Hog's Heaven is just that - heaven!

I am not a bbq ribs expert.  I know what I like, but I certainly couldn't expound on the merits of the different styles and sauces.  However, I do know good cooking when I taste it, and Hog's Heaven is some gooooood cooking.

Hog's Heaven used to be closer to my house.  I saw it and wanted to go there, but it never happened.  Frustrating.  Hog's Heaven was always just out of reach.  Sad.  Then, it disappeared.  Defeat.  Then it reappeared.  Happy!.  It is now on Decatur, across from Costco.  The funny part is, that it is now located in the spot vacated by Shane's BBQ, a rib chain.  My dad like's Shane's, and I thought Shane's was good, but holy crap, Hog's Heaven beats them all.

There isn't a lot to say here.  Following my "focused menu principle" (yes, I have now named it), Hog's Heaven is great and hopefully will have some staying power.  They serve ribs and pulled pork.  No brisket.  No sausages.  No catfish.  Nothing but ribs, a couple sandwiches and some sides.

I will go in reverse order of amazingness.  First, the kid's meals.  The kids meals are less than $6.00.  I can't quite remember but think they were actually less than $5.00.  No matter.  They weren't a rip off like so many kids meals.  The kids got corn dog nuggets and tater tots.  Nothing special, but good.

Amy and I shared some ribs and fries.  The fries were delicious.  Truth be told, fries aren't really that hard, but if you have a good seasoning salt, it tastes like you have spun gold from straw.  Hog's Heaven's fries have a great seasoning and a really great dipping sauce.

Finally, the ribs.  This sentence should be all I need to say to convey what is special about Hog's Heaven's ribs:  You can tell the ribs are great because if you get a bite without sauce, you don't care.  The rib meat is tender (but not the absolute most tender ever) and very flavorful.  I think these are the first ribs I have loved that weren't a texture covered by sauce.  That is, people often tout their "fall off the bone" tender ribs.  It's nice.  But, I think to make meat that tender, you have to cure or marinate the living hell out of it.  As a result, you can lose the meat's essence and you are now just serving a texture with sauce.  At Hog's Heaven, you are serving meat, with sauce, and that's saying something.

I'll wrap this up by noting that Hog's Heaven is not only delicious, but earnest.  Their staff seem to be family or at least close friends.  They were super attentive and really made you feel at home.  I know a lot of people say that, but there was something different in the way I was served at Hog's Heaven, and I liked it a lot.