Friday, December 19, 2008
Travel Advisory 65 South Barbecue Supper
Posted by Nicki Wood on Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 8:25 AM
If your holiday travel takes you south on Interstate 65 to the Huntsville area and you want a detour, then in about 20 minutes you could be at Gibson's barbecue on Memorial Parkway.
The smoker in the parking lot slowly cooks beef, pork, turkey and chicken to tender shreds. Beef and pork have a nice smoky tang, and the turkey meat is surprisingly moist. The smoke-roasted chicken is a bargain.
I went with my many Huntsville family members, and several cousins got the loaded potato, a big baker piled with shredded smoked chicken, which they topped with Gibson's white barbecue sauce. Looked good, and the price was right. But I drove two hours, so my payoff was beef ribs. Tender, smoky and moist, if not at the top of my Barbecue Life List. The sides are passably good--you can honestly say they're made with more care than you often find.
I miss the two or three ramshackle barbecue joints along the highway from Ardmore to Huntsville. Gibson's isn't quite the same, but it should satisfy the barbecue itch. And since it's been open for 50 years, you know it will be around whenever you get around to your visit.
We ate at the Gibson's on Memorial Parkway, which is easy to find from I-65 and 565. There's also a location at Bob Wallace and Jordan Lane, if you know the town's layout in a little more detail.
Comments (5)
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Is this the same as Big Bob Gibson's? I've always heard great things, but have never been.
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This is off subject. Is there STILL no way for us to email the editors of this blog with tips & stuff? Just curious if yall were doing a write up on the special brew Yazoo made just for the holidays. My SO went and picked up a growler of it. Supposedly it won't last long!
Not the same as Big Bob's. It's owned by one of his relatives, but still good.
The original Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur (about 30 miles west of Huntsville) is better though.
The Gibsons have a barbecue dynasty in North Alabama.
Big Bob Gibson's - Decatur, AL
Gibson's - Huntsville, AL
Gibson's No. 2 - Huntsville, AL
David Gibson's - Huntsville, AL
and there used to be Little Bob Gibson's in Courtland, AL, but it is no more.
Big Bob's is the original (since 1925); the others are operated by his kinfolk.
