Malson's Barbeque- Kingsland,GA

  
The exits along I-95 in south Georgia are pretty hit or miss, food-wise. Either there's nothing there except a Dairy Queen that somehow survived from the dinosaur age, or else you are greeted by a forest of signage for practically every fast food, gas and hotel brand under the sun.

I had planned to stop mainly for gas at Exit 3 in Kingsland, but something jogged a distant memory of wood-cooked barbecue in the area, and led me to do a quick Google search, which pulled up Malson's. It would have been easy to miss among the towering signposts and cookie-cutter convenience stores if the aroma of oak smoke hadn't blanketed the interchange as I slowed at the bottom of the exit ramp. I traced the smell to a shack the size of a backyard shed, next to the Exxon station. Red painted, life sized letters spelled out B-B-Q on the roof.

Orders are placed at the window. The only place to eat on site is a few dilapidated picnic tables to the side of the parking lot. Immediately to the left are the two giant smokers and the stacks of oak that fuel them.

A pleasant young lady took my order for a pork plate with potato salad and baked beans. In a few minutes I had a heavy black Styrofoam container in my hand and was headed for the road. I popped it open to find a massive pile of pulled pork with lots of chunks of black edges.

As I picked up and ate chunks of the deliciously smoky meat, I found the source of the extra weight-rice. Rice? Yes, at least a pound of your ordinary, cooked white rice. I have to admit I've never seen barbeque served this way before. There was plenty of pork even without any filler, so I ended up leaving most of the rice. It would have worked well to tame some of the extra smoky outer bits of meat for someone who prefers less smoke. Eaten that way, this would have easily been a meal for two. The sauce was excellent as well. Though there wasn't much need for it, I did dip a few of the inside pieces of meat along with a little rice in it and found it to be a good combination. The beans were on par, and the potato salad a little more creamy than usual, but good nonetheless.


This place is definitely worth stopping at if you are headed north or south on I-95. Just get off at exit 3 and follow your nose.

FOOD RATING: 4 OF 5
OVERALL RATING: 4 OF 5