Meg Goes Nom Nom

So, the week before last, THIS totally happened.

Oh yeah. Totes drove right over a big ol’ nail on my way in to work and discovered this at 5:00 PM. That’s how I do. Three hours, a spare tire change, and a tire patch later, I arrived home a ravenous little monster.

I was not about to even try cooking after that. Take-out to the rescue!

This was the perfect excuse to try the new BBQ joint that just opened in Ann Arbor, called Old Carolina Barbecue Company. With just under 10 locations total, this is Old Carolina’s first restaurant outside of Ohio. Welcome to the mitten, friends! The Cranbrook Shopping Center plaza is where you can find this place.

I let the huz surprise me, and here’s what he brought home. We went halfsies on everything, because it’s way more fun to try everything!

First Combo:

• Beef Brisket – Good.
• Smoked Chicken (leg/thigh) – So delicious! Tender, juicy, smoky, succulent (at least based on the awesome drumstick I had!)
• “Simply the World’s Greatest Baked Beans” – I don’t know if these were the world’s greatest but I was definitely a fan. At least three different beans are included in the mix, in a savory, zingy sauce with lots of chili powder.
• Cornbread muffin – just fine, but very delicious when you load it up with cinnamon butter!

Second Combo:

• Ribs – Great! Definitely my favorite of the four meats we tried.
• Pulled Pork – Pretty good, have had better. I wanted more burnt edges in my portion.
• 4-Cheese Mac-n-Cheese – Good. Not earth-shattering but I liked it.

Also, we tried:

• Hushpuppies (football-shaped dough, below) – Holy fried cornbread, these were AMAZE.
• Cole Slaw – You have a choice of creamy or vinegar, and we had the creamy. It was okay.

And below is MY plate with my luscious chicken drumstick (plus a little bit of EVERYTHING). Two weeks later, I still keep thinking about those ribs. Must get more.

The Sauces:

Since I didn’t dine in, I didn’t really get to check out the sauces much, but a couple little containers of Original Classic and Screamin’ Beaver were brought home with our take-out. Naturally I preferred the latter, hotter one. As the menu promises, the heat does “sneak up on you,” but I still would have liked lots more heat! Apparently they have another “off-menu” sauce called Worst Case Scenario. I need this next time.

Final Thoughts:

So there you have it! While there were some items I liked better than others, there were no dishes I tried that disappointed me. Everything was good, and several items (ribs, smoked chicken, hushpuppies) were fantastic!

Given how convenient this location is for me, I can definitely see us visiting Old Carolina Barbecue Company again in the future for take-out. Perhaps at some point I’ll try dining in as well!

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