Food On The Road - Tour Day 17 - Part 1 - Ocean Springs, MS - BBQ!

I don't entirely remember waking up this morning. I got hammerfied the night before out at the second bar we went to. To be honest, I have no idea where we even slept that night. But what I did remember from the night before was that we had asked one of our hosts at the club where we could get some amazing BBQ. She told us about a place called Pleasant's. It's a family run place, been around for a few decades, in a building along with an auto body shop on the other side, also owned and operated by the same family. We were told this was THE place to go in town, so our consensus was that we were stopping there on our way off to New Orleans.

Even though I had gotten wicked drunk the night before, I was surprisingly not hung over, thank goodness. So, food actually sounded like a great idea. We motivated before too long, but not in any real hurry, as we only had a short drive ahead of us that day. We pulled up the address of Pleasant's on the GPS and headed over, encountering an obstacle course of video game proportions in the last few blocks due to the road being in the process of being rebuilt. We had to do a crazy turnaround of the Jeep and trailer in a parking lot - there was some cussing, to be sure - and then we finally found adequate parking and piled out of the vehicle into the bright warm day. It was a smallish street with a canal running under part of it, mostly businesses like paint stores and auto body shops. We stood out a bit, what with our punk rock clothes and funny colored hair. We definitely got a few stares from the road crew, but it was mainly bewilderment instead of anything mean. Hell, we even got a couple of smiles and hellos.

We walked up on the restaurant, which was painted the happiest of yellows, and took shelter from the blazing sun under its porch awning while we finished up our smokes and allowed the bbq anticipation to grow. We could smell the hickory smoke which added a unique counterpoint to the sounds of small town industry coming from all around us. I could tell that this place must be a favorite for lunch with the neighborhood workers. As we approached the doorway we were met by a tallish man with bright eyes and skin the color of cappuccino with almost a burgundy tint. The only wrinkles I saw were smile lines. As he welcomed us into the restaurant and found seating, we found out that this was the aptly named Mr. Pleasant. His father had founded the restaurant in 1982 and then the restaurant was taken over by the current Mr. Pleasant when his father passed away, keeping the secret family recipe intact and the tradition very much alive. 

We got settled into our seats and the family matriarch came around to see what we wanted to drink (sweet iced tea was the obvious choice) and to take our orders. I knew exactly what I was there to have, so I ordered up a pile of ribs with collard greens and beans on the side, plus a nice thick Texas-sized piece of garlic toast. A couple of the others ordered the only other item on the menu that made me think twice before ordering the ribs - pull pork sandwiches. But I knew my priority and stuck by my guns. While we waited for our food to arrive, I plugged away at my tea - it was hot outside, and sweet iced tea is a uniquely southern thing for me, plus they had free refills - and took a look around the inside of the small restaurant. The walls were made of industrial cinder block but warmed by being painted a toned down version of the happy yellow color of the outside of the building. There was a large, flat-panel TV mounted on the wall, with Fox News or CNN on, with the volume thankfully turned almost all the way down, above a handmade wooden cabinet. I liked the curios on the cabinet top - a giant liquor jug with a flag, next to part of a meat grinder. Very apropos. 

Mama Pleasant came back to give us a new round of sweet tea, and then just a few moments later our food arrived. This plate of food was worth the entire trip! The ribs were so tender that a couple of them literally just fell apart when I picked up the bone. The taste was perfectly sweet southern bbq, with a hint of spiciness. The meat was just moist enough to have the flavor of the hickory and bbq sauce all the way through, not just bbq flavor on the outside where the sauce touched it. The secret here is twofold - the sauce and the cooking method. The method is slow smoking over hickory. As to the sauce, according to Pleasant's website: 

In 1984 Mrs. Pleasant developed a recipe for barbecue sauce with the intent to distinguish their business from any other. Customers were surveyed and with the strong positive feedback the family began using their own homemade sauce.

Let me tell you, she got it right!

The greens had their natural flavor augmented mostly with just pepper and a touch of lemon and butter, with a hint of sweetness, just enough to cut the bitter aftertaste that collard greens can get. The beans were soft with a rich sauce, not overpowering in taste, but just lightly spiced, plus I added a little hot sauce to them. I took my time with this meal, even though my first instinct was to just shove it all into my face as quickly as possible. But no! I wanted to revel in it, savor it, make it last as long as possible, so I slowed it down, chewed every bite many times, and it worked. I mean, look at this!

Once we did all finish, we had the chance to talk to Mr. Pleasant a little bit more about the restaurant and about what brought us there. He might have been more curious about us than we were about him! His easy smile made it easy to tell a couple of stories about the road, and about some of the other meals that we have had on this trip. If you are ever within a hundred miles of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, I highly recommend that you make the trek to Pleasant's BBQ. It's located at 1415 Government St, Ocean Springs, MS. Tell 'em Chestnut and MassBytes sent you! 

The other good news is that if Mississippi cannot be in your travel plans, you can still get a taste of what I'm talking about. I discovered in checking out their website that they do sell bottles of the sauce, and you can order it online. I know what I'll be getting shipped to me this week! Look 'em up at http://www.pleasantsbarbq.com/sauce.html.

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of Day 17 - New Orleans!

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Chestnut Growler plays drums for The Swaggerin' Growlers, a punk/folk band based in Boston, MA. He tours full time. This blog is about the food experienced on the road: the good, the bad, and homemade and the gas station sammiches. You can find the band here: www.theswaggeringrowlers.com/music