Bluesville BBQ in Lucedale

This Establishment is now CLOSED

Bluesville BBQ

This Establishment is now CLOSED

12102 Old Hwy 63 South ♦ Lucedale, Mississippi 39452

Lucedale Marketplace Shopping Center on the Southern Side

George County  ♦  Since 2008

Hours:  Monday – Saturday 10:30am – 9pm
Sunday 10:30am – 3pm

Services:
Indoor Dining, Carry Out, Banquets & Parties

bluesvillebbq.com

Flavors of The Delta

Bluesville BBQ in Lucedale is serving smoked meats and tamales using recipes with years of tradition to make it right. They do barbecue low and slow, to achieve a mouth-watering goodness that will get right up on you. You can smell the fine flavors when you walk in the door and the service will make it easy for you to make friends.

The owners of Bluesville BBQ have a long history of success in the food service industry and know how operate year after year so that customers always have a great experience. They have transplanted their Mississippi Delta traditions, so barbecue and tamales headline the menu.

  

Start your meal with Bluesville BBQ Mojo Nachos, served with Smoked Chicken, Beef, or Pork, and add some Fried Squash and Fried Green Tomatoes. Then you can settle in with BBQ Loin Baby Back Ribs or Smoked Beef Brisket with an Overstuffed Baked Potato, Corn on the Cob and Potato Salad. Add some Homemade Tamales with Slaw and Crackers to round out a flavor festival on your plate. Dessert is Delta Style and you can choose the Banana Blues Pie or Hot Fudge Blues Pie, featuring a Moon Pie with Ice Cream and sauce.

Carryout is easy at Bluesville BBQ and the hungry folks at your next picnic or dinner party will rave that you brought the best. Beef Brisket and Smoked Pulled Pork go great with any event, or you can choose the BBQ King Sandwich, Burgers or a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Great food at a great price will have you coming back for more.

   

Lucedale is a truly beautiful town, resting on the wide plateau above the coastal plain in Southern Mississippi, to the east of the Pascagoula River. When travelers reach the fertile plains of George County, they see a landscape of forests, nourished by the Pascagoula River and fields tended by nursery farmers and cotton farmers for miles around. George County is home to the head waters of the Pascagoula River, where creeks and small rivers come together and flow to the Gulf of Mexico. The Pascagoula River is one of the last natural riverways in America, undammed and untamed. It is here that the historic culinary styles of the Mississippi Delta have found a home, along with some blues music to cheer you up. Good food and good music are a winning combination and in Mississippi, we have the best of both.

The main road from Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama, now MS State Hwy 98, has been the ancient highway for travelers in this area for hundreds of years. Hwy 98 crosses the Leaf River, the Chickasawhay River, and then the Escatawpa River at the Alabama state line on the way to Mobile. The Illinois Central Railroad travels south out of Jackson and then follows this track across the rivers to reach the Port of Mobile. Travelers also used this route to reach destinations in the North.

Make plans to visit Bluesville BBQ to get a taste of The Delta in every bite and be sure to tell Mrs. Allison Jones herself that you heard about them on the Mississippi BBQ Trail.

Scenic Hwy 7

Scenic Hwy 7 is one of those country roads that has many stories to tell.  This trip through the hill country of Mississippi is one of the best for a lot of reasons, the best one being finding great BBQ Joints.

Scenic Hwy 7

The road for me on a Monday begins in Grenada at 8 a.m. sitting on the square in downtown.  The lighted gazebo and gardens are the stage for events in Grenada all year long, including our favorite, Grenada Afterglow Film Festival coming up each year in October.

Festival Directors Isabella & Katrina Kinder display the banner for First & Green Events Center.

Take a minute and enjoy the ambiance and architecture of the square and see how this town center is being revitalized and energized with apartments for downtown living, a first class event center at First & Green, and home gallery of resident artist Robin Whitfield.

If you want small town charm and want to trade big city noise for small town problems, then your brain is on the right track thinking Grenada, Mississippi.

 

 

IN SEARCH OF ‘MISSISSIPPI’ BARBECUE March 1, 2017 Clarion-Ledger article p.9 A

Gas station fare, other varieties thrive in shadow of Memphis

By Jacob Threadgill

USA Today Network – Mississippi

Mississippi does not elicit the same national recognition for its barbecue compared to Memphis’s sweet sauce or dry rub, Alabama’s white gravy, or even Kentucky’s mutton.

Like most things in Mississippi, if you dig deeper, you’ll find that the reality doesn’t fit the national narrative.

Mississippi is home to more competition-winning pitmasters than any other state, and here you’re more likely to find a variety of styles at a gas station or side-of-the-road smokehouse than a tablecloth-lined restaurant.

Jackson native Jim Hatten founded the Mississippi BBQ Trail website (ed. msbbqtrail.com) in 2011 as a way to market the state’s barbecue restaurants.  For Hatten, 57, whose mother grew up in Rosedale and can trace his lineage directly to Jefferson Davis, it was time for Mississippians to take pride in their barbecue.

“People are too busy criticizing us to stop and smell the beautiful fragrance of a magnolia,” Hatten said.  “If people come to Mississippi for barbecue and have a good experience, they might even move here.”

Hatten’s initial research unearthed more than 270 barbecue restaurants in the state, and only 21 percent of them had their own website.  Many of the state’s barbecue establishments are family-owned and take in less than $250,00 per year, which doesn’t exactly leave them much of an advertising budget, Hatten said.

Much of Mississippi’s barbecue tradition is tied to the state’s skilled and unskilled labor working class, who have often operated out of a gas station or a small shack near a factory.

In fact, the state can stake its claim as being the home of gas station barbecue.  Hatten’s website lists more than 20 high-quality gas stations dishing out slow-cooked meats, and a Google search of “gas station barbecue” lists his site as the top hit.

“Gas station barbecue is a phenomenon in the South and especially Mississippi,” Hatten said.  “It’s servicing a population of the state that otherwise probably wouldn’t have lunch because they have to get back to work . . . a family-run joint is the archetype if the state.”

Such was the case for Leatha Jackson when she opened a small restaurant across from a papermill in Foxworth, just outside of Columbia.  Leatha’s Bar-B-Que Inn has since moved into Hattiesburg, but it exists as one of the state’s best places for barbecue in relative anonymity.

“The Rolling Stones have eaten at Leatha’s, presidents have ordered from Leatha’s, but the only advertising they use is by word of mouth,” Hatten said.

In the shadow of Memphis

Just as Memphis claims many Mississippi musicians as its own, it’s the same for pitmasters, Hatten said.  If a successful pitmaster in a Mississippi town wanted to ply the trade in a bigger city, Memphis was the most logical place to move.

The state’s variety of styles is one of its strengths.  Mississippi barbecue largely resembles sweet Memphis-style sauces, but you can also find brisket, dry rub and even Carolina-inspired vinegar sauce, like at Jackson’s Pig and Pint and Triple A’s Barbecue in Flowood.

“You’re not going to get vinegar-based sauce in Kansas City, but you sure can get it right down the road (in Jackson),” Hatten said.

The specialization of barbecue did not begin until the early 20th century, according to Robert Moss, author of “Barbecue:  The History of an American Institution” and barbecue editor for Southern Living Magazine.

Moss said that 19th-century accounts of barbecue from Texas to Virginia were largely the same.  Regional specialization began in large city centers where tent vendors evolved into restaurants during the early decades of the 20th century.

“CoMpared to other states, Mississippi doesn’t have as many legendary barbecue places,” Moss said.  “I don’t strongly have a sense of what Mississippi barbecue is because it’s an amalgamation of the styles found in the places around it.”

Mississippi longest continuously operating barbecue restaurant, Abe’s Bar-B-Q in Clarksdale, has served customers pecan-smoked pork since 1924.

“Abe’s developed in that way, but it is so sparsely populated (in the Delta) that in never really got beyond that community,” Moss said.

The Tate County community of Gravel Springs hosts an annual Labor Day picnic, started by legendary fife player Otha Turner in the 1950’s, where barbecued whole goat is the star of the feast.  The festival is depicted in a short documentary produced by Ava Lowrey for the Southern Foodways Alliance.

It’s an example of nearly 30 barbecue-related community festivals that can be found throughout the state all year long.  Hatten hopes to use these festivals as a backdrop for a television show, “The Search for the Next Barbecue World Champion,” for which a pilot is in pre-production with Mississippi Public Broadcasting.

According to Hatten, Mississippi has produced 17 world champion pitmasters, more than any other state.  Three Mississippians took home titles in 2016:  Melissa Cookston of Memphis Barbecue Company in Horn Lake; Hank Vaiden at Hank’s Barbecue in Columbus; and Brad Orrison at The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint in Ocean Springs.  Orrison’s mother, Linda, is the current president of the National Barbecue & Grilling Association.  Cookston and Vaiden have each appeared on the Destination America series “BBQ Pitmasters.”

Notes:  Article transcribed from the Clarion-Ledger Daily News.

Click here for the clarionledger.com online article:  http://www.clarionledger.com/videos/news/2017/02/27/what-makes-mississippi-bbq-different/98482788/

MSBBQTrail Founder featured in “Hindsight” Magazine Winter 2017

MSBBQTrail Founder Jim Hatten is the subject of an article in the Winter 2017 edition of “Hindsight” magazine, a publication produced by the Community Relations Department for the Development Foundation of Hinds Community College.  This quarterly magazine is distributed to alumni nationwide by Hinds Community College, now celebrating 100 Years of Community Inspired Service.

Former Jet Mechanic, Instructor Cooks Up New Career With Hinds’ Help  

Article Credits:
Author:  Danny Barrett, H.C.C. Hindsight columnist
Photograph of Mr. Hatten:  April Garon, H.C.C. Staff Photographer

 

Text of the article:
  (Photos by Jim Hatten)

Jim Hatten (2014) has been down many trails in his professional career, from that of a jet engine mechanic to a salesman.  These days, he’s blazing a new one fostered by his Hinds experience – first as an instructor but, more recently, as a student.

The 57-year-old Jackson native and former staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force was an instructor in the college’s Aviation Maintenance program from 1992-95.  He was both teacher and marketer, working to promote the program with aviation businesses.

“I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” he said.       “I enjoyed the students and did a lot of different things.  Inspiring the students was really a great pleasure for me.  I had a good experience working at Hinds.”

His professional life then took a circuitous path.  He spent eight years in engineering and design in the aerospace industry, took to the road as an insurance salesman and became involved in commercial property development.

Then in 2011 two seemingly unrelated events formed the idea that became his next life – the Mississippi BBQ Trail, a marketing vehicle for barbecue restaurants in the state.

“At one (commercial) Property, there was this 5,000 -gallon steel fuel drum they wanted to turn into a barbecue grill.  The same week, Smithsonian Magazine came out with something about the feral hog epidemic in the South.  I thought, man, wild hog barbecue is some of the best-tasting meat you ever put in your mouth.  I started thinking of ways I could help sell that.”

Months of research into the state’s barbecue offerings became Hatten’s homework when he returned to Hinds in 2013 as a student in the Marketing Management Technology program.

While working on a class project, “I came up with 263 barbecue joints in the state,” he said.

“Most of these places are mom-and-pop operations with five to nine employees and make less than $250,000 a year.  That tells me they can’t afford to advertise two blocks down the street.  For the locally-owned barbecue joint, they don’t have any visibility.  And only 21.7 percent had a website.  That told me the tourists can’t find them,” he said.

His class projects earned top grades, for which he credits instructors at Hinds as well as for bringing his marketing knowledge into the 21st century.  The fruit of that labor can be seen on the trail’s website, at www.msbbqtrail.com.

“The marketing management faculty helped with everything.  They taught me how to build a website, which had been like a black box of magic to me.”  Hatten earned his Associate of Applied Science in Marketing Management Technology with a little extra sauce – he’d also graduated magna cum laude and been a member of Phi Theta Kappa and DECA.

“While in my class, Jim learned how to build a website, the concepts needed to manage a website and how to publish a website,” said Jo Ponder, who instructs Computer Programming Technology on the Raymond Campus.  “Jim took that knowledge and elevated it to a working model.”

The trail itself connects locals, tourists and grill foodies alike to local businesses that register to be on the listing site.  A potential “stop” on the trail must have a business license, cook and serve barbecue pork and/or beef and have a valid health department inspection certificate.

Hatten describes the state’s barbecue restaurant scene as a world market of sorts, where all culinary styles on the grill can be found.

“We have everything,” he said.  “We have all the different kinds of barbecue here.  You have the Memphis style, which is a tomato-based sauce, the Carolinas style, with vinegar-based sauce, the Kansas City style, which is a lot of wet ribs.  Also, a lot of influences in Mississippi came from the Caribbean, which we have as well.”

Hatten sees his efforts to promote the industry as simply paying it forward.

“My teachers, my coaches, my mentors, find somebody who needs help and help them,” He said. “And here’s an entire industry that’s underrepresented online.  I just want to give people a reason to turn off the road and get something to eat.”

Learn about your favorite Certified Trail Stop on the Mississippi BBQ Trail

 

BBQ by Jim Smokehouse & Grill   (662) 840-8800   203 Commerce Street   Tupelo, MS  38804

Certified Trail Stop     BBQ by Jim Website     BBQ by Jim Facebook

AAA’s Barbecue     (769) 216-2753     1206 Luckney Road Suite A     Brandon, MS  39047

Certified Trail Stop  AAA’s Facebook

 

Bully’s Restaurant  (601) 362-0484  3118 Livingston Road  Jackson, MS  39213

Certified Trail Stop       Facebook Bully’s Restaurant

Chimneyville Smokehouse  (601) 354-4665  970 High Street Jackson, MS  39202

 Certified Trail Stop    Chimneyville Website     Chimneyville Facebook

 

Certified Trail Stop     Daddio’s Website     Daddio’s Facebook

 

 

The Pig & Pint     (601) 326-6070  3739 North State Street  Jackson, MS  39216

Certified Trail Stop     The Pig & Pint Website     The Pit & Pint Facebook

 

                The Shed Barbecue & Blues Joint    (288) 875-9590    7501 Hwy 57                     Ocean Springs, MS  39565

Certified Trail Stop     The Shed Website     The Shed Facebook

 

Pleasant’s BBQ in Ocean Springs

See the sign for great barbecue!

Ocean Springs is a one-of-a-kind resort community along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that has a laid back culture and a home-crafted artistic flair.  The artisans of all stripes enjoy the small-town atmosphere and the culinary excellence found in the great entertainment district on Government Street.  Turn right off of Bienville Boulevard US 90 onto Washington Street, then left onto Government Street and 3 blocks to Pleasant’s BBQ.

Pleasant’s BBQ
1415 Government Street
Ocean Springs, MS 39564
(228) 875-3384

Michael Pleasant Is serving pecan-smoked barbecue since 1982 and the quality of your meal is the mark of a serious Pit Master.

Looking east along Government Street to Pleasant’s BBQ.

Walking into Pleasant’s BBQ is your chance to meet Grady Smith.

Grady Smith of Pleasant’s BBQ greets MSBBQTrail Founder Jim Hatten on a sunny afternoon.

Michael Pleasant has one of the great BBQ Sauce recipes anywhere.  Be sure to take some a bottle of southern goodness for your kitchen.

Q in the Lou Festival brings Mississippi Cooking Teams

Today St. Louis, Missouri will host “Q in the Lou” Festival along the banks of the Mississippi River.  Three of our great BBQ Teams from Mississippi will represent and be serving fine food to the tourists and locals there.  Ubon’s Cooking Team from Yazoo City, The Shed Cooking Team from Ocean Springs, and the Memphis Barbecue Company Cooking Team from Southaven, MS are primed and showing folks a good time.

QintheLou

Logo of the St. Louis BBQ Festival

September 25, 26, and 27, 2015 at St. Louis Soldiers’ Memorial

The Shed Barbecue & Blues Joint in Van Cleave, MS

Ubon’s Restaurant in Yazoo City, MS

Ubon’s Cooking Team preparing for “Q in the Lou” in St. Louis, MO

Ubon’s rolls out the Southern Hospitality

Memphis Barbecue Company in Southaven, MS

Trophies for the Memphis Barbecue Company Cooking Team

Grenada Afterglow Film Festival

Festival Facilities

The Mississippi BBQ Trail is happy to be a sponsor of the Grenada Afterglow Film Festival, coming October 3rd, 2015.  The Old Square in downtown Grenada is blocked off for a day of film, fine art, music and food as actors, directors, and film makers gather to show their work.  Many professional musicians and artists have chosen to be part of the 2015 Edition of the Grenada Afterglow Film Festival and you will want to enjoy this great event too!  Follow their story online here:  Facebook.

Films, Music and Workshops

The Festival Directors are Isabella and Katrina Kinder of Grenada.  Their experience in making short films and the recognition they gained from participating in film festivals around the state inspired the development and design for Afterglow.

This short promotional film was created to highlight

There is an entire day of films selected from almost 600 submissions from 59 different countries.  Winners are announced and trophies presented to the film makers, cast and crew in the Headquarters for the Festival, First & Green Celebrations.  The downtown developers in Grenada have partnered with Afterglow to bring you the best in new indie film and Mississippi Films in a charming setting.

Two Mississippi teens have a bright idea to light up their hometown-1

The Fine Art & Crafts Show brings local artists out to visit with you and talk about common interests.  This year, The Mississippi Arts Commission, MDA Tourism Division, and CSpire have joined the growing list of sponsors that help to bring a great venue to life at First & Green Celebrations so Mississippi film makers and actors can gather and celebrate their collective work.

Moscow native and guitarist Denis Mendreliouk visits with Motown Legend Eddie Willis at Afterglow 2014.

A full day of music features the 2015 Blues Artist of the Year on the Mississippi BBQ Trail, Blues Man McKinney Williams.

The gazebo on the square in downtown Grenada is center stage for music all day long during Afterglow.

Isabella Kinder directs events at the Grenada Afterglow Film Festival

Blues Legend Leo “Bud” Welch will be performing on the square, a 2015 Rolling Stone Magazine “One to Watch.”

Isabella and Katrina Kinder appeared on Nightique hosted by Edward St. Pe’ to talk about all the moving parts and the hopes to have local people come to The Square in Downtown Grenada.

Isabella Kinder gets mic’d up by Terre Jones to interview with Edward St. Pe’ at the WeatherVision studio inside the J.S.U. e-Center in Jackson, MS

Katrina Kinder talks with Edward St. Pe’ about Afterglow II on Nightique.

So mark you calendar for October 3rd to bring your friends and family to the Grenada Afterglow Film Festival.

MSBBQTrail Founder Jim Hatten puts the word out on the street about Afterglow.

Chimneyville Smokehouse Jackson, MS

The High Street scenic entryway into the city of Jackson, Mississippi boasts the hickory smoke flavors of Chimneyville Smokehouse.  Of course, I am walking to Chimneyville through one of the oldest residential areas of the city.

Drive-up Breakfast available at Chimneyville Smokehouse.

Jackson was founded in 1822 by decree of the state legislature, to be built in a place central to the state and convenient for all our citizens.  This place on the banks of the Pearl River was known by it’s white-man’s name, LeFleur’s Bluff, so named after the French trapper and trader Louis LeFleur, one of the first European settlers to the area and one with a great and lasting influence on our state.  The Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians that lived in this area may have a place name for what is now Jackson, but that name has eluded me so far.

First, I need some good photos of the exterior of Chimneyville Smokehouse.  I arrive early in the morning to avoid the traffic and get the best light.  I walk across High Street and set up my tripod and check the frame – now I need to be in the median in the middle of the street to get the shot.  Just before sunrise there isn’t too much traffic yet, so I maneuver and get my photos.  The best photos have no shadows and the early morning light on a clear day gives good results.

Early morning photo of Chimneyville Smokehouse from High Street.

These early morning pictures turned out great and I like the light as the shoot progressed, seeing the colors of the sky change to bright daylight.

Next, I schedule a time to visit with Mr. Z.  Zercon Smith, the owner of Chimneyville Smokehouse, agrees to see me around lunch time in the heat of the day.  I approach Chimneyville Smokehouse from the west, on street behind and the first thing I notice is a huge black semi-tractor trailer rig with “Nationwide On-Site Catering” and “The definitive dining experience, Delivered” emblazoned in white letters on the side of the trailer.  An 18-wheel kitchen that can feed 5,000 people at a time and respond to a natural disaster nationwide to help feed for those in need.  How many BBQ Joints to you know that have this kind of mission capability?  So far, I have found one.

Nationwide on-site catering for up to 5,000 for groups in the SE Region and available for disaster response nationwide.

A tour of the grounds and I find activity all around.  People are coming and going at a leisurely pace.

Chimneyville Smokehouse parking is full at lunch time.

If you play the car tag game, this parking lot will keep you busy – license plates from all over America.

Easy in and out for the drive thru.

You can get lunch on the go or call in your orders for 4 or more people and a Chimneyville delivery van will bring it to you.

Rose bushes on the eastern exposure of Chimneyville Smokehouse.

I find the rose bushes on the east side of the building and pause to see just how healthy the plants are, knowing the blistering southern sun can kill most plants if you don’t tend them properly.  This rose bush is doing great – only morning sun and someone is watering them regularly.

A beautiful rose in full bloom gets a morning drink of sunshine outside Chimneyville Smokehouse.

People pass me, making their way into the restaurant without commenting on the attention the pink roses are getting.  Chimneyville is right across the street from the Mississippi Fairgrounds, so there are people coming and going everyday of the year.  The Mississippi Coliseum on the Fairgrounds is booked out for over a year with events and concerts and is home to the Dixie National Rodeo, a championship event that draws cowboys and cowgirls from 38 states and 15 foreign countries.  The only rodeo in America that is this big is held in Denver, Colorado once a year.  The Fordice Equine Center in Jackson and the surrounding grounds are host to horse trailers events throughout the year, so big belt buckles and cowboy boots are kicking it on High Street most every day.

Folks visiting the Mississippi Fairgrounds just across the street find Chimneyville Smokehouse a quick lunch with a distinctly Southern touch.

Mr. Z wants the decor to reflect the history of the city.

The serving line is clean and neat, steaming with fresh food.  The aroma of hickory-smoked meats is relaxing.

How can you always enjoy your day? See a smiling face at lunch.

Lunchtime in Jackson includes hickory-smoked barbecue.

Judy Grimes, Food Service Manager at Chimneyville Smokehouse presides over customer service with a smile.

Now it’s time for lunch!  A sampling of hickory-smoked BBQ Ribs and Boston Butt Pulled Pork for starters, broccoli casserole, baked beans, add in some mac-n-cheese and black-eyed peas with corn bread and we’re off to a good start. Yes, that is pie there waiting for me . . . MMMmmmm dessert!

Barbecue and fresh vegetables for lunch at Chimneyville Smokehouse.

BBQ Ribs and Sweet Tea. Can’t get more Southern than that.

The bones are piling up.

I return to Chimneyville Smokehouse a few days later to find a party in progress!

You can rent the facility at Chimneyville Smokehouse for parties and events.

Chimneyville Smokehouse has the distinction of being a frequent host of events for for any occasion in their full-service facility. Family celebrations and company dinners use the Depot-style building to gather and have meals together with Southern Hospitality. Music and special needs can be accommodated with a phone call.  Invite one hundred and fifty of your friends to your next party, then call Chimneyville Smokehouse and rent their facility.  All that’s left for you to do is to choose the menu – Chimneyville does all the rest.  They cook and clean so you don’t have to.

Southern Hospitality.

Colorful friends are the best kind of friends to have around.

1st Anniversary of MSBBQTrail Online

All the best kinds of barbecue are on the Mississippi BBQ Trail

MSBBQTrail

Congratulations and Thanks to all the BBQ Joints in Mississippi for your help and support of the Mississippi BBQ Trail as we celebrate our 1st Anniversary Online.