Divine Swine BBQ

There are a number of good barbecue places in Hattiesburg, moreso than you would generally expect for a town this size. Another interesting aspect of barbecue in the Hub City is that there are influences from just about every regional variation.

I could do an entire series of blog posts on how under appreciated Mississippi barbecue really is on a regional and national level.

For lunch I stopped in at one of my favorites Divine Swine BBQ. Located on Hardy Street just off the USM campus, is consider by more than a few to be Hattiesburg's best barbecue. Divine Swine shares it's store front with the Jr. Food Mart and it's easy to miss if you're not paying attention.



I've pretty much sampled everything on their menu and haven't found much of anything that I don't consider to be quality. Today I ordered the large rib plate. It consists of six large smoked pork ribs with two sides, I selected baked beans and mac & cheese. The plate comes with a roll and a side of their signature sauce.

Divine swine blends two different styles of barbecue into a taste that is pretty unique. They begin with a Memphis style dry rub of herbs and spices that crust the outside of the meats when they're being smoked out back on the big smoker that's fed with pecan and hickory. They serve pork ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket and chicken at Divine Swine covering pretty much every regional favorite as far as the meats go...All of them get a nice coating of the dry rub before going into the smoker.



The second part is an Eastern Carolina style dipping sauce with a Southern drawl. I don't believe there is any tomato in the sauce at all. They guard their recipe but it seems to be a vinegar based sauce that starts out sweet and finishes with a spicy kick. It's sweeter than a traditional Eastern Carolina sauce, which is why I say it has a Southern drawl. It's got to have a sweetener like honey blended with spices including an ample amount of red pepper flakes that you can see in the sauce.

The ribs I had today were nice sized pork ribs, fall off the bone tender and the dry rub was crusted perfectly bringing out the flavor of the meat. The dipping sauce was a perfect compliment to the dry rub and they blend together for a unique barbecue experience.

The sides were fresh and hot, the mac & cheese is a house made favorite that will bring back a lot of memories, but you didn't get mac & cheese like this out of a box when you were a kid. The beans are better than average.

The dining area is pretty simple a few gold picnic tables, some USM posters on the walls and one TV usually turned to a ball game. It's simple and clean. They could use more parking but, being land locked as they are I suppose they're doing the best they can with that.

In the end the unique blend of the Memphis dry rub with the Eastern Carolina style sauce is just about barbecue perfection for me. Divine Swine is my pick for the Best Barbecue in Hattiesburg, and that's saying a lot because the Hub City is a Barbecue Town and there's a number of really good barbecue joints here.

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Lunch at Cafe Ma'me

This afternoon I found myself meeting a prospective business partner in Oak Grove for lunch. He suggested a recently opened eatery near his office - Cafe Ma'me. I was pretty excited about the prospects of trying out this newly opened boutique cafe. I had heard good things about it from our friends at myHattiesburg.com, so I was looking forward to trying it myself.

From what I can tell this is an extension of D. Morgan Catering, with a modest dinning area sharing the kitchen with the catering company. The setting is cozy, about half a dozen mismatched tables in an intimate setting.

Cafe Ma'me bills itself as "true French with Creole and Cajun influences".

I enjoy Cajun/Creole cuisine, Mrs. Food Blogger's family traces roots from the Mississippi Gulf Coast to New Orleans (Old Metry as they call it) and back to France. So, she quite frankly spoils me with some of the best Cajun/Creole you can find anywhere.

Cafe Me'me is open Monday-Friday from 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM, and serve a limited menu. Today the lunch special was a "Creole smothered steak with mashed potatoes and English peas".

The Lunch special was served with a small pone of cornbread. The cornbread was pretty good, it was sweetened and that's just a pet peeve of mine, I don't like sweet cornbread. I grew up eating a more coarse ground savory cornbread and that's just the way I prefer it. If you like sweet cornbread, you'll probably really like this as it was served piping hot with fresh spread.

The smother steak and mashed potatoes were well above average. I'll go so far as to say one of the better "home style" lunch plates I've had in some time. The steak was not a chopped or cubed steak. It had the texture of a thickly sliced roast beef cutlet that was "cut with a fork" tender. It was smothered in a creole flavored brown gravy that was quite nice. Now when I say it was a Creole gravy don't think spicy. Authentic Creole cooking is not about the heat it's about flavor. And the flavor always starts with onions, bell pepper and celery, and they blended together in this brown gravy to near perfection.

The mashed potatoes were home made, not out of a box. They were creamy with that unmistakable texture of real mashed potatoes. The Creole gravy on these home made mashed potatoes was just excellent The English peas were good but not to my taste, these peas were sweeter, they had to have added maybe some creme fresh or maybe butter and sugar. They were not bad, but this is another item that I tend to prefer savory over sweet.

To finish the meal the offered s complimentary bread pudding desert. Again you can tell that this was home made and not out of a box. I was pleased to taste hints of not only the traditional cinnamon, but also nutmeg. A light fresh creme sauce was served over the bread pudding, could have used a bit more of the sauce but in all a very nice desert.

The red beans and rice looked and smelled wonderful, but I didn't get to try them, I'll check that out the next time I am out that way.

Weekly Specials - 9/21 - 9-25, 2009

KaRock's Famous Ka-Bobs

If you blink you may miss this roadside chicken stand on Highway 11 near the Jones Junior College campus. But, if you find yourself in Ellisville it's well worth a stop.

Finding myself in Ellisville and in need of a late lunch I decided to give KaRock's Famous Ka-Bobs a try. I've heard good things about this little place for years, and I found it to be mostly true.

You'll notice that this is a place that loves to play on the college theme, decked out in the cardinal and gold of JCJC the place is a mini-shrine to all things sports in Jones County.

When I walked in about 2:00 pm and saw that the fry cookers were still up and going it had to be a good sign. The place wasn't packed but there were a number of patrons eating. KaRock's is catered towards the college crowd but that doesn't stop it from drawing soccer mom's, blue collar workers and professionals from around town.

Proprietor Rocky Purvis put KaRock's on the map with his Ka-Bobs, but I decided on the Kat Kombo, which consists of three chicken fingers, a hefty order of seasoned fries, a bread stick and ice cold sweet tea.



The fries although I am pretty sure were not home cut were pretty good, they were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. That's a sure sign that they keep the fry cookers hot enough. Purvis was manning the fryers himself during my visit, it's a pleasure to see chicken fingers being breaded by hand instead of just opening a box.

The chicken fingers were cooked nicely. They were crispy and light with a flavorful breading. Again cooked at a appropriate temperature that left them crispy on the outside while locking in all the juicy goodness inside.

A bonus was the bread-stick that was served with the meal, it was soft and piping hot - a nice addition.

The "Rock Sauce" for the tenders was a bit better than your average run of the mill chicken finger sauce. It wasn't that it was spicy hot, but you could definitely tell that it was full of flavor. It works just as well on the bread stick as it does the chicken fingers.

It's not a four-star rated dinning establishment, and nor is it trying to be, but the ever expanding roadside chicken shack has a loyal following and now I know why.

The Catfish Wagon

Heaps of golden fried catfish have been served on these grounds for more than four decades. Originally this was the site of Herbert's Fish Camp and Music Hall. A few years ago, the original structure burned and Herb shut the place down. A small town in Mississippi just isn't right without a Catfish House. The Hodge family purchased the property and completely renovated it into The Catfish Wagon.

We've been to the Catfish Wagon, which is located on Hwy 42 just across the Perry County line from Petal, several times now. I guess it's pretty much in the Runnelstown Community. It's a very large, open family style restaurant. They're proud to serve only Mississippi farm raised catfish and will show you the boxes if you ask. The decor is rustic/redneck with at least a dozen deer heads, bass, bobcats, turkey and other indigenous game mounted on the walls.

The wife and I took in a dinner there over the weekend, I ordered the all-you-can eat catfish platter, while the wife ordered the five piece fillet dinner.

They start the mean by serving a large bowl of better than average cold slaw that's a sweet mayo based with sweet and sour undertones. It's finely chopped cabbage and I believe that it is home made.

My wife loves fried dill pickles and we got an order of those as an appetizer. I've had them before at the Catfish Wagon and they've been fine, but someone went crazy with the salt shaker on this batch and they were very salty, editable but just barely.

Now on to the main attraction - the catfish fillets.

The service in bringing out the platters was very reasonable, the fish was fried golden brown.

They use a very nice cornmeal fry that is lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika and possible a little onion powder. The fillets were crispy on the outside and flaky and tender on the inside. You can tell that they fry at a very high temperature. They offer raw onions and tomatoes to compliment the meal. Their home made tarter sauce is fresh, tasty and much better than any pre-packaged you may get at some places.

The fries were good, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. My wife reports that the hush puppies were pretty average, I rarely eat hush puppies and was more concerned with the fillets to be honest.

If you judge solely on the fried fillets, this is one of the better catfish houses in South Mississippi, their fries and hush puppies could be better.

I've never had a negative experience at the Catfish Wagon and I've eaten there several times. It's a bit out of the way and you could find yourself waiting half an hour at times, because they do a good business, but all in all if you love good fried catfish this place is well worth a try.

Lunch Buffet at Strick's

I am usually not a buffet fan, but there are a few exceptions and Strick's is one of them. Today I had lunch with some friends at the Original Strick's on 4th Street. The Strickland Family has owned and operated Strick's for years and it's become a lunch staple for an interesting group of college students, professionals, blue collar workers and an unusually large number of mail carriers.

This was only the second time I had been in since the renovations after Katrina, and the atmosphere is nice and kind of makes me feel at home. Yes, I am a redneck at heart...

Today their Southern comfort buffet featured several home style vegetables including small lima beans, butter beans, collard greens, fried squash and creamed corn. They buffet also included fried chicken, smoked chicken, smoked ribs and sausage.

I got a couple of veggies, a smoked chicken breast and a couple of ribs. The veggies were very good, fresh, hot and seasoned well. I used some of the pepper sauce on the baby lima bean. The fried squash was a little over cooked and got a little "mushy".

The smoked meats were the highlight of the meal. I'll be the first to say I really don't care much for the BBQ that Strick's makes, but they do a great job with their smoker. The chicken was tender and cooked to near perfection. The ribs were good, not great but good. If only I could sneak in a little of my favorite BBQ sauce it would be great.

On a side note, they have great sweet tea!

Ray Ray's Fried Chicken

This afternoon I was in a rush for lunch and hit the drive-thru at Ray Ray's Fried Chicken on Old Hwy 11 in Oak Grove. Having heard mixed reviews I wanted to give it a try myself.

I ordered the three piece mixed dinner with two sides - mac and cheese and red beans and rice.

I got a wing, thigh and leg in the box. Was kind of disappointed that it didn't include a breast. The chicken was better than average with a nicely flavored breading, it had flavor, but I wouldn't call it spicy. It was hot just out of the fryer. The chicken was juicy, but not overly greasy, usually a sign of being cooked at a high temperature.

The mac and cheese was actually pretty good while the red beans left something to be desired.

It's pretty good fried chicken, not saying it's anything like mama makes, but I'd probably take it over most of the national chains. It's a bit on the pricey side but I kind of expected it considering the location.

Rayner's Seafood House

For sometime have heard friends and family rave about Rayner's Seafood on Hwy 49 North of Hattiesburg. Having never tried it the wife and I stopped in a few nights ago. I love catfish and it's been their speciality for more than 40 years.

With that kind of track record, I admit I went in with very high expectations. Plus, lets face it we're in Mississippi, you can get a pretty decent catfish dinner at any Church fund raiser or on just about any corner. Fried catfish has been one of my favorite Southern staples for years.

They've spiffied up the outside of the restaurant in the past couple of years, but the inside was dimly lit, and could use a major over-hall. At the same time, I understand that people don't usually go to a catfish house for the ambiance, they go for heaping mounds of golden fried fillets.

After a brief glimpse at the menu, I ordered the "All you can eat" catfish fillet dinner, my wife ordered the three piece fillet dinner.

It was served with cold-slaw, fries and hush puppies. The sides were all about average with the hush puppies being a little above average.

I have to say I was underwhelmed with the catfish itself, the breading was rather bland and they were not nearly as crispy as I would like, almost as if the fryers were not quite hot enough for cooking.

I went in really wanting to agree with so many others and was wishing I could rave about it on the blog. I love down home, mom and pop, places more than anything. I may give it another try at some point, but with so many really good catfish houses in and around Hattiesburg, it'll probably be in the distant future.

The End Zone for Lunch

One of my favorite college watering holes has turned into a destination for Southern Comfort Food. The End Zone on located on 4th Street has been open since 1977, and was long know as one of Hattiesburg original sports bars. About two years ago owners Mike and Gail Walker opened a full service grill and expanded by adding a seating area that is more family friendly.

The End Zone offers a daily lunch plate that ranges from red beans and rice to pork chops to country fried steak. They also have one of the most under-rated burgers in town. The gravy cheese fries may be Hattiesburg's best bar food offering.

Today I met a colleague there for lunch and sidled up to their best selling (according to Mike himself) entree - the hamburger steak platter. This is good, down-home Southern Comfort Food. The Platter consists of a half-pound hamburger steak grilled served with gravy, sauteed mushrooms and onions. I oped for their home fries and requested that grave be poured all over them as well. I may die of a clogged artery in the near future but I'm counting on the gravy to help keep things sliding along.

The service was good, the lunch was good and the atmosphere was uniquely - The End Zone.

My guess is that many reading this review only know of the sports bar portion of the End Zone, if you've not tried them for lunch you're really missing out.

You can choose to eat in the Bar or in the Grill, due to the Hattiesburg city ban on smoking in bars and restaurants the End Zone is no longer the smoke filled pool hall and sports bar of my youth, in a way I miss that. But, since I don't smoke and rarely drink, I'm pretty happy to see the grill packed on just about every occasion I've been there recently.