Barbecue is not a Verb



Our latest find!

 Every Southerner knows that the word barbecue is not a verb; its a noun.  In the South, the word barbecue means the results of cooking meat low and slow in a pit or a smoker.   Barbecue can mean different meats in the various regions of the South.  Barbecue in Texas almost always means beef, in St. Louis it means ribs, and here in Georgia, it definitely means pork. 

Tom and I often smoke our own barbecue, but its still nice to have a local restaurant to fall back on.  After Blackstock's in  Lawrenceville closed, we were at a loss for where to go.  Our choices were the local restaurant down the street (not good) or a chain (not authentic).  I Googled "barbeque lawrenceville" and up came Ray's Hot Wings.  I checked out their website and learned that they are family-owned and have been in business in the Lawrenceville area for over 15 years.   They specialize in hot wings and hot dogs but also offer seafood and barbecue.  I am all about supporting local businesses, so we rolled the dice and gave them a try Friday night.

Wall Art

The exterior of the restaurant is non-descript.  They have patio seating that would be nice in the Spring.   Inside, the first thing I noticed was that the place is spotless.  It has a few tables but most of the people were ordering to go, as we were.  You place your order at the counter and then take a seat and wait while they prepare your order and bring it out to you.  The service was friendly but a little slow.  We ordered an order of fried green tomatoes, a pound of pork and a quart of Brunswick stew.

Order up!

The fried green tomatoes were good, with a tasty batter and ranch dressing for dipping.  They were red hot out of the fryer so we know they were made to order.  (I would have taken a picture of them but Tom and I scarfed them down in the car.)

Yummy, porky goodness!

The barbecue was delicious!  The meat was moist and tender and perfectly smoked.  There were chewy bits of the bark (the crust that forms on long-smoked meats) mixed in for textural interest.  They sent two sauces with the meat.  The first was a sweet sauce similar to a bottled sauce that was okay, but not for me.  The second sauce was a vinegary hot sauce that is reminiscent of Backfire, the hot sauce offfered at Country's Barbecue in Columbus and Montgomery.  We like that sauce so much we have ordered cases of it and given it as gifts.

Now for my litmus test for a good barbecue joint:  the Brunswick stew.  If a restaurant's Brunswick stew is not up to par, the whole restaurant is disqualified by my standards.  Ray's stew was fantastic with shoepeg corn, tender butterbeans, potatoes, tomatoes and of course, chopped pork throughout.  It has a smoky flavor with a little vinegary twang from a healthy dose of hot sauce.

They passed the test!

Ray's offers over 20 flavors of wings and a wide variety of hot dogs, including Chicago dogs.  (My friend Susan - a native Chicagoan - will be happy to hear that!)The menu also includes fried fish, shrimp, burgers and po boys.  The sides are typical of a barbecue restaurant with a few soul food favorites like collard greens also featured.  I don't know when I will be able to speak to the quality of all of the other items, as I believe I will always have a hard time ordering anything but barbecue.

I hope that you will give Ray's a try.  They are located in Lawrenceville on Hwy. 120 between Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road and Riverside Parkway.  Let me know if you try anything else on the menu!