Directed by Southern Foodways Alliance ringer documentary filmmaker extraordinaire, Joe York. We previously posted the follow-up to this video on the late Ricky Parker’s son, Zach, who is carrying on the tradition at Scott’s-Parker’s.
by Joe York, an examination of barbecue culture in west-central Tennessee. At the core of the story is whole hog stalwart Ricky Parker, pitmaster at B.E. Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Lexington, Tennessee.
Mrs. Monk recently took a weekend trip away to Nashville with some friends and while she was able to escape me for the weekend, she wasn’t so fortunate when it came to barbecue. Mind you, this wasn’t intentional and the only reason she ended up here was because her and her friends happened upon Papa Turney’s Old Fashion BBQ after making a wrong turn on the way to a ropes course outside of Nashville.
While she didn’t offer a full review, here were her ratings:
Atmosphere/ambiance – 2 hogs (they told us to sit but its really counter service)
Pork – 3 hogs
Chopped Brisket – 3 hogs
Sausage – 1 hog (really just a fat hot dog)
Sides – 3 hogs (they were out of collards and the mac and cheese portion was tiny)
Overall – 2.5 hogs
– More on fair food at the NC State Fair (which starts tomorrow) and whoops:
Only one of the dishes I tried was outright bad, and that was the barbecue-and-coleslaw waffle sandwich. It was somehow extraordinarily greasy, even by fair food standards, and the barbecue mostly just tasted like smoke.
– The Polar Pig Cook-Off, formerly held in Mount Pleasant (NC), will be held at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center on November 10 and 11; the event will feature vendor tents, a Kids Zone, a beer garden, live music, and the barbecue competition (including a people’s choice award)
– People Food and Zagat have named Skylight Inn the most popular restaurant in NC
– Filing away for future potential use:
How to make huge Texas style smoked BBQ beef ribs > https://t.co/1ATR4g7uEz pic.twitter.com/o3bL82vEFV
— Jess Pryles (@jesspryles) October 11, 2017
– Daniel Vaughn of TMBBQ explores west Tennessee whole hog and discovers Ramey’s Whole Hog Bar-B-Q in Parsons, about 90 minutes outside of Nashville
– 45 years ago Monday:
On this day in 1972: Gov Scott declares NC the Pig Pickin’ Capital of the World. https://t.co/kSl8pidjCz @NCHistoryToday #ncpol pic.twitter.com/Fw7TSBhDt9
— NC Pork Council (@ncpork) October 9, 2017
Name: Bennett’s Pit Bar-B-Que
Date: 9/3/17
Address: 714 River Rd, Gatlinburg, TN 37738
Order: Bar-B-Que Combo (chopped pork, brisket, and sausage) with jalapeno mac and cheese and coleslaw (link to menu)
Price: $14.99
Monk: While our last barbecue stop on the Monk family vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee was a bit of a bust for reasons other than barbecue we got another opportunity a couple days later while we were playing tourist in downtown Gatlinburg. Across the street from the aerial tram Ober Gatlinburg (our main plans for the day), just happened to be Bennett’s Pit Bar-B-Que and made the decision easy for us.
I know from the review of the Pigeon Forge store from Marie, Let’s Eat! that I was to expect fine-but-not-exceptional barbecue and guess what? Grant was right. The pork was perfectly acceptable but Bennett’s seemed to be very proud of their four sauces found on the table. None of them made a huge difference in the again, perfectly acceptable pork.
The brisket was dry and below average while the best of the three meats that day was the sliced sausage. A little of the table mustard sauce accentuated it nicely. This was the favorite meat of both myself and Mrs. Monk.
Bennett’s Pit Bar-B-Que is part of the locally-owned Johnson Family chain of restaurants that includes pizza, southern, and ice cream with locations in nearby Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. To their credit, they could serve below-average barbecue to tourists simply because they know that they’ll continue to make money regardless but thankfully that’s not the case. While they are a tourist destination that happens to serve halfway decent barbecue, it won’t blow your mind.
For more reviews, check out:
Marie, Let’s Eat
Ratings:
Atmosphere – 2 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Beef – 2 hogs
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs