sign on the door says thanks for your past business.

I went today and overall enjoyed it. Id give the food a 3 plus overall but Ben H is right the Mac and Cheese is great! I’d go back for that! Of the three meats the brisket on right was the best. I posted a photo of the meal and building.
I didnt see Kara’s nasty lil man. The help was friendly, nice, and efficient. Even though its on Main Street, East Point isn’t so bustling anymore and you feel a world away.
I wouldnt say its worth a long distance drive, but if your in the area do stop in at least for the Mac and Cheese! You’ll drive away happy!

Now, I have only eaten here once — but I need to agree with Ben H. This place was horrible.
When we were waiting to order — cockroaches were walking up and down the counter. Not sure what health grade this place is running, but that can’t be good.
Don’t get me wrong, I am fully capable of overlooking that if the food is good. I love dives and often seek them out on the road.
The food quality though, was poor. The flavor just wasn’t there. For specifics — see Ben H’s review. No need for me to repeat everything there.

I fell horrible saying this — like I’m cheating on my wife, almost — but the brisket here is better than Fox Bros, and I LOVE Fox Bros brisket. Good southern style brunswick stew, good fried okra, cloyingly sweet iced tea — everything you’d expect from a tumble down shack bbq joint in the dirty south. I must admit that I haven’t had the pulled pork or the ribs, so the 4 stars is pretty much for the brisket alone. If they had cold beer, this would be an easy 5 stars — no small feat for a joint where you eat at picnic tables.

My problem with the Shack on Main is that they are inconsistent. The food might be great one day and not great the next. Overall I have never had anything that was terrible here. Most everything is edible. But, and this is big for me, they are NASTY. Yes they are. Let me say this. I don’t want to see you touch my food with your bare hand after you just took my money. That is nasty. The little man who does all the cooking seems unwashed and he put his nasty little hands all over my Texas toast. Do I continue to go here, occasionally. Do I have to turn away and look elsewhere why they are fixing my food, absolutely. I got a mouth on me and I will say something crazy, I held back my attitude that day but I threw that toast in the trash when I got home.

I ordered food here for 30 people. Awesome. BBQ as good as it gets. Ribs = Awesome. Beef Brisket = Awesome. Pulled Chicken = Awesome. Beans = Very Good. Slaw = Very Good.
Would go back again in a heart beat.
Update:
So I just went back again. A Year later. :)
This place rocks. Hands down some of the best BBQ I have ever eaten. They do an awesome job on the ribs, the pork and the chicken. The Ribs are THE reason to go. The sides are good, but if you go to a BBQ place for the sides, well, you really don’t eat BBQ.
So while the location is a shack, the food is awesome. They also have a wide variety of sauces, so it can go from sweet to spicy and anywhere in between. The Tangy is probably my favorite.
I plan on getting them again for my next get together.

More like Wack on Main…
I gotta say I’m shocked by the 4 & 5 star reviews here.
I was really looking forward to trying this bbq spot. The only time I’m ever in this area is on Sunday when they are closed, but the shack itself and the reviews on here made me think it had potential so I drove down during the week to pick up some lunch for myself and a couple other people.
It’s definitely a shack — very small with only a little bit of standing room to wait for your food. They have a smaller smoke shack right next to the main building so I definitely expected decent quality grub. It’s a pretty low-​key operation run by a few people who were pretty nice. The menu is pretty large (see pics). I wanted a rib and pulled pork combo but they couldn’t do that so I opted for a pulled pork plate and a 2 bone rib sandwich with the intention of getting 2 meals out of it. I chose mac & cheese and baked beans for my 2 sides.
Everything smelled ok on the drive back. Unfortunately, everything wasn’t ok though. The first thing I noticed was the pork — it very dark brown and looked really overcooked. It had some little bits in it that had been completely incinerated. It was dry and tasted kinda burnt. It didn’t really seem to have much seasoning at all, but it did have a smoky flavor. Almost inedible without liberal saucing. This might be the worst pulled pork I’ve had. The 2 ribs were absolutely enormous — probably the biggest spare ribs I’ve seen. They were pretty fatty though. They were cooked decently though. They had a really thick coating of this bizarre tasting spice rub on them. Not a fan at all. Definitely needed sauce also. I heard from someone else that the chicken was just ok. I hope it was just an off-​day.
There was one very strange quality to both of the meats I had: they smelled and tasted like fuel. Yes… fuel. It wasn’t just me — the other people noticed it too. I think it must have been lighter fluid. I’m guessing they started the fire in their smoker with lighter fluid and didn’t allow it to completely burn off before putting the meat on. Anyway, it was pretty gross. The smell and taste was pretty strong. I got through some of it by drowning it in sauce but I actually ended up throwing the rest away. I can’t remember a time when I’ve done that before.
The sides were a mixed bag. The baked beans were pathetic — clearly from a can and not even a good can. I mean, there was no «sauce», they weren’t cooked down or anything — just cooked beans with minimal flavor in a little water. How hard is it to make baked beans or even just buy some Bush’s or something? It was odd because they were making fresh collard greens when I was there and their mac & cheese was definitely homemade also. The m&c was very good — the best part of the meal. It was very cheesy, somewhat creamy, and had a decent crust on the top. Probably some of the better m&c I’ve had in a while. I heard the Brunswick stew was decent, but «kind of different.» There was buttered Texas toast on the side, but that’s a bit hard to screw up obviously.
They have a lot of different sauces — original, sweet, tangy, hot, and various combinations of them all. Most of them tasted pretty much the same. None of them were particularly memorable, but I think the sweet & tangy was my favorite.
This is one of those places that I really wanted to like — small, independent business that has some character. However, the food was really poor — I didn’t enjoy anything but the m&c and actually trashed a good bit of it. It’s weird because it seems to have good reviews on here and there was definitely a number of people who came in while I was waiting for my food — it seems to have its admirers. So I don’t know — maybe they went downhill or just had a really horrible day, but I have strong doubts about that.
It’s a good quantity of food for the price. But quality? Way below par. I feel a little bad panning this spot, but people must be warned.
1

The first time I had their ribs I was ready to declare them the best in Atlanta, but I don’t like to write reviews or make such bold statements based on one experience. So I went back many times with mixed results. Sometimes it was good. Sometimes I was disappointed. I kept going back because of that first time. Every time I was hoping it would be like the first time. But it never was. That is until yesterday, when I stopped by after work. The ribs were even better than the first time. They were quite possibly the best ribs I’ve ever had. I want to give them 5 stars but I can’t because they are too inconsistent.

This is good eating and their Mac and cheese is so creamy and the sweet and spicy BBQ Chicken, MMMMM finger licking good! Going back today to get me some more! They close at 8p and 10p on Friday and at 8pm on Saturday so try to get there before then.