I f you are looking for a hole in the wall restaurant with great food this is it. RD’s Smokehouse in Huntsville, AL.it’s hard to tell, is this a used car corner turned restaurant or the other way around? Walking in some semblance of a restaurant, tables, booths, chairs and a counter and someone at the counter. Still, nothing but curiosity makes you want to stay, well, the aroma wafting through the air is reassuring. Yep this might be a restaurant. And there was a12-foot tall smoker smoking outside, there’s that. Today we ordered a chicken leg quarter, baked beans, rib sandwich, a loaded potato and sweet tea.This is the best meat smoking and best sauce I’ve tasted in Huntsville, AL. I ordered the rib sandwich with two sides on top, sweet peppers and coleslaw; other sides include green beans, mac & cheese and potato salad. God bless sweet BBQ sauce but so refreshing to taste BBQ sauce that is not sugar based; and to taste hot, hot sauce that is not vinegar based. If you eat BBQ from coast to coast you've probably noticed different styles or tastes reign from place to place. There is an American story behind this. Did you know BBQ is a transplant from the Caribbean? Did you know there are four basic styles? I might be misremembering that; See what the Smithsonian says about the history of BBQ.
The chicken and ribs are smoked to perfection.It's possible to over smoke meat. You ever eat something smoked and you can’t get past the smoked taste to the flavor of the meat? Three hours later you still have the taste of smoke in your mouth. Not an issue at RD’s. Of course the chicken falls off the bone. The pork baby back was tender, flavorful and dare I say succulent. One choice RD’s makes is to serve hefty flavorful bread that adds to the flavor and experience. Are you used to getting the thin smashed up pieces of white bread that seem to be tossed in as an after thought or obligation. Sounds odd to say it but at RD’s the bread respects the rest of the meal.One of the sauces is called Smackjaw. Ha! The sauces are from scratch. Smackjaw is derived from Habaneros peppers and diluted for other spicy sauce concoctions. The Habaneros flavor is wonderful and unusual in Alabama rib joints.The loaded potato seemed to have more pulled pork in it than potato, nope. RD's potato is full and tender with cheese. My coworker was looking for melted cheese but instead more like Velveeta; flavorful and I enjoyed the different textures of the pulled pork, the meat of the potato and the potato skin.The baked beans like everything here is homemade and apparently RD’s Smokehouse doesn’t skimp or cut corners. "Best of all was dessert. Kidding, presently they serve Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal cookies. I bet they are homemade and great tasting but I didn’t partake this trip. Yeah I think I was looking for pie or cake.Okay, this may seem as odd as mentioning the bread choice:Plating and presentation. The baskets seemed a little too small to maneuver comfortably, believe me though, I worked it out!