Last week I tried a few burgers from suggestions, looking for the “best” burger in Auburn. While it is impossible for me to try every burger in Auburn, I was able to at least declare a winner from the few I tried.

A good burger can be found just about anywhere, but such is not the case with the food I pursued this week. Barbecue. Not all barbecue is created equal, and not everywhere in the country is barbecue as easily to find as in the South.

If there is one thing Southerners know, it’s good barbecue. Auburn is a relatively small town, but surprisingly there are at least four barbecue places that I know of.

This week I am focusing on two of those, Byron’s and Mike and Ed’s.

Barbecue is definitely more straight forward as far as what to order; chicken, pork, or beef. When I go for barbecue I want one thing—the rib plate.

There aren’t 27 types of ribs to choose from at either of these barbecue houses, maybe not even 27 items on the menu.

The rib plates at both establishments come with the standard; ribs, bread, your choice of sauce and two sides.

At Mike & Ed’s I always go for the hickory sauce. It’s got a great flavor and not too sweet. My sides are curly fries and coleslaw.

The ribs are pretty dang amazing. I cannot let even one go to waste, despite the fact that I’m so full I’m uncomfortable. The meat falls off the bone and practically melts in your mouth. The ribs are thick and full of meat that is packed with flavor.

Bread, coleslaw and curly fries. Eh…I could take it or leave it. Curley fries are curly fries and most places use sugar in slaw and I’m not a fan, so the sides are unmemorable.

Lucky for these guys I ate every single rib so there wasn’t room for any sides besides the occasional bite here and there.

To be fair, I order the exact same thing from Byron’s Smokehouse. Prior to last week I had not tried Byron’s but was told by someone that it was the best barbecue in town.

The first thing I noticed about this place was the atmosphere. These guys have been here a while and know the game. The smokehouse has an old spirit about it, you can see paraphernalia on the walls from athletes come and gone touting Byron’s barbecue as the best.

I get the Byron’s rib plate with mild sauce since they only offered hot or mild. The sauce was fantastic. Unlike Mike & Ed’s, Byron’s served their sauce on the side, so I could pour or just dip the ribs in.

Although the meat wasn’t quite as tender and moist at Byron’s as is was at Mike & Ed’s, I do have to say that the rib’s flavor, all on its own with no sauce, was pretty impressive. It was smoky and salty and savory.

Byron’s has “fried potatoes” on their menu instead of “fries.” I found that I preferred these oddly cut fries to the curly fries at Mike & Ed’s. I enjoyed dipping them in the delicious barbecue sauce too.

The coleslaw here was the same. It fell short but oh well.

Because barbecue places rarely have a “service” aspect to grade, rather you order at a window, get it and eat, the service scores for both places get the full 2.5 points.

The ribs are the star of the show and Mike & Ed’s got full points for that, 5 out of 5 for delectable, finger licking, moist and meaty ribs. Their sides however failed to impress, so 1 point goes to sides out of 2.5, giving Mike & Ed’s an 8.5 out of a possible 10.

Byron’s ribs were good, but not nearly as moist. Their flavor without the sauce was excellent, something that I didn’t have the choice of trying with Mike & Ed’s ribs. Their mild sauce was also tasty. I did enjoy their fried potatoes far more than the Sam’s Club curly fries at their competitors.

Byron’s ribs lost a point because of their dryness. I’m giving them a 4 for the ribs, 2.5 for service, and 2 for the sides, fried potatoes and slaw, bringing their total to….8.5 also!

These guys were close, both enjoyable and good atmospheres and a tough call to make.

Next week I’ll be gracing Country’s Barbecue and Hancock’s Barbecue in an attempt to find one winner for the barbecue category in our loveliest village on the plains!

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. You can e-mail me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Bon appétit!