Sweet Auburn BBQ

Sweet Auburn BBQ takes a familiar Southern language and rewrites it with real intent. The room does the expected barbecue-joint things — wood on the walls, bourbon on the shelves, a game on the TV — but the kitchen, run by Anita and Howard Hsu, refuses to leave the menu at pulled pork and brisket. Brisket becomes egg rolls. Wings arrive dusted with Szechuan lemon pepper. The fusion isn't a gimmick bolted onto standard barbecue; it's the whole point of the place, and it works because the smoke underneath is still done right.

That's the case for this being more than a novelty stop: the traditional cuts hold their own, and the Asian-inflected dishes taste as good as they read on the menu, not just interesting on paper. Few barbecue kitchens are willing to mess with the format this much and still nail the fundamentals.

Local coverage has caught on, with both the city's alt-weekly-style press and its glossy magazine keeping Sweet Auburn on their lists. That recognition tracks. This is a barbecue joint with a specific point of view, executed well enough to back it up.