Pit Stop: The Smokehouse, Greenville AL

Trust in thy iPhone.

Many of our recent trips wouldn’t have been the same without the iPhone. For example, Google Maps’ surprisingly detailed and accurate train/subway/walking directions from JFK to Union Square. And the Yelp app, which has been crucial to finding nearby restaurants and (non-Starbucks) coffee shops.

I wish I had listened to both Eliza and the sole reviewer of this place on Yelp, who said:

First off , this place is inside of a gas station. I had the ribs and they were terrible. They had way too much sauce on them, and the sauce wasn’t even that good. The ribs were rubbery and mostly fat. 75% of the meat was inedible. The fried pickles were OK but that was the only thing that was decent.

But I wanted a snack to tide me over on the way to Atlanta. Plus I figured: there’s only one review. Maybe this guy just didn’t understand barbecue. So I decided to go for what I thought might be a snack size portion: a ham biscuit.

First problem was the fact that it wasn’t country ham, but baked ham. Second, it was gigantic. Third, it looked and smelled disgusting. I had to get it out of the car immediately.

Here I am throwing it out, approximately 20 seconds after purchase. There’s a first time for everything. We do like road food, particularly barbecue, but we also have standards.

iPhone, I’ll never ignore your advice again.