HUNTSVILLE – Barbecue gumbo with a scoop of potato salad.
Pork belly cracklin’ naked or dusted in sichuan or cool ranch rub.
Thai chili fried ribs.
The well-worn “Laissez les bon temps rouler” works here for sure, but a couple of boys from New Orleans are thinking more in the vein of Mark Twain who, in 1884, described cuisine in the Big Easy as “delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.”
The above are selections that’ll be available at the much anticipated opening of Blue Oak BBQ’s second incarnation in the MidCity District, which is slated for mid-March. It follows the original that was born as a late-night club popup.
Blue Oak BBQ is now a renowned part of, coincidentally, Mid City in New Orleans.
Founder/owners Philip Moseley and Ronnie Evans, who met in grammar school and are natives of the historic Louisiana city, have merged southern barbecue styles and sides into their own menu.
“We’ll have some gumbo with burned ends in it,” Evans said of what the Blue Oak crew would offer this weekend at the Whistlestop Festival, hinting at what the restaurant will bring to the city in the spring.
Other unique selections from the Blue Oak menu include:
- Spicy miso roasted carrots
- Ginger sesame slaw
- House spicy green onion sausage link
- Roasted garlic mac & cheese
- The Doobin’ Loobin (sandwich named after a college friend)
Brisket, once a rarity in local dining but now offered at more locations, will be served daily. There will be white sauces on the menu with the birthplace of the condiment, Big Bob Gibson’s, just over the Tennessee River in Decatur. The Blue Oak menu in New Orleans includes white sauce with one featuring coconut cream.
The second edition of Blue Oak is twice the size of the original. It’ll have courtyard seating with a screened view of the smokers. (Note to backyard grillers: no advice allowed).
The sign outside is a pig on a pole inspired by “Porky’s,” the classic high school comedy movie from 1981. Blue Oaks sign is limited compared to the cinematic version that was above the movie’s eponymous hangout, but the hog is illuminated by progressive lighting.
Because of historical related restrictions, Blue Oak couldn’t have a neon sign such as the one adorning their new, albeit unfinished, second location.
“It’s kind of like a dream, Ronnie and I,” Moseley said. “We grew up watching ‘Porky’s’. There’s a scene where the pig runs and jumps (and moves forward). Anyway, it’s always been in our mind to get an action neon.”
“That’s an amazing movie,” Evans said.
Said Moseley, “We have to have it playing on TV all the time.”
“You’ll have to put on the censored one,” said Evans.
When Blue Oak opens, customers will enter and order but, after being seated, tables will be serviced. There will be a full bar providing drinks and specialties – such as the Black and Gold daiquiri with Ole Smoky Mountain Java Cream moonshine in the recipe.
Cliche, maybe, but “Laissez les bon temps rouler” in the Rocket City.
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