Blessing #72 - Zeb's

Remember the story of Jacob and Esau in the Bible? Esau sells his birthright (double inheritance) to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Esau sounds crazy, and he probably was, but when you take your first bite of Zeb's stew suddenly you understand Esau better. Zeb's Barbecue is my absolute, 100%, t-total favorite place to eat.

When Shad and I were dating, my parents and I took him to Zeb's for the first time on one of his visits to GA. As we sat down to eat, Shad said, "Oh, I had bbq earlier today?" I asked him where at and he replied, "Arby's." I shook my head in shame, and explained to him that roast beef and Arby's sauce does was not really bbq. At that same visit to Zeb's, he said, "Baked beans!" when he first saw brunswicke stew on the plate. He had such a long way to go, but he has grown to love bbq and stew as much as I do.

Here are a few pictures I took to try and show what gives Zeb's, its Zebiness, its Zebocity, its Zebtasticness (okay I'm done with that...it's Zebdaciousness...okay now I'm done for real this time.)

Zeb's is a modest building in the middle of nowhere...a bbq oasis in a good food desert...(Sorry, I must be in a dramatic mood today, too much reality television.)

The decor is bulldawg red and black. There's sunbeam bread on the table, and the menus on the table are just the front of one page. (Always be nervous about a bbq place with a big menu.)

The art on the walls is a picture of a pig, and Zeb and his wife (moment of silence).

A life size cutout of Earnhardt (moment of silence) graces another wall.

Zeb's bbq sauce has always been in this glass container. Zeb's doesn't have multiple sauces on their tables because they only need one. It is a vinegar based sauce that has all the pepper at the bottom. If the sauce is not shaken it's mild, and if the sauce is shaken it's hot.

Zeb's bbq plate (moment of silence) has been served on a brown partitioned plate for as long as I can remember. I always get double stew instead of slaw. After we started eating my mom asked, "Did we pray?" I told her, "When I took my first bite of stew I said, 'God Bless America!' Does that count?"

Zeb's offers one free refill of stew per adult plate. This is the pot that the waitress carries around to give the wonderful refill. When the waitress comes by with the stew pot, everyone quickly eats up every spot of stew on their plate so they can get some more.

I never really eat dessert at Zeb's because I am so full, but this cake looks amazing.

Every visit to Zeb's must be capped off with a Mary Jane candy.

It's hard to explain my love of Zeb's, but at some point this restaurant went from being just another restaurant to something that wove itself into the fabric of me...I know, it's the dramatic mood today, no more Bachlorette for me.