ALABAMA

“JUST FIRE AND HICKORY, BRICK AND SMOKE. DON’T SPICE UP NOTHIN’,”

George Archibald Jr. tells me as he hoses down the coals.

I’m sitting at the counter on one of the seven stools. On a nice day, you might want to eat outside. There are three picnic tables under the pines. Otherwise, you’re getting it to go.

George Sr. started selling barbecue in this small building behind his home back in 1961. George Jr. remembers mopping the floors for a quarter a day back then.

George Jr. is joined behind the counter by his friend Arthur Wilkes. “We’re a lot closer than brothers; we’re friends,” says George. “We’re both Juniors, and our fathers were friends. We used to be built for speed, but now we’re built for comfort.” (Image 1)

Image 1: Archibald’s B.B.Q 1211 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard • Northpoint, AL 35476 • (205)345-6861

“That’s not entirely true,” a customer at the counter says. “You ought to see them at lunch time. People are lined up around this place and they’re moving pretty good chopping ribs, making sandwiches, taking money.”

At least they don’t have to move very far. The pit is behind a sliding steel door, a couple of feet behind the counter, and they chop and slice the meat on a well-worn hickory block in front of the pit. In fact, everything at Archibald’s is well worn: the driveway/parking lot, the counter, the floor, the stools, the steel door to the pit. Well-worn, but not worn out.

The sauce is truly legendary. It’s the same recipe Betty Archibald concocted when they first opened up. In fact, while I was there, a guy who grew up in nearby Tuscaloosa and now resides in L.A. (Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama) was picking up six gallons. “I have barbecues all the time at my house,” he said. “People are always asking about this sauce. I told them this is where I get it because they don’t ship. Somebody stole the last couple of jugs I had. You can rest assured that I won’t be laying these ones out unguarded.” (Image 2)

Image 2