I can’t write about places I ate in my youth without including Sims Bar-B-Que. Sims was one of those places that was a real treat — Mom would go by on her way home from work and pick up a family pack, and that and an extra loaf of bread from the bread store down the street would last us a while. I remember being so entranced by that sauce that I’d soak up all the remaining sauce from the little paper boat inside the tightly wrapped aluminum with a slice of bread and be happy with it.
That’s the thing about Sims… ‘cue is served on white bread, end of story. Unless you are high-falutin’ and want to splurge the 35 cents for a bun. Me? I’d rather spend the 35 cents on the addition of slaw, the Arkansas way to eat barbecue. Of course, a Sims sandwich ($6 for any meat that’s on it) is not eaten with the hands unless you are very, very careful and have lots of napkins. Napkins, in my honest opinion, only rob you of the opportunity to soak up more of the runny, vinegary sweet sauce. When you go to eat in the store, a fork is handily provided, a real fork wrapped in plastic for your sanitary approval.
Thing is, barbecue is a luxury item… full of meat fat and goodness and grease. Something to be savored on a limited basis. More on the jump.