There’s just no other way to say this: barbecue is as lame in Nevada as casino gambling is in Georgia.

Jot Em Down (just down the road from the home of Marcella Ruth Schroader Curtas — D.O.B. 8-10-24 — The Official Mother Of ELV) ain’t never gonna win no awards (sic)…and it don’t show up on no “Best Of…” lists of Southern ‘cue, but all it took was one look at the smoky pulled-pork, one taste of each of the six (count ’em 6!) vinegar-based sauces, and a spoon full of their baked beans and house-made banana puddin’ to make ELV fall in love all over again with the essential food of the South.

Oh yeah, and the house-made potato salad (nice square chunks of well-cooked russet, tasting like the best homemade batch you’ve ever had) and the cabbage casserole, weren’t nuthin’ to sneeze at either.

ELV was so busy stuffing his pie hole and working his way through all the sauces, he took little notice of his dear vegetarian Mum, gamely picking her way through a few of the side dishes to avoid the meat.

Which made him think that taking a vegetarian to a pig pickin’ is like forcing this guy to listen to this.

Or something like that.

But being me Mum, she pretended not to mind and was (we think) a little bit proud of having discovered such quality ‘cue for her barbecued-starved son.

And should you wish a brief tutorial on what makes great smoked pig, look no further than these two links in yesterday’s NYTimes (which, despite bein’ all big-city-lak, knows a thang er two ’bout ‘cue).

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/06/09/dining/20090610-united-slideshow/index.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/dining/10United.html?ref=dining

BTW: We at ELV have no idea where the name comes from and were too busy eating to ask. We do know that this place has been in business since 1924.

JOT EM DOWN STORE & BBQ

480 Macon Hwy.

Athens, GA 30606

706.549.2110