Porky's Pride Smoke House

I always say the best barbecue is always in a hole-in-the-wall place. This h-i-t-w had to add on, a few times. Good sign. Ribs were recommended to us and try were fantastic. Potato salad and baked beans as sides & banana pudding made the perfect barbecue meal. Ribs were so tender and had great flavor without sauce. We got the sauce on the side to enjoy them both ways.

They have a lunch buffet filled with meat and vegetables. Great if you need a quick lunch but want meat & veggies.

They also have a steak house part, open for dinner, where you pick your cut and cook it on the fire pit how you want it. Sounds like quite the experience.

I popped my white-sauce BBQ cherry at a very good place. It's not a hole in the wall at all like I see in some other reviews. It's a ramshackle bar and restaurant spread across a building with multiple additions. The parking lot sort of rambles as well. It is clearly a place for locals but it sure felt welcoming to a large group from all over the country. Our service from "Boom Kitty" (I will never forget that name, even if I don't remember her actual one) was outstanding, so hey Ms. Kitty, if you're reading this, we salute you. Great job managing a lot of people.
Before I dive in deeper, a quick note - if you happen to have a large group, your dishes will not come out all at the same time. They explained they have a small kitchen, so we got them two at a time. The "east" end of the table was already done by the time the "west" end where I was got our meals. Which I was fine with. But you're a BBQ place, and by all appearances a popular one - you should be able to assemble more than two platters at a time!
I got the BBQ pork plate, made with white sauce (red is the default, but when in Alabama), and sides of cheesy grits and fried okra. Fried okra is fried okra. Possibly frozen from a bag, I wouldn't know, but you can't get that stuff up north. Cheesy grits were wonderful. The pork was fairly moist and tender even without the sauce. I was a little unhappy that sauce comes out in small plastic tubs brought by the waitstaff. I like a squeeze bottle where I can drench my meat. I asked her for a spare tub but I could have used at least two, maybe three tubs. Felt bad about asking for more.
Other foods: An order of unclaimed smoked wings was brought out so the waiter let us all try them. Smoked wings are the bees' fuzz. Order an app of them. What I did order was fried green tomatoes. It came out as wedges instead of slices. Easier for dipping, but more square fryage and less tomato per bite. Still tasty, excellent breading and a nice dipping sauce. Good portion for the price.
I had banana pudding for dessert. It hadn't set yet. It was banana soup. I was amused, so I didn't bother asking for pudding. Maybe this is how they do it here! (It isn't. No one knew what happened.) Delicious. De. Licious.
(Wait a minute... How do you not know you're serving pudding that hasn't set? Someone is ladling it out, someone is stacking wafers in it. Someone is then bringing it out. Did none of those people realize what was wrong??)

Honestly, there are some unusual issues noted above. Some people would definitely give a lower star rating for them. They just didn't disturb me that much. The taste and overall quality made up for it. Just be warned.

Excellent service and great food. They served out whole wrestling team quickly and everyone left full and happy. Chris is an excellent host and the food is fantastic.

We came in on a Saturday night after being in the car for 12 hours. We were starving and craving some good food. We hit the jackpot coming here. The staff was friendly and happy to answer any questions we had. The food we ordered took a bit of time to come out but we had a chance to enjoy some locally made beer. Our order included bbq chicken, Philly cheese steak sandwich, and a bbq pork plate. The food was hot, seasoned well and the sauce was tasty. Add this place to your "must try list". You will be so glad you did!!

Very rare to find brisket like this outside of Texas, really tender and finished with a mustard based sauce. Zesty slaw was outstanding. And pork ribs were fall off the bone. Owner/chef puts the love into this place. Great craft beer selection as well with the best sour selection I've seen at a BBQ joint. I'm beyond impressed, well done!

New ownership in 2016. First time here. Amazing brisket, crazy moist. The owner brought me a sample of his smoked turkey....moistest turkey on the planet. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The mustard based sauce is very good. Im used to red BBQ sauce but this was a pleasant change. We had grilled zucchini that was made to order and tasty. We at at the other place in town last time we came through fultondale. Porky's is now our go to BBQ joint!

Huge turnaround from previous visits. New owner has made some good changes. Just had a fantastic brisket sandwich and fries. The fries with their season were so good I ordered another order of em. Will definitely be back.

Not a great experience the waitress was sweet but the food was not so great for the price ! I have had better BBQ ribs and steaks. Most if not all of the staff is in training . Disappointed ... Made the choice based off the reviews however something must have changed in the past month...more than a tweak needed in my opinion. !

I was in the area and decided that I wanted a sandwich. I didn't want any sandwich though, I wanted a smoked sausage sandwich. I don't know why, I just did.

When I was ordering, I was having a hard time deciding which side I wanted. I either wanted fries, onion rings or fried pickles. When I asked a question about the pickles, the lady at the counter didn't seem to like my question and I got the feeling that she just wanted me to order and get the heck out of dodge. So I just got fries. I also got some banana pudding.

The sausage sandwich was actually quite nice. The flavors were nice and smokey and there wasn't an overwhelming amount of sauce. Unfortunately the fries tasted like yucky Burger King fries and the banana pudding was warm. I don't like warm bananas. I like cold banana pudding.

I would probably go back and try something else. They seemed to have a nice size menu. So I am sure I will find something delicious.

Whoa! What a huge selection for a small joint! It's only about mile off of Interstate 65 which makes it a great option for those passing through. I sure am glad that I stopped here instead of a national chain.

The left entrance is BBQ Joint and the right side is for the Steak House. I ordered and ate at the BBQ side. I was in the mood for some smoked meat.

I ordered up the Rib Plate with Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Thick Toast, Sweet Tea and Banana Pudding ($19). Their smoked spare ribs were smokey and good with their sauce. The bark on the meat was dark but not burnt. The meat was dry which made it a bit tough, but with the sauce, I was lip smacking without complaint.

The baked beans tasted much like what you would find out of the can with a hint of molasses. They were boring. The potato salad was mustard, mayo, and relish enhanced mashed potatoes. I didn't care for them as I wanted the freshness of a salad versus a savory sweet mash. The Banana Pudding was right on the money...where the banana provides the flavor and the custard is just a nice sweetness without being banana enhanced. The sweet tea was ok, a little weak on the tea, but fine on the sweet.

Their large selection begins with Sandwiches and Plates that feature:
Smoked BBQ (pulled pork, spare ribs, brisket, sausage, bologna, chicken, turkey)
Grilled Chicken, Burgers (Angus and Choice)
Fried Chicken Fingers
Country Fried Steak,
Grilled Ribeye Steak (or as printed on their menu: Ribeys Steak).
They even serve up Seafood on Friday.

The typical sides:
Potato Salad
Baked Beans
Slaw
Fried Okra
Fried Onion Rings
French Fries
Fried Green Tomatoes
Fried Pickles

The misspellings on the Menu are enduring, but one of them made me laugh out loud. "Salades" which must be an Alabama way of saying they have more than one salad. Nice.

Co-owner, Ms. Shirley was manning the BBQ counter and her life and business partner, Harry was holding down the Steak House. I enjoyed the impromptu tour of the Steak House...Harry picks out the steaks and brings them to the restaurant. You can grill your own or he will be happy to cook it for you.

This place isn't cheap, but it's good eatin' and beats the national chain guys down the street.