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By Root 648 0

seating area in front is covered in sawdust. Fresh Air only does three things: chopped pork, Brunswick Stew and coleslaw. No ribs. No shoulder. No Boston Butt (even though we are in Butts County). The hams here spend a full 24 hours in the smoker and have done so since 1929. The result is transcendent in BBQ circles. You have reached swine nirvana.

A Civil Rights case was once fought over the integration of Vandy’s in Statesboro, an institution in town since the ’30s. Simplicity wins at this joint located a few hours south on I-75 and I-16 (east): its chopped pork sandwich is served with a vinegar and mustard–based sauce on two slices of Sunbeam white bread. The BBQ is smoked overnight in a massive block and brick pit out back to beat the Georgia heat. You’re far east at this point, so it’s a good place to crash for the night. Just around the corner from Vandy’s, Blind Willie McTell was said to have written “Statesboro Blues,” a song popularized by the Allman Brothers, at the historic Statesboro Inn.

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THE BBQ TIMES ARE A-CHANGIN’

Though Georgia BBQ remains fiercely traditional, an influx of immigration in the South is changing its face, according to Southern food expert John T Edge. “At Old Brick Pit BBQ in Atlanta, they still carry the wood from the pile to the pit in a liberated Winn-Dixie shopping cart. It’s hyper-traditional BBQ, but reflecting the shifting demographic of Georgia everyone who works there is Mexican or Indonesian. It looks like the New South.”

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Directly west across the state as the crow flies, another mustard-based sauce reigns supreme in Columbus. At Smokey Pig, the tangy, spicy, damn-near-perfect Chattahoochee-style sauce is bottled and sold. You just won’t be able to resist buying some. One dousing of this miracle juice on your bite-sized pork (a unique cut designed to forgo the necessity of a knife – why that’s important we’re not sure, but we do not argue with anyone producing anything this good) and you’ll become an addict too. Best in show.

This culinary odyssey ends in Marietta, just north of Atlanta on I-185 and I-85, at Sam & Dave’s BBQ2. For $300, you can take BBQ cooking classes here. You’ve had the rest, now learn to make the best.

Kevin Raub

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TRIP INFORMATION

DO & EAT

Colonel Poole’s

Right-wing roadside BBQ specializing in pulled pork served from the gates of its Taj-Ma-Hog. 706-635-4100; 164 Craig St, E Ellijay; mains $3.50-9.50; 11am-6pm Thu, to 8pm Fri & Sat, to 7pm Sun;

Fresh Air

The Holy Grail. Since 1929, this family-owned glorified roadside shack offers Swine Heaven to all those who make the pilgrimage. 770-775-3182; 1164 Hwy 42, Jackson; mains $6-7; 8am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri & Sat, to 8:30pm Sun;

Holloway’s Pink Pig

Leftist BBQ joint favored by President Jimmy Carter; in a roadside log cabin in tiny Cherry Log, GA. 706-276-3311; 824 Cherry Log St, Cherry Log; mains $4-13; 10am-10pm Tue-Sat;

Neal’s

Hash is still prepared in a 55-gallon wash pot at this weekends-only joint with excellent pulled pork. 706-595-2594; 664 Augusta Hwy SE, Thomson; mains $3-7; 9am-8pm Thu, to 10pm Fri, to 9pm Sat;

Old Brick Pit

The massive brick pit inside this old barn in Chamblee smokes pulled pork and ribs old school–style for nearly 24 hours. 770-986-7727; 4805 Peachtree Rd NE, Chamblee; mains $2.50-9; 11am-7pm Mon-Sat;

Paul’s

Third-generation smokers run this white clapboard shrine of Georgia BBQ. Get here early. 706-338-5099; Hwy 78, Main St, Lexington; mains $3-11; 9:30am-2pm Sat & July 4;

Sam & Dave’s BBQ2

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s number one rated BBQ in Atlanta, smoked low and slow for 14 hours. Go for the pulled pork. 770-372-2272; 660 Whitlock Ave, Marietta; mains $5-13; 11am-8pm Mon-Thu, to 9pm Fri & Sat;

Smokey Pig

Mustard-based Chattahoochee-style BBQ cut two ways: bite-sized and chipped. 706-327-9253; 1617 11th Ave, Columbus; mains $3-9; 10:30am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 5pm Sat;

Vandy’s

The sign is nearly faded away at this 60-year-old joint specializing in a mustard-based chopped pork