- Welcome.
I'm comedian Wes Van Horn, with This is Alabama.
Today, we are in lovely Decatur.
North Alabama. Morgan County.
As you can see, we've got the Tennessee River behind me.
It's a gorgeous day.
I'm sweating.
I haven't even eaten yet.
We're going to go, rank some pork sandwiches,
have a little fun.
I'll probably end up jumping in the river.
It's going to be a good day.
It's gorgeous.
You're gorgeous.
I'm gorgeous.
Let's go eat.
Join me.
Here we are at Smokey C's, Bar-B-Que & Wings.
They have three different types of slaw
that I could have put on here,
but I kind of wanted to just taste the pork,
and just see kind of what that was all about.
I got a couple of sauces in here, I might try as well.
I mean, we're in Morgan County.
I got to try the white sauce.
So, we'll do that after a bite or two.
Here we go.
Good smokey flavor.
You can smell it.
It's in the name.
This one's all about the smoke right here.
Probably the-
One of the smokier ones that we've had
in North Alabama, so far.
And, that's what barbecue is all about.
Should be.
If you're not-
If there ain't no smoke, ain't no fire,
then it ain't barbecue.
Get to some Morgan County, Alabama white barbecue sauce.
You've probably heard of white barbecue sauce,
but what you might not know is
that Morgan County is where they traditionally say
that the white barbecue sauce movement began.
So, since I'm here, it would be rude not to partake.
I don't know if you can see that color,
all the pepper and spices,
and that some of the best white sauce you're going to get.
I'm going to go back for more.
If I'm ranking these, and I am,
I'd say I'd give this somewhere
in the neighborhood of maybe at 8.82 with sauce.
White sauce.
Just a great, great barbecue sandwich.
I mean, if you find yourself in Decatur, Smokey C's,
white barbecue sauce, you can't go wrong.
So, we're going to keep on going.
I am going to finish the rest of this sandwich
and nobody can stop me.
I'd like to see you try.
I'm the strongest man alive
when I've eaten half a pork sandwich.
So, come at me.
Here we are at Scruggs BBQ.
Just a stone's throw from the highway.
You'll hear it soon.
And I'm going to get ready here.
Let's see.
Big, I like that.
A lot of meat, some slaw on there.
A little sauce.
It's pretty good.
Nice sweet, sweet tangy sauce.
Good smokey flavor.
Cool, sweet slaw to cool it down,
but a lot of meat.
Good sandwich for the price.
I think it was like-
I got like a $2.99 lunch sandwich.
That's about-
That's the biggest sandwich for $2.99
you're going to find in the state of Alabama.
A little drier.
On the drier side than some we've seen.
So that may take it down a little bit,
but overall, you know, a good pork sandwich
with a nice serving size.
Out of 10, we're looking at maybe-
Maybe a 7.8.
7.85.
Let's give it that range.
Being that we're, you know, on the side of the highway
if you found yourself broken down, or on a long drive
and you started to get hungry, you might want to stop there.
It's not going to break the bank,
and it's going to do the soul good
like most barbecue pork sandwiches.
In Alabama, it goes barbecue, barbecue shop,
church, barbecue shop, church, barbecue shop.
So if you eat enough barbecue,
you can save the church for later.
'Cause this does your soul pretty good.
Here we are on the banks of the Tennessee River
trying Southern Style Bar-B-Q from just down the street.
Let's see what we've got.
Nice little walk-up drive-through.
Meat's looking moist.
I can smell it.
Nice little slaw pickle action.
Let's see what we've got.
That meat is perfect.
I can practically hear the country songs
coming off the river,
about this pork sandwich that I'm eating right now.
After picking up our sandwich,
11:15 the line just started going around
the block for this place.
And I can definitely, definitely see why.
It's a popular lunch destination, here in Decatur.
I mean, excellent, excellent pork.
A nice, sweet slaw.
But the pork is for sure the star of the show.
Just moist, melt in your mouth, great flavor,
a great pork sandwich.
You serve me that, you serve anybody
that anywhere in the country
and that's gonna make a happy, happy customer, so.
You gotta a train in the background,
at the Tennessee River with a wonderful pork sandwich.
If the Lord took me today, right here in this spot,
I would say I've lived a full life.
But, I would not.
Because I've yet to rank this sandwich
On a scale of 1-10.
I mean, this is a great, great sandwich.
I would give it somewhere in the neighborhood.
Maybe 9.25?
Is that too high?
I don't know, but I have not had many pork sandwiches better
than this one that I'm having right now.
So, I'm honored.
I'm just honored.
I'm honored that the sandwiches letting me eat it.
I'm honored that you're watching me eat it.
That you get to watch me enjoy this sandwich.
It's the best day of my life.
Am I crying? Or is it sweat?
The age old question.
I'm going to stop talking.
All right.
Here we are in Delano Park,
fixing to try Nash's Bar-B-Que in Decatur.
Let's get into it.
It's nice. We're in the park.
There's a guy weed-eating somewhere close,
which is always good.
We got kind of a, a wetter sandwich here.
Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
A little slaw vinegar.
Very vinegary.
I'm not tasting a lot of-
Ooh!
Not tasting a lot of smoke,
but I'm tasting a lot of vinegar.
But not bad.
Moist, you know, keeps the-
Keeps the meat moist, as they say.
I don't know who they is.
They can't all be the best sandwich in Alabama.
But, there's no such thing as a bad pork sandwich.
But on a scale of 1-10,
just a little too much vinegar for me,
not a lot of smoke in the meat.
I got to give this one about a-
Maybe a 6.38?
6.38. Let's say that out of 10.
Just not my favorite sandwich.
I'm sure there is a taste for it.
If you love vinegar, you're going to love it.
But, it's just, it's a little overpowering.
It's overpowering to me.
It just kind of overpowers the whole sandwich.
That being said,
I've never met a pork sandwich that I didn't finish.
A 6.8 a 2.8, a 1.8.
It's all going to the same place.
Let's keep going.
Howdy. Here we are in Decatur,
in a lovely rose garden, which I never promised you.
We're going to have Whitts Barbecue.
Nice pork sandwich, slaw, pickles.
Decent pork flavor.
There's a-
Interesting taste on the rub,
that's a little different than what we've had.
Pretty standard slaw, nice salty pork.
Overall, not a bad sandwich.
I'm happy to share it with my friends,
Joshua and Natalie Huber, who've lent me this bench
to sit a spell and reflect on the pork going-ons of Decatur.
Nothing real special.
Kind of a standard pork sandwich.
I'd probably, out of 10, give it somewhere in the 6.86.
How about that?
That's a number that's-
That's highly trained math coming into play.
Decent lunch option, but you know,
not the best sandwich we've had on this tour.
Just go in one more.
We'll just say-
It's a pork sandwich.
So, you know, there's nothing you can say
about a pork sandwich that hasn't already been said
about the Mona Lisa.
Any of the Michelangelo.
Any great works of art,
pale in comparison,
to even the most modest of pork sandwiches.
So, while on our scale it's a 6.86,
in the grand scheme of the universe,
it shines brighter than any star.
What am I talking about?
I think I'm drunk on pork.
Not the worst way to be.
Here we are at formerly, the Smoke House Bar-B-Q.
Was going to be our last stop in Decatur.
We drove up only to realize
that it has apparently shut down and sold
and will now soon be a Moe's Original BBQ.
So, having tried Moe's, I know they do a good job.
Unfortunately, we're not going
to be able to try the Smoke House today.
My ride just showed up.
So we're going to head back.
Thank you, Decatur.
It was fun.
To the Smoke House, R.I.P.
(whimsical music)