Barbecue and Banana Pudding

Today, my aunt Jeanie and I went shopping and then had lunch at City Barbecue in Beavercreek. I'd been wanting to try the Centerville location since it opened several years ago so I was glad when Jeanie said barbecue sounded good to her. When I first moved back to Ohio after living in a little farm town west of Nashville for a few years, I loudly bemoaned the lack of good barbecue. This has been remedied. I have found three spots that have the real thing now. Rudy's Smokehouse Barbecue in Springfield is up to par, as is Bubba's Q in Avon. Now, I can add City Barbecue to the list. I'd heard good buzz on the place and expected it to be decent, but was surprised by how very good the food was, how perfect the sweet tea and how kind the staff.

It's strictly casual, with a counter for ordering and big round metal trays to carry your sandwich, on waxed paper, to a table. The fact that there are tables sets it apart from a number of great joints I used to hit in Tennessee, but that didn't diminish it for me. Had the weather been a smidge warmer, we could have sat outside, but it was comfy inside, too, with old signs on the walls and the blues playing on the sound system. As far as I'm concerned, blues and country are the only proper music for a barbecue joint.

We both chose the pulled pork sandwiches, but Jeanie got hers North Carolina style, with vinegar sauce and slaw on top, while I had mine straight up. They were piled high with extremely tender meat that really had been slow-cooked and had acres of flavor. The tables were graced with a number of sauces to try. I went for the original, a red-brown sauce with a nice balance of sweet and smoky. I had a side of mac & cheese, one of the world's most perfect foods. It was the creamy kind with a heavy hint of cheese, tasting like someone's mama made it. I also had a side of thin-sliced cukes and onions in a sweet vinegary sauce, a refreshing accompaniment I found at add-a-dishes during my Tennessee tenure.

When I'd finished my meal, I found that I really did want to try that banana pudding. Banana pudding is something I wouldn't even touch until I lived in the South. Now, however, I am very fond of it. My auntie had been smart and picked up a serving with her meal. I went back for it, saying, "I decided I need the banana pudding." Amazingly, the woman at the counter told me, "It's okay. You're fine" when I opened my purse to pay. It was almost like hanging out with family and boy, was that pudding good! It wasn't fancied up at all, but just like something from a southern grandma's kitchen. While I adore the Max and Erma's yankeefied rendition of banana pudding, this was, like the meat, the real deal. Beautiful!