Putting American Barbecue On The Map
Artist Joseph Veazey of Veazey Studio has created a one-of-a-kind map celebrating American barbecue culture
This week’s featured guest contributor is Joseph Veazey, an Award-winning designer, illustrator, artist, and the creative force behind Veazey Studio. His project, “The Atlanta Rap Map,” has raised thousands of dollars for charity and has been acquired by the Library of Congress and many University library collections. Veazey teaches graphic design and illustration at Georgia State University and Miami Ad School (Atlanta). If you want to write for The Smoke Sheet, please get in touch.
The newly released American Barbecue Map is my attempt to visualize the entire culture of barbecue in a way that has never been done before — by including the history, contributors, restaurants, regional styles, and, of course, the sauce. It was a culmination of years of research and painting. To familiarize myself with the different regional styles and restaurants, I went on dozens of road trips across the South.
I started my adventures in my home state of Georgia, where I tasted barbecue prepared the same way it has been done for the past 90 years — on an iconic L-shaped brick pit at Fresh Air Barbecue, in the small town of Jackson. I had jaw-dropping rib tips at JJ‘s Rib Shack in Southwest Atlanta — a place famously featured in OutKast’s first music video from 1995. I ate at Holcomb’s in White Plains (est. 1971), famous for its sawdust dining room floor.
Traveling to the northeast corner of the state, I was surprised to find that the Eastern North Carolina tradition of vinegar and pepper sauce has a strong foothold in the area at places like the 78-year-old Zeb’s, which happens to have the greatest hand-painted barbecue sign I’ve seen yet. I ate BBQ rabbit at Poole’s, chicken mull at Butt Hutt, and hash and rice at Sconyer’s.
From there, I did a deep exploration of North Carolina, where I found barbecue joints that were so special and culturally precious that it felt like they should be historically protected. I had red slaw at BBQ Center and Lexington Barbecue, a side item that I didn’t even know existed before traveling to the area.
At Skylight Inn, I was given a tour of the whole hog pits by some of the nicest people I have ever met. I had incredible buffet-style barbecue in South Carolina at Shealy‘s, complete with “exotic” buffet side items like milk gravy, fried gizzards, and chicken livers, alongside my pulled pork with mustard sauce.
But it was in Memphis that I really fell in love. I first arrived on a Sunday and googled a list of the top 10 barbecue restaurants in the city. To my disappointment, only number 10 was open on a Sunday, a place called Jim Neely’s Interstate Barbecue. I got ribs and coleslaw, and my mind was absolutely blown. Time seemed to stop while I gnawed on those bones. My imagination ran wild at the thought of what No. 1 through 9 tasted like.
In Alabama, I sampled that famous white sauce with an incredibly memorable meal at Big Bob Gibson‘s, the restaurant where it originated. In Mississippi, I ate ribs at Abe’s at the intersection where blues legend Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil. I explored the rest of the Delta, a sacred place that has mostly avoided the allure of big fast-food chains.
In a sea of big business and fast food, true American food like barbecue continuously gets pushed to the side or taken for granted. I was on vacation in Italy a couple of years ago — a place highly respected for its rich culinary traditions — and I found myself missing barbecue, soul food, Cajun food, and southern seafood. Barbecue is something truly special, our “culinary folk art,” and our gastronomic gift to the world. And most importantly, it’s still thriving, evolving, and going strong. I believe it should be honored, displayed, and documented so much more than it is.
So what’s next? Well, I have a trip planned for the BBQ mecca of Texas, and I can’t wait to try some snoots in St. Louis. And I just gotta see what this Pit Beef in Baltimore is all about. The adventure continues.
Joseph Veazey
Founder, Veazey Studio
Order your copy of the American Barbecue Map from Veazey Studio here.
