The Shack ATL BBQ & Seafood — Restaurant in Atlanta

I've never really liked bbq (to the embarrassment of my mom, whose favorite food group is pulled pork, and entire South Carolina family). Chicken is boring and tasteless. I think properly cooked and seasoned meat doesn't need a sauce to hide it, so the sugary sweetness of glorified ketchup never appealed to me.

Enter The Shack. The best bbq in ATL. When my parents first visited years ago, I took them to Daddy D's and I was embarrassed. Community is OK, but it's far away and pricey. Fox Bros? Please. I have no idea why they are so popular. Wypipo and their raisins. Having eaten at The Shack, I will never go back. I didn't want to post this review, because I don't want my secret spot getting out, but they deserve it.

The sweet potatoes: glorious. Savory and sweet, I thought about them every day, after our first trip. Perfectly mashed, somehow. The baked beans: another pointless side usually, but a deliciously seasoned option at The Shack - on the sweet side, and vegetarian. Garlic potatoes were fine, not garlicky enough for me. The collards (no pork) and coleslaw are OK, the broccoli and cheese is excellent. Real cheese and broccoli (not like, a ladle of cheese sauce from Sysco), cooked just to perfect al dente.

The brisket is so tender, not stringy and dry. The chicken...they get the most perfectly smoky flavor in the meat, and then top it with a vinegary red sauce that I also thought about, every day, after the first visit. They make it fresh every day - same as all the sides. I have no idea how they concocted a bbq sauce I find so amazing, but they did! I am not kidding when I say I thought about it every day and went back the next week. And the next week. And the next week...and tonight. He accidentally gave the mustard sauce, which I don't like as much as the red (usually I want mustard), but was still tangy and delicious.

To top it off: if you're lucky you can snag a homemade dessert before they're all got, fresh from mom's kitchen. Pecan pie, strawberry cake, pound cake, red velvet cake. Tonight we had the pie, a crispy crust filled with filling and topped with whole pecans. Again, somehow perfectly sweet and just right.

I hope they don't get screwed over by the bs Metropolitan sale and the ensuing gentrification of our neighborhood (our community is NOT your commodity!). I was hesitant to leave a review, I don't want my secret spot getting out! But they deserve every star, The Shack is...

Worth a two-year quest!

This guy serves and has been serving the best bbq smoked ribs in Atlanta, period! We first discovered him when he had a food truck around the West End area on weekends only. However, he changed his usual location at some point and we spent a couple of years driving around south Atlanta looking for him unsuccessfully.

Thank God, I ran into him coincidentally a couple of weeks ago and found out he had upgraded to a full brick and mortar spot. I tried his ribs last weekend and immediately remembered why we spent those 2 years looking for him around town ! Simple and perfectly so well seasoned that the BBQ sauce is almost unnecessary. You can actually taste the smoke flavor unlike so many BBQ joints who boil the meat first (thus remove flavor) and later drown everything in an ocean of salt and BBQ sauce. For those who believe that less is more and that good food is like a naturally beautiful woman who doesn't need excess makeup to shine, then The Shack BBQ...

Not the best BBQ in Atlanta. I ordered: 2 fried catfish fillets- too salty to eat Med. Rib tips no sauce- good flavor but tough and chewy, ate 1/3 of order Shrimp (garlic)seafood boil extra potato/ corn- small tiny shrimp, watery not seasoned well- didn't eat after a bite Mac n cheese- too much pepper over cooked, noodles were mushy, cheese was burnt- didn't eat after a bite French fries- fresh but not salted and some were undercooked Baked beans- delicious Peach cobbler- very good, best thing I had there Key lime/strawberry cake- tasted like box mix cake, too sweet, didn't eat after a few bites BBQ Sauce- loved the candy mix sauce!!! The staff was very nice. Service was typical (pandemic time) I may come back for the peach...