The Best Damn Thing I Ate In East Texas: Country Tavern Ribs In Kilgore, TX
DISCLAIMER: The Best Damn Thing I Ate series is where Melz On The MIC checks out restaurants and food trucks all across East Texas for the purposes of review. Melz was not compensated or given free food for his review.
It's one of our favorite times of the year in East Texas: Red Dirt BBQ Fest Season! While the performance lineup has been announced, we're awaiting the lineup of AWESOME Texas BBQ joints that will be there showcasing their offerings. At last year's Red Dirt, I got to try some of the food and I've been infatuated with one East Texas BBQ spot that was featured and I finally pulled up to their location in Kilgore to try it myself.
I'm Quite Sure You're Familiar With Country Tavern Barbecue In Kilgore!
If you're from East Texas then I'm sure you already know about Country Tavern and their signature menu item: Ribs. While this is my first time stopping by several famous people have been known to stop by the famous spot just on Highway 31 just as you enter Kilgore. TV stars, Country music stars and even former Presidents have had their famous ribs.
Don't Be Intimidated By The "Bar" Atmosphere, These Are Friendly Folks.
When you step inside, you'll have to take a moment to adjust your eyes because its pretty DARK inside and the first thing you'll notice is the bar. But when you look to the right you'll notice a normally packed house of diners enjoying the food. Great people and great food make a great combination.
Unfortunately, I Didn't Have Time To Hang Out, So I Got A Rack To Go!
On the day I stopped in, I was on my way back from Longview and decided that now was as a good a time as ever to pull up and grab a rack of ribs to go. I was planning to take them home but I couldn't wait and decided to bust them open in the car and they were absolutely PERFECT. I mean it. I don't think I've ever had ribs THIS good in a long time. Made a TikTok video bout it, like to see it, here it go!
Where Should I Go Next? Send me your recommendations for "The Best Damn Thing I Ate" series and I'll go exploring!