Monday, September 26, 2011

Grand Champion BBQ, Marietta GA and Hot Dog Heaven, Woodstock GA

Hey! We've moved! Come visit our blog at its new home!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's funny you say no smoke, and all you can see is pink and bark in your picture.,.. That is from smoke..lol

To be in a publix shopping center can't be cheap and with meat prices more than 40% higher than last year I can understand the prices.

I'll pay for good food. Heirloom cost more and so does Swallow by Bill Greenwood.,

G.G. said...

Aw, gee, our first hate mail, and from someone who thinks that "lol" counts as a punctuation mark.

I'm sure that the pork was smoked, as pictured. It was also so greasy and limp that I could not taste the smoke. I apologize for not making that more clear in the entry and will revise it accordingly.

G.G. said...

...actually, I should have deleted the above comment, not because the guest disagreed with me, but because there is a factual error in it. A two-side plate at Heirloom Market costs $10 before tax. A two-side plate at Grand Champion costs $11.50 before tax, with an additional charge for Brunswick stew. Heirloom does not cost more.

Swallow at the Hollow's absurdly high price - $13.50 plus tax - was mentioned in a post earlier in September. That much is accurate.

eatallaboutit said...

I think it's funny that you call Grant's comment hate mail. Just because he disagrees with you doesn't make it hate mail...it's a blog; opinions rule.
I frequent many of the BBQ joints you've blogged about and follow other BBQ bloggers. Educate yourself about the product you're consuming before you start blasting new businesses that are trying to stay afloat. Have you asked Heirloom, Swallow in the Hallow or Grand Champion about the products they use and why they charge what they do? If you want an answer, ask the owner & they'll tell you.
Grand Champion & Heirloom use local pork to support GA farms and Grand Champion uses Angus grade beef. Why do you think Shane's Rib Shack is so cheap...they buy a cheap frozen pork. I'll pay a "premium" price any day to support a local business that is doing there best to offer their guests the best.
As for the mac n' cheese, go back and try it...it is not Dave Robert's original receipe. The owners are chefs and they have tweaked it to make the recipe their own...and better than Community Q's.

G.G. said...

I thought for a little while about whether I wanted to resume an unproductive discussion about this place, but I think it might come down, as ever, to commenters' desire to read what they want into the text provided. (Another, stronger, possibility is raised in my final paragraph.) There are now 339 chapters of this blog, and perhaps four of these entries express enough dissatisfaction with the visit to warrant comments from defensive readers. (I'd say only three, but somebody took enough umbrage with my not-completely-glowing report of the really very good Antico to retort, so we will say four.) If you're unhappy that I have "blasted" this establishment, then continue reading; better than 98% of this blog contains positive stories which quite clearly show that I do speak to owners and staff and champion and praise local businesses.

The fact that you've mentioned Heirloom Market in your comment is evidence that you've not read my writing clearly. It was the previous commenter ("f344a752-eac9-11e0-b1b2-000bcdcb471e") who attempted, wrongly, to use them as defense for Grand Champion's high prices. (As though, in a state with 400 barbecue joints, claiming that you can name two that are more expensive constitutes any kind of legitimate defense.) I have nothing but praise and affection for Heirloom Market, was very complimentary to them in a chapter in the spring, think the world of their service and food, and appreciate that they keep their prices low and their portions reasonable.

Is "f344a752-eac9-11e0-b1b2-000bcdcb471e" also named Grant, or is the first sentence of your comment, perhaps, additional evidence that you don't actually read the writing here very clearly?

Having said all that, the creation of a blogger account specifically to comment here and defend Grand Champion is also quite amusing. Outside of anything that I have said and done anywhere, Grand Champion has already picked up quite a bad reputation for a suspicious number of Brand-New-to-Urbanspoon accounts set up just to give over-the-top, glowing reviews, and even one Brand-New-to-285-Foodies to do the same. Now, if you don't mind, life's short enough, and there's more good barbecue in town to enjoy, to waste time defending my writing to obvious sockpuppets, and don't think I'll allow any more of them through regarding this restaurant.