This is the first of what I hope will be many posts by my friend Jay Garmon in his role as Consuming Louisville’s carnivorous correspondent. Here’s his bio:

Jay Garmon is a Louisville native, passionate
carnivore and a professional geek. He writes for Consuming Louisville
because he loves his hometown, thinks Michelle is awesome, and knows
devout meat-eaters need menu advice too. Find out more about Jay (and
maybe even hire him) here.

As an avowed carnivore, I am innately suspicious of any
barbecue joint that claims to be vegetarian-friendly, but Smoketown USA made a game effort of it.
While I can’t speak to the quality of the black bean burger or portabella
sandwich, the green beans, mac & cheese and sweet cornbread did not suffer
noticeably from the absence of meat. While both the sides could have been
improved by the inclusion of bacon–as is so often the case–I was never tempted
to send them back and demand a pork fat infusion.

So what about the actual, ah, meat? I opted for the rib and
chicken basket, and was treated to four very large ribs and a white-meat
breast-and-wing chicken quarter. (I actually prefer dark meat, but when a
restaurant promises to smoke their chickens, I demand they make even large
chunks of white meat tender. No fair keeping just the legs and thighs juicy.)

The ribs were ginormous, fork-tender, and loving swathed in
a sweet Texas-style red barbecue sauce. My sole complaint was that, while
generously portioned, the ribs were not well-trimmed and left me chewing on
gristle more often than I prefer. What could have been an A grade was dropped
to a B- for the lazy butcher’s effort. The chicken, for its part, was blackened
with a pepper spice rub and served dry. It was suitably tender and demanded to
be dunked in some sauce, as the rub itself didn’t offer much in the way of
standalone flavor. Again, what could have been an A got docked a letter grade
for a slight underachievement of its potential.

The whole basket was priced at $10.79 plus tax, and it
presented more than enough food for two reasonable meals, or one and a half
standard American restaurant dinners. While it wasn’t an earth-shattering flavor
experience, it was certainly a solid value.

It is also worth noting that the entire staff of Smoketown USA
went out of their way to be friendly and attentive, and the owner introduced
himself and made conversation. That, combined with the quirky décor and
location, makes Smoketown a viable near-downtown lunch experience worth trying.
And if they put in just a little extra effort, the other BBQ joints in town
might just have a serious vegetarian-friendly competitor in their midst.

Smoketown USA
1153 Logan Street
Louisville, KY 40204
(502) 409-9180