If you have read my blog you know I recently went to Atlanta to say goodbye to very dear friend. Unfortunately I had to say goodbye to another childhood acquaintance Dobb's BBQ.
After my father died my mother and I moved in with my Grandmother. Gran gran was from a very large family and had 10 brothers and sisters. Her sister, my Aunt Grace, lived in Dothan and I remember we would drive there so my grandmother could visit her. One of the highlights, was on the way home, we would stop at Dobb's BBQ and pick up some pulled pork and BBQ sauce to eat sandwiches for dinner that night. I remember the smoked pork smell filling the car and making the anticipation greater for the sandwiches to follow. We left for Atlanta at 3:00 in the afternoon. Having made this trip several times I knew our options for dinner were either Dothan or Eufaula. Since it had been a while since eating at Dobb's and having a hankering for BBQ we pulled in.
I ordered the combination plate of chopped beef, chopped pork, and ribs. The wife ordered the chopped pork. As one of my sides I ordered the camp stew what I call Brunswick stew. When my plate arrived it was drowning in BBQ sauce and I could not distinguish the chopped pork from the chopped beef. The ribs were recognizable barley. As anyone knows BBQ is presently riding a tidal wave of popularity due to the Food Network, and people like Myron Mixon and Steven Raichland who have exposed the nation to wonderful variety of great BBQ. BBQ beef should be brisket and nothing else period. It should be served sliced or slightly chopped if served as a sandwich. Pork is pork shoulder or butts and should be served pulled, long strings of moist, tender, smokey pork. Ribs are either baby backs or St. Louis style spare ribs. Now, my preference for ribs is to have a slight tug with my teeth to remove the meat from the bone. If you want fall off the bone ribs order the pulled pork not ribs.
The meal was a disaster. The taste of the BBQ sauce hid any flavor the meat may have had. Maybe that was a God send. I could not find any flavor difference from the three meats on the plate. The camp stew had the consistency of canned dog food and had no recognizable ingredients in it.
To top off this disappointing meal when I went to the cashier to pay he was taking to go order and I had to wait several minutes. While I waited a roach fell from the ceiling and landed right on the counter next to the man taking the to go order. With out flinching he killed the roach with the order pad, and swept it off the counter and continued to take the order.
They advertise they are the oldest restaurant in Dothan. It is time to euthanize Dobb's BBQ, put them down, put them out of our misery.
No stars for Dobb's. Goodbye old friend.
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