Sam’s Bar-B-Q

It’s a funny thing how you can forget one of the gems of good eating right in your own back yard! I did, but I’m glad to say I remembered them, I did a search and found that Sam’s BBQ was still dishing out some of the best BBQ made in the South!
Keep it simple, and just order a the BBQ sandwiches. Don’t mess up the flavor with a bunch of side orders, just sit down and keep the sandwiches coming. Or better yet order a full slab o his, melt in you mouth RIBS. Sam’s ribs are best enjoyed also unadulterated, yep really! Don’t slide these in between bread and ruin them. Just add some of Sam’s sauce and enjoy the experience!
And forget leaving without some homemade pie. The pies are decadent, made locally by a pie baking genius!
I will not forget Sam’s again!

To say that Sam’s is modest and unassuming is an understatement. But Sam’s is not exactly off the foodie radar either. Word has that it’s has been a Gibson Co. presence since the ’40’s. Sam’s got press a couple of years ago before the pit burned up and almost destroyed the property. They had their own $ 50 designer t-​shirts in Oak Hall as a fundraiser to rebuild. And it was rebuilt, with help from chefs and foodies from around the south. From what I read of the old place, the new facility is spacious and updated with industrial-​chic lighting and flat-​screen TV’s. Aside from random clutter in the windows, the current dining area is actually clean-​ish, which is normally a red flag for a business burning trees a couple of walls away.
Updated décor (by BBQ joint standards) aside, Sam’s is the real, traditional, and disappearing west TN slow-​cooked BBQ joint. All meat is cooked over acorn– or fruit-​bearing wood, whichever they have on hand and feel like burning on a given day. The backyard of the property is littered with stumps and limbs that will eventually be sacrificed into the pit. Get permission, then stick your head in the pit room on the left side of the building for a glimpse of old school BBQ’ing.
Still, the meat is no product that can’t be experienced in most west TN counties. It’s good, not extraordinary, BBQ. The pork butt is adequate, not elite. Skip the bologna, as it’s in the bottom half of my experience. Sandwiches are served with an underwhelming mayo-​based slaw that seems store bought. My strongest recommendation is to get the BBQ sauce on the side. The sauces at Sam’s, both mild and hot, are so tangy that they overwhelm the meat, in my opinion. It’s not my thing, but it might be yours. Both sauces should be on the table, so figure out your taste as you go.