Starnes Bar-B-Q - Paducah, KY

As I have indicated before, I am no food snob.  In particular, I am not snobby about BBQ.  I feel that way because food is personal.  What we like and don’t like is the result of where we grew up, how our mothers cooked, our sense of smell, our constitution.  We are emotionally connected to the food we eat, some more than others.  This is the reason I chose Starnes in Paducah, KY.  I didn’t get to try any of the mutton or burgoo that KY is so famous for, but I got to experience a little slice of life in Paducah, KY and found a connection to the people there.  In my “que roots” post I mentioned that my hometown BBQ has been slammed by outsiders on diner review sites.  My best guess is that it wasn’t the barbeque with which the diner was most familiar. Their lack of creative vocabulary and underdeveloped palate left them unable to accurately describe the food and they were only able to use words like, “disgusting” and “gross”.  Even my vegetarian fried agrees that Ken’s food is good.  Well, when I looked up Starnes on Urban Spoon, it received an 82% rating.  I read the ratings and paid closest attention to the comments of the locals.  They loved it, defended it, and commented that it was a good representation of the western KY BBQ style.  And that sold me on it.

When we pulled into the parking lot I was immediately charmed by the humble bright green cinderblock building – a true local hole-in-the-wall.  I was in love.  The parking lot was full and it was after 1:00pm.  We walked in and discovered that 90% of the seating was counter seating, which for us can be tricky.  We needed three seats with enough room for a wheelchair. Everyone was kind and a diner called our attention to three open seats.  I looked at the menu and like our friends at Fat Matt’s, Starnes has chosen to keep it simple.  There were 4 options: Pork, Beef, Turkey, and Bologna, served a la carte or between two slices of toasted sourdough bread.  They shake a little of their house made sauce on the sandwich before they serve it.  They had just 3 sides: chips, slaw, or potato salad.

The sandwiches are served right on the counter wrapped in parchment paper.  No plates, no muss, no fuss.  The team was very nice and helpful.  On its own, the pork was moist and had a lovely smoke flavor (hickory, I believe).  Without sauce it seemed a little under seasoned, but the sauce added a perfect compliment.  It was a spicy vinegar based sauce with black pepper, paprika, and cayenne.  “The more you add the spicier it gets” is the mantra of the women working the counter and friends, they speak the truth. The potato salad was quite nice, very typical southern style – eggs, mustard, sweet pickles, pimentos, and lots of black pepper – it reminded of my mom’s sans the pimentos.  The portions were normal sized (a novel concept!), but it was cheap, cheap, cheap.  Our entire bill for our family of 4 was $16.09!!  Shut the front door!   

Was it THE BEST barbecue I have ever had?  No, it wasn’t.  Was it tasty? You bet.  And do I understand why the locals love it?  Without a doubt.  If you are ever in Paducah, give it a try.  It’s real people, serving real food with heart.