A Sunday Drive - Welcome to Willie Jewell's

It was raining pretty hard and it was one of those spring Sundays in New England.  My wife made that crucial mistake of answering a question with a question of her own, "I don't know, where do you want to go?"  So it was off to the Budweiser Brewery in Merrimack NH.  Touring and tasting is hard work, there is a lot of walking involved, not to mention the samples of fresh brew; beer is truly a gateway drug leading almost always to a gnawing craving for smoked meat, what can I say? I'm weak. But I'm not a quitter, and off we went  to Willie Jewell's in Nashua NH for a late lunch.

Willie Jewell's  is, as its name states, "Old School Bar-B-Q" and has locations spread out throughout the smoke loving  south  with restaurants in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.  Clearly the people in charge of building new locations answered a question with a question too, (I don't know where do you want to build one?),  how else can you explain one location in Nashua NH? I checked, this location is exactly 1093.1 miles from their Atlanta location, not exactly next door by any means, but we can thank the gods of smoke for bringing a true Southern Jewel to the wild north of Nashua.

Remember that first turkey you tried to cook to impress the in-laws? You know, the one that when you carved it, the shavings on the counter looked like saw dust?  Yeah... That one. Well you're not going to get that at Willie Jewell's.  In fact, when my cardiologist suggested I eat more Turkey, I am certain that he had Willie Jewell's in mind.  The smoked turkey is so moist and flavorful that it is hands down my favorite part of the 3 meat combo!  Combined with St Louis Dry Rubbed Ribs and Smoked Brisket for a slim $13.99 and that includes 2 sides as well, can you say Baked Beans and Collard Greens? 

Willie Jewell's truly does it old school, none of the meat is carved until it is ordered and the ribs are dry rubbed and slow cooked to perfection.  Most importantly, to me anyway, is they are served dry rubbed the way the grill master intended, not smothered in BBQ sauce.  The rub is what it's about, the sauce is an added bonus that you should add as you see fit.

What Willie Jewell's does regarding sauce is oh-so-special.....Sorry I get teary eyed just thinking about it.  They have a spot called the pumping station, and it is exactly as it sounds.  This is where you pump your choice, or choices, of BBQ sauce into little cups to take back to your table.  You may be thinking, big whoop, most places have the sauce on the table so you don't have to get up, right?  Well my carnivorous friends you could not be more wrong because the pumping station serves the sauce heated!  Gone are the days of pouring cold sauce on your hot meat (oh this could lead off in places we should not go), just trust me, once you try this, you will never ever want cold BBQ sauce AGAIN.

The choices are Hickory Heaven (very properly named), Sweet and Sassy (obviously better hot), Low Country Gold (Mustard based and definitely my favorite) and Hot Momma (there you go again, wrong blog).   Trust me on this one, Willie Jewell's is worth the trip of 1,093.1 miles to Atlanta, but for us up north, it's just a short trip up 101A in Nashua.

Don't forget to look for my next installment, a little hint for y'all....in the words of the great American song writer John Hiatt: "Just keep those pretty legs showing, it gets hot down were we going."