{Photograph} by Martha Williams
The east facet of Atlanta is a tricky place to open up a barbecue spot. Sgt. Wyatt’s Nation BBQ in Kirkwood is a household barbecue haven with divine pork; Georgia Boy BBQ (within the former Anna’s location in Kirkwood) serves up among the finest wings I’ve had; Fox Bros. is a stone’s throw away on DeKalb Avenue; Daddy D’z BBQ Joynt on Memorial Drive has among the finest plates and sides you may get on the town. The realm is crowded with staples of the sport, however a competitor may argue it’s the place to be, a battleground of types wherein to carve out their barbecue crown.
Gene’s BBQ opened in late July within the East Lake neighborhood, in the identical constructing as Poor Hendrix and Combine’d Up Burger. Avery Cottrell began Gene’s as a pop-up at locations equivalent to Kimball Home and Poor Hendrix, earlier than he partnered with John Ward of Victory Manufacturers and the house owners of Kimball Home to open up a everlasting location. Cottrell has flooded his debut restaurant with creativity. Named after his orange and white cat, whose cartoon face is plastered on the web site, Gene’s presents Cottrell’s tackle Viet-Cajun and Texas-style barbecue, all set at a Flora-Bama get together in Pensacola.
Once I walked in on a Friday evening in September, I began to really feel like Friday. I used to be hit with a disco ball reflecting Christmas lights strung throughout the ceiling and the bar. A 20-foot crimson alligator hanging from the ceiling, neon indicators, a retro jukebox, sidewalk newspaper bins, and extra folk-art decor that Cottrell, Ward, and Matt Christison (of Kimball Home) collected over 5 years make the area really feel prefer it’s been lived in for that lengthy. On the counter, I reveled within the festivities, and ordered a Genesicle, a zero-proof frozen coconut-cream cocktail (I opted so as to add rum for an additional cost) with orange and vanilla flavors that hits in a spot like this. The drink menu is expansive, with a mixture of subtle and easy, enjoyable frozen drinks, basic cocktails, wine, and low-cost beer. The spacious inside has four-tops, cubicles with crimson banquettes, and some giant spherical tables for the household.
{Photograph} by Martha Williams
I took a seat outdoors on the coated patio, the place there are half a dozen tables with colourful oilcloth desk covers. My view was a sight to behold—a four-door, hot-pink smoker from Primitive Pits (based mostly in Cumming) that serves up brisket, pork, hen, and ribs. As I sat, Genesicle in hand, Cottrell’s imaginative and prescient felt formidable however efficient.
After I’d ordered, an attentive and fast workers delivered the meals in paper boats on trays. Each meat plate comes with flour tortillas—as is the customized in South Texas—and pickled greens, for a choose-your-own-barbecue-adventure. I ordered the sliced brisket, which was smoked tender, however lacked the daring, complicated spice that you simply may discover in Texas. The plate made up for it. I constructed a bulging brisket taco with pickles, pickled crimson onions, mint, and cilantro, dousing all of it with Boss Saus, a candy barbecue sauce with crimson chili flakes for the suitable kick. And so they don’t skimp on the tortillas, serving you 4 of them, heat, for the journey.
The last word take a look at of barbecue for myself and my checking account is the pulled pork sandwich. At any barbecue joint in Georgia, that is the most affordable entree on the menu and sure probably the most ordered. Gene’s model prices $14, with a alternative of 1 facet, which, on this economic system, satisfies. The pulled pork got here on a sesame seed bun with slaw-topped meat doused in Smokin’ Moist Sauce, a vinegar-based barbecue sauce too sizzling to name Carolina. The meat itself left one thing to be desired; the pork was mushy, with out a lot bark to the chunk, even because the slaw and sauce gave the sandwich the boldness it wanted.
The place Gene’s actually shone was within the Viet-Cajun facet of the menu. The summer time menu had smoked-mushroom tacos, topped with pickled fennel, toum (garlic sauce), and pomegranate—a staple of Vietnamese delicacies—filled with a posh and wealthy taste. The mushrooms had been crispy and succulent, leaving my girlfriend and me with “taco hand,” a phrase we coined for a terrific and dripping taco. Marinated Cajun crab claws are available a tangy chili-vinegar sauce. The cucumber salad was recent and topped with mint and cilantro; fish sauce vinegar packed umami into every crisp chunk. Gene’s wings come Hooters- or Daytona-style, with a grilled, crunchy end to the smoked hen. I devoured the fish sauce caramel wings (it’s also possible to get Buffalo or lemon pepper), which had been candy and bitter and paired properly with jalapeño ranch.
{Photograph} by Martha Williams
For dessert, I opted for the banana pudding with two vanilla wafers and a Biscoff cookie set within the center. The candy custard was wealthy and creamy, and earlier than lengthy, it disappeared in entrance of me. I additionally received probably the most notorious menu merchandise—the Mountain Dew Jell-O shot—and, pleasantly, it tasted precisely because the soda does within the can.
As with every debut, Cottrell’s hopes and goals fill Gene’s, and his ambition pays off with a vibrant ambiance that’s infectious. Whereas the barbecue can enhance, it stands out among the many east facet of Atlanta’s crowd, with its distinctive Viet-Cajun aptitude that offers the meals an depth that can convey me again. That, and the truth that I can financial institution on a Flora-Bama get together each time I step via the door.
This text seems in our November 2024 situation.
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