Southern Pit Bar-B-Que — Restaurant in Griffin

Southern Pit definitely has our approval. I am a fan of another barbecue restaurant chain in Griffin and planned to stop by there that night. It was late and raining. When Southern Pit popped up on my selection here on GoogleMaps, I decided to give it a try since it was closer to my drive home. The food is a little expensive for my taste, but reasonable for barbecue. They have a lot to choose from. There are some less expensive options to choose from. I did not go inside the restaurant. I stayed out in their foyer area where they have seating accommodations and a window to order from for to go orders. I wasn’t sure what I should choose to take home to my family. I listened to a couple of people make their orders. One of them was seated nearby when he started talking to me about the food on the menu. He had seen me looking at it for a while. He was very polite, kind, and a proper gentleman. He was just trying to be a nice helpful Southerner. He told me about what he was taking home to his wife and kids. He recommended a few things. I ended up ordering what he had (the small version) and a larger portion for my son. I tried the beef pit fries and my son had the pork pit fries. My husband had the pork plate. He loved the Brunswick Stew that came with it. His only complaint was that they did not put enough sauce on it. I didn’t order extra as I didn’t know the menu or service well enough to ask. He ended up giving his leftovers to my son to eat the next day with some BBQ sauce I had in the fridge. That’s just not the same. I will know to ask for enough or add more in the future. It worked out okay. There was a ton leftover as the portions are huge. I had leftovers with my small pit fries and gave them to my son to finish off that night. The coleslaw is really good. I like how fine the cabbage is cut and it’s just sweet enough. I ordered a small blackberry cobbler for later. I have not had any for years. It was the best cobbler that I’ve had since I’ve been living in Georgia so far. Most places only serve peach cobbler (of course) if they do serve cobbler at all. It was an excellent mix of crusty and gooey. Not too mushy like the other place’s peach cobbler. The wait staff that served me recommended that I buy a gallon of tea as it was cheaper than purchasing 3 individual to-go teas. I didn’t know if we had anything at home to drink made at the time. We like our sweet tea. She provided 3 cups of ice with lids and straws and provided a drink carrier. It was very appealing to me that she would offer a cheaper version when some places only care about the money. The service was fast and friendly. She was ready to take my order, I didn’t wait long for food, they prepared my bag quickly and efficiently. There was nothing missing when I got home. Yes, I tip the lady at the window who serves me. It’s the appropriate thing to do. Her tip was well deserved. I hope that people do this as well and realize that they deserve tips even if there’s a partition between you when placing your order at restaurants like this. What I ordered for 3 people was around $35 with the gallon of tea and the one desert. That’s not too bad considering paying $20-25 on fast food. It’s also very comparative to the fast food version of BBQ down the road. I will be choosing Southern Pit over them from now on. Although we live nearly 8-miles from there, the food traveled well. I was worried that the fries wouldn’t be good by the time I got home, but they were great.

Update: We have been back to dine-in. It was great. The waitress and staff were awesome! 👏🏽 They do have...

The good, the ok and slightly uncomfortable: A tale of how Southern Pit Bar-B-Que missed a 5 star rating.

My wife and I recently visited Southern Pit Bar-B-Que and overall had a good dining experience. Although having a large crowd outside that seemed to be waiting for tables, we were greeted and placed immediately at a table for two. Our waitress was great, got us drinks quickly and took our order. In fact, the staff earns 5 stars. They were really good.

My wife ordered a pulled pork plate and reported to me that it tasted good. She told me the meat had good flavor but wasn’t a big fan of the sauce. We didn’t try any other sauces available so that’s not really a problem.

I ordered the brisket plate and the brisket was just ok. It had the right flavor but the meat was a little tough and was missing the crispness of a good bark. I did like the coleslaw, or as my wife and I call it, little coleslaw due to the fineness of the cabbage chop. I also really liked the sweet tea. Spot on sweet but not too sweet. I would also like to point out that the waitress easily accommodated a special order request for a cup of sliced white onions with my order. This and sliced dill pickles are just my preferred taste partners with brisket. So kudos to her.

One aspect of our visit was sheer amount of people in proximity of each other in the dining area. It worried my wife and I if this was a safe environment during a health pandemic. All the staff were wearing masks and I also noticed there were plastic partitions between booths. I can tell this restaurant is trying to prevent the spread of harmful germs but for my wife and I, it seems like there are just too many patrons in the dining area to lower the risk.

I would like to try some other items on menu in the future however I would recommend sticking to the carry out side of...

This review is for us old timers. I've been eating Southern pit for about 30 years now when they used to be across the street from Summit before it even existed in McDonough. They changed owners a few years back & when we went 2 or 3 times after that you could tell the recipes & the quality had went down. I simply stopped going. I spoke with the owner on Facebook and she assured me that nothing had changed but when you eat something for 30 years you kind of get to know what it tastes like LOL. So decided to give it another shot cause it's been about a year since we went, I get people might like the way it is today but for us old timers it just wasn't there. The meat was stringy and had fat in it. I had 2 pieces of cornbread neither had cracklin in it. 1was full of gritty sugar & the other was dry. The stew had definitely been changed with the way the meat was in it and it now has a spice versus the old style. It just wasn't good, as I don't mind spice but you could tell the quality just wasn't what it use to be. Also something was off with the beans. However the coleslaw, french fries were phenomenal as always, as well as the sauce. Also maybe I just missed it but I didn't see a sign on the door or on the menu and don't recall seeing one of the register saying that it was a surcharge for using a card but again that could just be me not seeing it. But let's be real, this day and age who does that? Just build it into your price. Yes I know some people like to save the money by paying in cash but I imagine 75% of your payments are probably in some...