Lovies BBQ – Buckhead
Rating: 1 of 5 stars
Food: classic barbecue
Service: friendly and fine
Best dishes: beef brisket, fried Brussels sprouts
Vegetarian selections: only a handful of sides
Price range: $
Credit cards: all major credit cards
Hours: 11 a.m.- 9 p.m. daily
Children: should be fine
Parking: ample
Reservations: no
Wheelchair access: yes
Smoking: no
Noise level: low to medium
Patio: yes
Takeout: yes
Address, phone: 3420 Piedmont Road, Atlanta. 404-254-2848
Website: www.loviesbbq.com
If you like …
Fox Brothers BBQ
Jonathan and Justin Fox crank out some of the city’s most popular Texas-style barbecue at their Little Five Points smokehouse. Known for its brisket and beef short ribs, Fox Brothers BBQ has developed a fiercely loyal following during its three years in business in Atlanta. Sides include fried pickles and jalapenos, and the Tomminator — tater tots piled high with Brunswick stew and melted cheese. Fox Brothers’ barbecue is also available Thursday nights at Smith’s Olde Bar. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 1238 DeKalb Avenue, Atlanta. 404-577-4030, www. foxbrosbbq.com. $-$$
Beaver Creek Biscuits and Barbecue
Known by some devotees as “Turner’s BBQ,” Beaver Creek in Austell has been serving up old-school barbecue for nearly 30 years. When ordering the pork plate, do yourself a favor and ask that it be pulled instead of chopped, as the hickory and white oak-smoked pork is arguably the best in the city. Don’t forget to top off your plate with a helping of their tangy, mustard-based Seminole sauce. 5:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 7 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturdays, closed Sundays. 1451 Six Flags Road, Austell. 770-739-0200, www.beavercreekbbq.net. $
Grand Champion BBQ
This Roswell smokehouse traces its roots back through the Sam and Dave BBQ1 lineage, but partners Robert Owens and Gregory Vivier built on that foundation and now turn out barbecue that deserves plenty of recognition on its own. Make sure to try an order of the freakishly thick and smoky baby-back ribs, easily among the best in town. 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. 4401 Shallowford Road, No. 168, Roswell. 770-587-4227, www.gcbbq.net. $-$$
If you like …
Fox Brothers BBQ
Jonathan and Justin Fox crank out some of the city’s most popular Texas-style barbecue at their Little Five Points smokehouse. Known for its brisket and beef short ribs, Fox Brothers BBQ has developed a fiercely loyal following during its three years in business in Atlanta. Sides include fried pickles and jalapenos, and the Tomminator — tater tots piled high with Brunswick stew and melted cheese. Fox Brothers’ barbecue is also available Thursday nights at Smith’s Olde Bar. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and Sundays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays. 1238 DeKalb Avenue, Atlanta. 404-577-4030, www. foxbrosbbq.com. $-$$
Beaver Creek Biscuits and Barbecue
Known by some devotees as “Turner’s BBQ,” Beaver Creek in Austell has been serving up old-school barbecue for nearly 30 years. When ordering the pork plate, do yourself a favor and ask that it be pulled instead of chopped, as the hickory and white oak-smoked pork is arguably the best in the city. Don’t forget to top off your plate with a helping of their tangy, mustard-based Seminole sauce. 5:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 7 a.m.- 3 p.m. Saturdays, closed Sundays. 1451 Six Flags Road, Austell. 770-739-0200, www.beavercreekbbq.net. $
Grand Champion BBQ
This Roswell smokehouse traces its roots back through the Sam and Dave BBQ1 lineage, but partners Robert Owens and Gregory Vivier built on that foundation and now turn out barbecue that deserves plenty of recognition on its own. Make sure to try an order of the freakishly thick and smoky baby-back ribs, easily among the best in town. 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. 4401 Shallowford Road, No. 168, Roswell. 770-587-4227, www.gcbbq.net. $-$$
How many of you weekend warrior barbecuers have heard this before?
“Wow, you missed your calling, you should open up a barbecue place!” or “Man, you should bottle this sauce and sell it.”
Well, Nate Newman decided that his friends just might be right. An avid barbecue enthusiast who spent the past 10 years perfecting his technique and his sauce at countless Falcons tailgates and backyard parties, Newman decided to give it a shot.
After Newman tried his hand at a catering business on the side, he enlisted his high school friend Drew Gregory, a fellow Buckhead native, as a partner, and they left their sales jobs at a payment processing company to pursue the dream full-time.
Lovies BBQ, tucked away on the lower level of the building next to Chipotle at the intersection of Piedmont and Lenox roads, is a bright, polished space adorned with Georgia memorabilia, including a row of blue seats from the 1996 Olympics. The name “Lovies” comes from Newman’s days cooking for his impatient friends, always telling them they would have to wait because the meat “needed a little more love.” They started calling him Lovie, and the nickname stuck.
As someone who has spent countless hours traveling all over the metro area in search of the best smoked meat in Atlanta, the news of a new intown barbecue joint quickly caught my attention. Unfortunately, for those of us living in this neck of the woods, the list of great barbecue that doesn’t require an hour round trip is all too short.
The barbecue at Lovies is straightforward and simple. Newman serves only one sauce — a mild and slightly sweet vinegar and ketchup-based concoction. The lack of options seems to throw some customers off.
In talking with Gregory about this choice, he explained that they believe that if you have to drown your barbecue in five different sauces, something is missing from the meat. Those who follow my musings on barbecue know I appreciate that sentiment, but it also means your meat had better be on point.
At the heart of Newman’s kitchen are a pair of Stump smokers, primarily burning hickory and pecan. As I’m apt to do, I opt for the pulled pork plate ($10) for my first taste. Newman’s pork is quite good by most standards — the meat is moist and flavorful — but I find the level of smoke to be a little lacking.
Granted, I prefer my pork with a powerful punch of smoke, more so than many others do, but I still feel Newman could ratchet up the smokiness without alienating the less hardcore palates out there. And a little extra bark — that crunchy, smoky crust that builds on the outside of the meat — wouldn’t hurt, either.
Slightly discouraged, I move next to a beef brisket plate ($13) and my spirits lift. It’s one of the harder cuts to get right, but Newman nails it. Digging into the thick slabs of fork-tender beef, layered with a nice smoky bark on top, I don’t even think about adding any additional sauce.
I’m equally enthused by my half slab of St. Louis-style ribs ($14). Cooked perfectly, the meat pulls cleanly from the bone without disintegrating, and displays a bright pink smoke ring.
Unfortunately, on a return visit I find the level of smoke across all of the meats varies from my first trip — some for the better, some for the worse. The only one that doesn’t change at all is the brisket.
If you only get one side (all plates come with two) make sure that it is the fried Brussels sprouts. Barbecue traditionalists may scoff, but these sprouts — dusted with Lovies’ barbecue rub and given a quick deep-fry, resulting in an almost blackened look — are certainly worth a try.
The hearty baked beans impress as well, with chunks of pork making this more of a smoky stew than the cloyingly sweet brown sugar beans most places serve. And Newman’s collard greens also deserve consideration, as he packs a good bit of meaty flavor into each cup.
The rest of the sides all hold their own, but these three are definitely the standouts.
While I believe there are still some tweaks needed on the smoking process — a little more consistency, and a bit more smoke across the board — the only recipe needing a ground-up makeover is the Brunswick stew ($4 cup/$8 bowl). I don’t mind the tomato-based style of stew that Newman is shooting for, but the sweetness is simply off-putting. A great stew is hard to do, but this one definitely needs “a little more love.” Or a lot more love.
Don’t mistake my nitpicking — Newman and Gregory have a very solid foundation for what could become a great barbecue restaurant, and I encourage you to go by and judge for yourself. Barbecue is such an individual taste that some of you may find perfection in the intensity of smoke, or you may love the tomatoey sweetness of the stew.
While I believe Lovies has some tinkering to do, they are off to a great start. I’m looking forward to seeing how things come together, and hope that they do.
