Straight to the Source: Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ, Decatur, Alabama

My dear friend (and roommate) in college was an exchange student from Tokyo.  Before she returned home, I asked her if there was a special meal she wanted before departing.  Was there something that she knew she couldn’t get at home?  She replied, “In Tokyo, you can get anything, except Bar-B-Que.  I think I would like Bar-B-Que.  We do not eat big hunks of meat.”

Let’s face it, this is often a fair representation of the American diet.

I may be a Yankee, but I’ve lived in the South for decades and I like to travel.  Therefore, I’ve tried a lot of different kinds of BBQ.  Americans do love their BBQ and every region thinks they have the best kind. 

In Northern Alabama, white sauce is king.  I don’t know if it is eaten anywhere else in the country.  I do know that when you want to try something new, your best experience is going straight to the source, so I did. 

Founded in1925 in Decatur, Alabama (west of Huntsville), Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ is iconic and famous for their white sauce.  They don’t just have the best white sauce, they invented it.  Big Bob mixed mayo, vinegar, salt and pepper to create a new sauce for chicken.  Ninety-six years later, his descendants are still slow cooking whole chickens and then dunking them in a vat of white sauce before serving them.  We were happy to make the 15-minute drive from the Courtyard by Marriott where we stayed to the home of the famous and unique Alabama white sauce. 

The lobby is filled with huge trophies from national BBQ competitions: First Place for Pork Shoulder, Grand Champion and dozens more.   There are also displays of all their sauces and dry rubs bottled for sale.  There is even a BBQ book you can buy written by Chris Lilly, the current pit master (and Gibson descendant).  Obviously, I ordered a combo plate so I could try as many of their wares as possible.  My husband did the same and we swapped and mixed-and-matched until our plates were bursting.

The white sauce does keep the chicken moist and seals in juices and flavors.  It is quite tangy, though.  It takes “some getting used to” if you typically eat sweet sauces.  

The pulled pork was definitely best with a more traditional red/brown sauce.  Gibson’s traditional sauce isn’t super sweet, either.  It still has a tang.  If you are looking for sweet sauce like you find at Sonny’s, you won’t find it here.  That vinegar tang is Gibson’s specialty.

This may not be a popular opinion, but for me, the real stars of the show were the smoked turkey and the brisket.  I don’t order turkey at a BBQ joint usually because it just doesn’t excite me.  This version was amazing.  The smoky taste that belongs in BBQ was there, but it didn’t overpower.   

If I am ever lucky enough to go back to Gibson’s, I will order and eat brisket until the staff have to call a doctor.  You see, I know my brisket.  I am Jewish and learning to make a proper brisket is a rite of passage.  I have been making a brisket every year for the holidays for 15 years.  I’ve cooked multiple recipes myself and it is my favorite item to order at any BBQ restaurant.  In my humble opinion, a pit master’s brisket is the true test of his skills.  Neither my husband nor I could get enough of Gibson’s brisket.  We love each other, so we didn’t come to blows over the last piece, but we thought about it. I cannot confirm or deny whether there was a little espionage involved when one of us got up from the table for a few moments.

As for side dishes, the mac and cheese was creamy and delicious.  The sauce was just thick enough.  You can lose your official “Southerner membership card” for making mac and cheese with watery sauce.  Gibson’s baked beans were reasonably thick and sweet and contained diced green peppers and a few other goodies.  I am picky about my baked beans, and I felt these were a good version.  They disappeared from my plate, after all.  My favorite baked beans of all time were so thick that the sauce really didn’t run at all, but those were from a restaurant near my home that no longer exists.  (Author sighs nostalgically).

Alabama white sauce is now ubiquitous throughout the state.  Most restaurants serve a version of smoked chicken and white sauce. However, there is only one establishment that can say they invented it and that the original family is still making it from scratch nearly 100 years later. If you are ever driving through Northern Alabama, detour to Decatur.  It is worth the trip to try Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ.  It isn’t just about eating another version of BBQ.  It’s about going to the source for the history, for something that’s uniquely American.