Stacy Hutto

Managing editor

My all-time favorite place to eat in Durant is Main Street Barbecue on the corner of First Street and Main Street. The prices are affordable for anyone on a budget and the food is outstanding. Main Street Barbecue claims to have “The best BBQ this side of Memphis” and I have to agree with them.

Main Street Barbecue has a variety of slow cooked meats. They offer chopped and sliced beef, pulled pork, smoked turkey breast, smoked sausage, polish sausage, spicy hot links, sliced chicken breast, St. Louis style pork ribs and sliced pit ham.

While the menu has a variety of items, when I eat there I usually get the sliced brisket sandwich and smother it in barbecue sauce. The sandwich is a third pound of smoked perfection. Before tax I can get a sliced beef sandwich for $6.49. If I want to add two sides it comes to $7.99. The sandwich is very filling and fills me up for the rest of the day.

The meat is thinly sliced, fall apart tender and has perfect bark, which is the crunchy dark outside of the meat that is formed by being in smoke for hours. That is where a lot of flavor is since the bark is caused by smoke and the meat takes on the flavor of the wood used. Different types of wood have their own unique flavor profile. Common woods used for smoking are hickory, cherry, pecan, apple and mesquite.

Main Street uses pecan wood for their meats. The smoke from pecan wood lends a sweet and mild flavor to meats. The meat ends up with a mellower flavor compared to Billy Sims BBQ.

Another thing about smoked meats is the pink ring under the bark. Some people mistakenly believe this means the meat is undercooked. The pink ring is actually called the smoke ring and is the beginning of the bark. Meats that are properly smoked will have a well-defined smoke ring. The meat at Main Street serves as a perfect example of a well-defined smoke ring.

The buns Main Street uses for their sandwiches are unique to their restaurant. It looks like a Kaiser roll, but is softer. The bun is the perfect size for the amount of meat they put on their sandwiches. The bun comes toasted so you can load the sandwich up with barbecue sauce and it doesn’t get soggy.

Speaking of barbecue sauce, I am totally in love with Main Street Barbecue’s mild sauce. It has amazing flavor, is a little bit sweet and pairs beautifully with their brisket. They also have a hot barbecue sauce and a smoky sauce for those who don’t like sweet sauces.

Main Street offers many side dishes. This is the only place in Durant where I have found spicy fried green beans. The green beans come with Ranch Dressing for dipping and they are so good anyone who doesn’t like green beans would change their minds. While they have spicy in the name, people who don’t like spicy hot food would enjoy them since they are not that spicy.

If you eat at Main Street Barbecue and try the loaded baker or big stuffed baker, don’t order anything else. These are not your average potatoes. They are the biggest potatoes I have ever seen and could easily feed two people. Diners can substitute a baked potato as a side for $1.99. The potatoes that are used for the sides are the same size as the ones used for entrees.

The loaded baker entrée comes with butter, sour cream, cheese and bacon. If the smell of the barbecue wafting through the restaurant has your mouth watering, then get the big stuffed baker. The big stuffed baker is the loaded baker with your choice of meat.

If you’ve had a busy day and don’t feel like cooking, they offer family meals that start at $21.99 and are supposed to feed two people. They usually feeds two people with plenty left over for later. For those with a big family, a family meal that feeds up to eight people is $64.99. If you have an event coming up Main Street Barbecue also caters. Main Street has daily lunch specials for $9.49 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you want to check out the full menu, it can be found online at http://www.mainstreetbarbecue.biz/?page=1. If you do check out the online menu, be advised the prices are not current. When I went to the website the prices were lower than the actual prices.

The rustic interior, big screen TVs, friendly staff and good food makes Main Street Barbecue a great place to spend an afternoon.

If you’re in a hurry Main Street has a drive-thru. For those in a hurry and on a budget there is a drive-thru special that consists of a chopped sandwich, bag of chips and iced tea for $7.49. You can also call them at 745-9120 and they will have your order ready for you to pick up. Main Street Barbecue is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Main Street is located at 42 West Main St. in Durant.