Betty Davis BBQ and Farewell to the South/ by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor
On Sunday, Oct 24, we were headed out of Oxford, Mississippi, where we had been attending the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium, on the way to Memphis for our flight back to Seattle. We were pretty full from the last meal of the Symposium, a delicious Vietnamese “Tabasco Brunch” of Bun Thit Nuong (Vietnamese noodles with bbq pork) by Qui Ly of Les Givral’s and John Currence of City Grocery. But food writer and Southern BBQ expert, Leslie Kelly had given us the tip that there was a great little BBQ place just off the highway as you drive away from Oxford called Betty Davis, so, being professional eaters, we were determined to stop there at least for a quick look.
We almost missed the sign for the small road that took us off the highway to get to Betty Davis. Southern BBQ is always casual, at least in our experience, but this was not even a restaurant; it looked like a run-down shack. Inside, we found a rather dark grocery store with some unusual items like jars of
pig lips, and a large, hospitable African American man behind the counter. We bought a few biscuits and admired the array of BBQ in a glass hot box, including BBQ bologna. When the counter guy (or owner? I assume he makes the BBQ; he was very proud of it) heard we had come all the way from Seattle but were too full to eat much, he made a bbq pork sandwich and cut it into quarters for us, gratis. It was soft, ultra tender, delicious. The biscuits were very good, too. Flat, golden, and warm with a nice layered texture inside. This was a beautiful farewell to Oxford. Sean, Julie, Coleen and I are all hoping to return to the SFA Symposium next year. We’ll save more room for Betty Davis BBQ next time.
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