Rusty’s Bar-B-Q, Leeds, Alabama

My very good friend Darryl Morin shot me an email recently asking where he should eat in Birmingham. Now, Darryl came up in hardscrabble South Texas and has built a very successful tech company, so you can go to either end of the restaurant spectrum with Darryl. I sent some suggestions, high end and low, and then sent another email that just said, “Rusty’s!” It got an award for the best family-run barbecue place in Alabama, which is going some, because, talk as you will about Memphis and Kansas City, Birmingham is the real deal, and I am a huge Rusty’s fan, as per here. Here’s Darryl outside Rusty’s with Rusty’s mother

Rusty’s is on the east side of Birmingham at 7484 Parkway Drive in Leeds, and, as Darryl and his lovely wife, Angela (Darryl, like the rest of us, married up), were headed east for a wedding in Talladega. There is, of course, a NASCAR track in Talladega, and Darryl and Angela went on a ride on the NASCAR track in Talladega. I wish I could find the video. Darryl is all, “Yee Ha!” during the ride, and sensible Angela is all, “Gemmmeoutahere!” I’m not sure which camp I’d be in. Maybe both. I should have told Darryl about the Barber Formula One track in Leeds with its Porsche school with a Porsche EV that goes from 0 to 100 in two seconds. I bet he would have liked a ride there — almost as much as a tour of the 1,600 vintage cars and motorcycles in the stunning Barber Motorsports Museum.

Anyway, Darryl and Angela stopped in at Rusty’s, and sent in a report, which I here share —

Traveling from Birmingham, Alabama to Talledega, it was obvious we were in barbecue country. After consulting John Tanner, the genius behind the John Tanner’s Barbecue Page, we stopped at Rusty’s in Leeds and it did not disappoint.

We tried a wide sampling of meats and sides. All portions were generous as was the hospitality. While all was excellent, the ribs, chicken and pulled pork were exceptional, as was the potato salad, spicey (yet still sweet) baked beans and collard greens cooked with Conecuh Sausage.

The test of a true barbecue pit is the smoke flavor of the meat. Too many pits rely on the artificial smoke flavoring in their sauce. This is not the case at Rusty’s. Each bite with or without sauce was loaded with flavor. If ever driving through Leeds, whether you are hungry or not, treat yourself at Rusty’s!

Well said, Darryl! Rusty’s food is about as good as barbecue gets. You should go there. Just a couple of miles away by I-20 is an example of that Wonder of the World called Buc-ee’s. If you haven’t been to one, go. Just don’t try their “barbecue.” Get that at Rusty’s.

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