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Broadway Bar-B-Q, home of the regionally famous "Baker' offers free fountain drinks with a student ID. Broadway Bar-B-Q is located in Homewood at the juncture of Broadway Ave. and Oxmoor Rd.

Broadway Bar-B-Q achieves 'flavor Nirvana' with Pork Baker

By: Josh Anderson

Posted: 11/12/08

Nothing in life is quite so satisfying as the comforting knowledge that when push comes to shove, your barbecue restaurant is superior to that of your rival's.

Louis Grizzard had his Sprayberry's, Memphis has the Rendezvous and students of our glorious institution have Broadway Bar-B-Q..

Located at the junction of Oxmoor Road and Broadway Avenue, Broadway Bar-B-Q boasts one of the better barbecue creations in the state: the Baker. I recommend the Pork Baker, but you are free to deviate from this suggestion at your own risk.

I have dined at Broadway umpteen times and have never strayed from my original choice: the Pork Baker.

This sumptuous feast consists of a beast of a baked potato topped with pulled pork barbecue, sour cream, cheddar cheese, butter and drowned in Broadway's original sauce.

Chives are included, but I do not support chives and therefore order my baker without chives.

Broadway employees understand the fact that much of a barbecue restaurant's fate rests solely upon the virtue of the sauce.

If Broadway Bar-B-Q won the World Series with its baker, then they hit a 500-foot home run with their sauce. Just the right mixture of flavor and spice results in the best barbecue sauce I can remember tasting.

The atmosphere is fairly Spartan, and the interior of the restaurant is not designed to impress. Rather, the unassuming decor demonstrates that the folks at Broadway Bar-B-Q are committed to one thing and one thing only: creating the best barbecue in the Birmingham area. Their revenue is not wasted on knick-knacks and fancy wallpaper. Their profits are committed to producing top quality barbecue, and the fact that they waste no money on frills is reassuring each time I step through the door.

Broadway has two final arrows in its quiver.

One is the ice, which is what we used to call "ball-park ice" back home. It is the same as Jim 'N Nick's and Mama Goldberg's. The ice cubes are not cubes at all but little pellets that are perfect for crunching. Something about ball-park ice just makes sweet tea taste better.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of Broadway Bar-B-Q (aside from the previously heralded Baker, of course) is the smell that hits your olfactory system in full force when you walk through the door.

Broadway Bar-B-Q smells like a delicious Baker to my veteran nose, but the delicious smoke-flavored aroma also brings to mind the student discount offered by the folks at Broadway: free drink with your student ID.

If you are facing a dilemma when trying to determine where to dine, I humbly recommend Broadway Bar-B-Q. The sandwiches are delicious, the baked beans are as good as you'll find in Birmingham, but remember: it is the Pork Baker which truly transcends everyday restaurant fare and achieves flavor Nirvana.