Gwinnett Daily Post

Bastie Boys BBQ

2685 Buford Highway, Buford

770-932-8320

www.bastieboysbbq.com

• Open since: Nov. 12

• Owners: Russ Wages and James Knight

• Location: Bastie Boys BBQ is located on Buford Highway in Buford about a quarter mile north of the Thompson Mill Road intersection. If you drive north from Thompson Mill Road, the restaurant is on the right.

• Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays

• Atmosphere: Wages calls it "fun Americana." The smell of barbecue greets you as you enter the front door. Various items decorate the restaurant, including an old gasoline pump, a toy riding John Deere tractor, guitars and road signs. "We're not regional with our barbecue. We do Texas, Kansas City, Carolina, a little bit of everything. So we try to not reflect one region. We have Texas emblems on the wall, we have Southern, and we have some antiques."

There are 12 plasma TVs throughout the establishment and a pair of cornhole sets to keep the kids entertained. Most of the furniture has elements of wood, including the bar and chairs.

A banquet room is available at the front of the restaurant, reserved for group meetings and team parties. A number of Buford-related items decorate the wall, including football team pictures.

Table, booth and bar seating are all available.

• Menu: Knight has been a chef since the age of 17, running the gamut of the culinary world. Nearly every item in the restaurant is homemade, including the sauces and pickles.

Barbecue is the speciality, whether your style preference is Carolina, Kansas City or Texas. Sandwich platters are available with pulled pork, sliced brisket, pulled chicken or jalapeno sausage. Ribs are available as either baby back or Memphis-style.

The Sloppy Jose is a barbecue twist on the Sloppy Joe, featuring pulled pork sauteed with green chile salsa, Sabotage Sauce, cheese and a fried egg on a roll.

But the menu is much more varied than just barbecue. The B'Mac Burger is smoked Angus with grilled macaroni and cheese plus red pepper mustard. The most popular appetizer is Voodoo dip, sauteed alligator sausage, onions and jalapenos blended with white cheese dip and served with chips.

If you want to eat your way to a free dinner, you can try with Bastie Boys' challenge sandwich, the Buford T. Justice. It is eight pounds meat -- brisket, pork, sausage, chicken, buffalo fingers and bacon -- plus fries, red onions, cheese cause, cheddar jack and slaw on a Texas toast loaf. It costs $27, but it's free if you can eat it by yourself in an hour. Nobody has won the challenge so far.

The desserts are highlighted by a Frozen Elvis Pie, a frozen peanut butter pie with bananas and chocolate chips. Your waiter will "thank you, thank you very much" when served.

Wages and Knight plan on selling alcohol early in the new year, starting off with a few different beers on tap and in bottles. Bastie Boys also offers catering.

• Things you might not know: Wages and Knight are big Beastie Boys fans. They proclaim to be "Licensed to Grill" and named sauces after Beastie Boys songs: Brass Monkey Bone Sauce, Finger Lickin' and Sabotage.