Col. Poole’s Bar-B-Q, East Ellijay, Georgia, February 27, 2016

Barbeque. Yeah, I’m going down that rabbit hole again. Folks tend to be rather passionate about their pig here in the South. I always run a bit of a risk when I write about a barbeque joint. Someone loves the place and someone else hates it and I’m likely going to tick off one of the two. Just remember, this is my opinion and I’m the leading expert on my opinion (to quote Mr. Brian Levine of the Pipes Magazine Radio Show).

We were headed home from Young Harris this afternoon and were thinking about where to stop for supper. I suggested barbeque and no one disagreed. Once we’d settled on what we wanted, we had to decide where. There are at least half a dozen barbeque joints to choose from in the Ellijay-Jasper area so I made an executive decision to go to Poole’s in East Ellijay.

If you’ve driven up Hwy 515 through Ellijay anytime in the past 25 years, you’ve probably noticed Poole’s off the highway on the right. If you didn’t notice the yellow building with red trim that looks like a fireworks stand, you’ve probably noticed all of the colored pigs on the Pig Hill of Fame behind the building. It’s a sight to see and has received a lot of attention over the years.

Poole’s interior is also a sight to see. Every flat surface that doesn’t contact someone’s back or bottom of the soles of their shoes is decorated with newspaper clippings, photos of the owner and his family or visiting politicians and celebrities, piggie pages colored by kids and other assorted swine memorabilia.

We walked in, placed our orders at the counter then headed into the dining area and found a booth. Jenna and I both ordered the chopped pork plate with Brunswick stew and fries and ConnieLou ordered the chopped pork plate with stew and fried okra. Our food was brought out quickly…and that probably should have been a sign.

Let’s start with the chopped pork and sauce. In a word, it was fantastic. The pork was tender, smokey and flavorful. When I first tasted the sauce my initial thought was “oh great, another average KC-style sauce. Might as well be K.C Masterpiece or Sweet Baby Rays from the fridge.” Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the flavor of the sauce combined with the flavor of the meat to do something almost magical. I don’t know what happened but what I do know is that when the two flavors came together there was a “dang, this is really good” moment that came with every bite.

Now for the stew. We typically don’t really like Brunswick stew with large chunks of tomato or whole veggies. We prefer a fine to coarse grind with nothing overly recognizable. Don’t ask why, that’s just the way we roll. Most likely it’s what we grew up eating…and Poole’s nailed it. More often than not I’ll add a small squirt of hot sauce or barbeque sauce to my stew to add a little flavor. Not this time. It was dang near perfect, or at least as close to what I would call perfect as you could realistically get. I’m not sure I’ll ever find perfect Brunswick stew but if I ever do you can bet I’ll be bring home a 5-gallon bucket and going back for more.

With the fries and okra things got bad then worse. If you read my last entry you might have noticed that I have a thing for fresh-cut French fries. The fries were limp and absolutely flavorless. No fried potato taste, no salt, no nothing. Just limp fried potato sticks. Remember what I said earlier about the food arriving quickly? I have a suspicion that the fries, and the fried okra for that matter, had been sitting in a warming tray or under a heat lamp for more than just a few minutes. Maybe I’m wrong on that one but…
Do I really need to discuss the fried okra? Let’s just leave it at mushy and flavorless.

So how did Poole’s fare on the Thumb’s Scale? We gave it a 3 ½ out of a possible 6. The pork and the stew were fantastic. The sides killed ‘em. I’m sure we’ll give Poole’s another try…and I’m also sure we’ll try different sides next time. Maybe the potato salad or mac & cheese.

RPM Full Service, Newnan, Georgia, February 24, 2016

ConnieLou had a mid-morning doctor’s appointment which wrapped up just before lunchtime so we decided to grab a bite on the way home. We were trying to decide where to go when I remembered RPM Full Service, a new place in town. We haven’t been there before so we decided to give it a try.

RPM is housed in an old Chevron station and garage a block off the Court Square in downtown Newnan. Now before you turn your nose up because it’s in an old gas station/garage building, don’t worry, there’s no gasoline, oil or grease to be found. OK, that’s not completely true…there’s cooking oil and grease in the kitchen but not the kind that goes in your car.

RPM bills itself as a ‘Patio Pub and Grill’ and as you might expect, most of the seating is outside in the former parking area in front of the building and under the canopy that used to cover the gas pumps. The décor is gas station/garage related. More high falutin’ bloggers might call it funky or eclectic but this ain’t a high falutin’ blog. In fact, I try not to falute any more than I have to and when I do its definitely low falutin’. OK, now I’m off track.

We spent a few minutes looking over the lunch menu and somehow both us ended up deciding on the French Dip sandwich and fries. Hand-cut fries. Fresh hand cut fries. I was getting a really good feelin’ about this place.

Our baskets were served quickly…in about the amount it time it took to cut and cook the fries. The sandwich was built on a large Vienna roll and was stuffed with a generous helping of shaved roast beef and melted provolone cheese and of course, there was a cup of au jus on the side. And the fries…the fresh cooked, hand-cut fries…cooked to a perfect golden brown, crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

So how did RPM Full Service fare on the Thumb’s Scale? Easily a 4 out of a possible 4…and throw in a few knuckles for the fries. The sandwiches and au jus were very good and the fries were outstanding. OK, if you haven’t noticed I’m a sucker for fresh, hand-cut fries and if you can cook them just right there are a lot of other things I can overlook…like ketchup that doesn’t have Heinz on the label (my only complaint…but that’s just a personal preference). Will we be back? You bet and we’ll definitely be back when its warmer when we can sit out on the patio and sip a cold beer or a margarita with our meal.