Brian's Barbecue - Finleyville

This restaurant offers fantastic and unique barbecue. As an avid barbecue eater, I can confidently say that this place is the best in the area. The food is consistently delicious, the prices are fair, and Brian and his family are lovely people. Whether you're ordering brisket, ribs, pork, chicken, or sides, you can't go wrong. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Barbecue is something that 's hard to judge objectively. So much of it comes down to personal tastes. When you consider the differences in regional barbecue, the differences can be both drastic and nuanced.I 've had barbecue all over the US. All over the world, in fact. There really isn 't a type or style of bbq that I haven 't had. Take that as some credentials if you 're looking for them.We stopped by and got brisket, mac and cheese, cornbread and the potato salad. Dinner for two, super reasonable. Like $20 or so.My personal barbecue preference tends to be a brisket, lots of smoke flavor, heavy bark and an mustard based sauce. Something about that just works for me and is usually what I look for.Brian 's brisket is almost exactly none of those things. Checking basically none of my check boxes. And...I 'm giving it 4 stars none the less, because the food itself is delicious. Even if it 's not my Weird Science perfect brisket, what it is works and it works well.The menu doesn 't really say much about the brisket. If I had to bet, I can 't help but think I taste coffee. So I don 't know if it 's a rub or if it 's maybe entirely my imagination. Doesn 't seem like a hickory (my favorite) or a mesquite (my least favorite) since the wood flavor doesn 't really jump out like it does with those. So I 'm guessing some fruit wood giving a mellow smoke flavor. That coffee, or whatever I 'm tasting, actually does a great job of giving you some earthy and roasted flavor. So it kinda works to amp up the more subtle smoke flavor. The meat itself was very succulent and juicy. I think that might impact the bark a little, but you can absolutely still taste the rub. It 's not hurting for seasoning.Whoever called the sauce glorified ketchup doesn 't know what they 're talking about. First off, standard BBQ sauce IS glorified ketchup. The red sauce everyone knows and loves is almost always, always, always made with ketchup. Your BBQ sauces tend to start with a whole condiment. There 's those ketchup based sauces, mustard based sauces, there 's vinegar based sauces... there 's even mayonnaise based sauces in Alabama. It 's more or less how all the sauces go.Brian 's sauce seems to be built around crushed tomatoes. Which I 've encountered previously, and tended not to like very much. Too often they wind up being like a marinara. To serve it up it has a certain spaghetti sauce consistency. I wasn 't hopeful. That said, one taste and the spice and vinegar kick in. Kinda like a Carolina style sauce, but with the underlying tomato you 'll totally see it 's a BBQ sauce and a damned fine one at that.The sauce transforms the meat. When I had the brisket by itself, I was a little underwhelmed. It was tasty but it might have been pot roast, not having that big smoke taste. Adding the sauce, it takes on a whole new flavor. Totally delicious. 100% barbecue. Greater than the sum of it 's parts, if ever I 've encountered it.Mac and cheese was good, very reasonably priced. Wouldn 't make a trip just for that but, lot of people out there making really good macaroni.And while I 'm not a big potato salad guy, I have to admit this is one of the few ones out there that I had a second bite of. So, I can only imagine if you 're into potato salad that this would be a good one for you.But that 's basically it. Really good barbecue, reasonably priced. Not sure what else you 'd want.

Brian's is one of the best barbeque joints I've been to in the country. Meat is high grade, smoked perfectly. It's so good sauce is almost an insult.

Ohhhh! How we LOVE the brisket and sauce! Beans are fab also! Thank you Brian Nd Kiera! Mmmmm!

I got the rack of ribs and a whole chicken with 3 large sides. All of the sides were really good. The chicken was really good also. The ribs were cooked perfect and fell off the bone. It is only 5 minutes from South Park. The prices are really good. I'll definately be eating here again.