Ken's Barbecue
Birmingham, Alabama
No, we won't have you gnawing on ribs and coleslaw at the crack of dawn. But
beginning at 6 a.m., you can get nicely charred, fat smoked sausage with your
eggs. Not those teensy-weensy breakfast links, but something ample that has
obviously visited the pit. You can also get big hunks of pork tenderloin
alongside your eggs. (While I enjoyed the meat's flavor, the morning I visited
it was chewier than I'd have liked.) I adore the biscuits here and absorbed two
puffy clouds of them before I even realized it.
Pickup trucks, SUVs, and a few boring sedans fill the parking lot outside
this joint, about 15 minutes north of I-20. Fluorescent lights, a big Coke
machine, and paneling with wildlife scenes set the dining room's decor, and a
waitress is likely to call you "honey." Enjoy it. 4817 Pinson Valley Parkway
(State 79); (205) 853-6488. Smoked sausage-and-egg plate: $4.
Sea Biscuit Cafe
Isle of Palms, South Carolina
This beach town on the Atlantic sits a quick 20 minutes from downtown
Charleston. And as we Southerners know, summer weather usually hangs on here for
most of September. Trade your slippers for flip-flops, and join the
yawning-and-stretching crowd at this snug yellow house with a screened dining
porch. Go for Lowcountry shrimp and gravy with grits, eggs, and a biscuit. This
isn't thick, goopy gravy, but rather a rich veneer of reddish-brown sauce with a
nudging fiery finish, tamed by the plump shrimp and creamy grits. Biscuits come
soft, large, and cakey, having begun their trek from flour bin to plate long
before the sun came up--while you were still sweetly dreaming. 21 J. C. Long
Blvd.; (843) 886-4079. Shrimp-and-gravy plate: $8. Closed Monday.
This article is from the September 2002 issue of Southern Living. Because prices, dates, and other specifics are subject to change, please
check all information to make sure it's still current before making
your travel plans.
