Boners BBQ (Atlanta, GA)

634 Fraser Street Southeast
Atlanta, GA 30312
404-659-9000
http://www.bonersbbq.com/

Summer: good food, friends, and baseball. What more could you ask for than a combination of warm weather, outdoor sporting events, and fine Southern BBQ? This week the Georgia Barbecue Hunt decided to make a trip down to Turner Field to watch our Braves play. Before the game we landed at a new barbecue joint called Boners BBQ. With their motto being "Put a little south in your mouth", we couldn't pass this one up. This is a neighboring restaurant near the Braves Stadium, Turner Field aka “The Ted." Yes, Boners is an interesting name for a BBQ place, but don’t get too excited just yet.

With the menu being small (which I appreciate), we had a few choices for our mouths to water upon. We first picked our meats: a ¼ slab of wet pork back ribs, pulled chicken sliders, and pulled pork sliders. For the sides we chose the Sweetwater 420 baked beans (the hometown brew) and studs, which are crisped, quartered potatoes served with spicy ketchup. Between two people it was just enough food to satisfy our needs. This whole meal set us back about $25. Now that you know what we ordered, here we go with the usual nitty-gritty breakdown. We'll start by reviewing the below average barbecue which we struggled to eat and then make our way up to the exceptionally, well prepared Southern BBQ that we thoroughly enjoyed. Here we go...

The pulled chicken sliders are two sandwiches with Asian jalapeno coleslaw on a sweet Hawaiian roll. This set of sliders was doused in a peach mustard sauce. A great deal of sauce can usually cover up the dry flavored meat, but it wasn’t the case for this one. With the peach sauce prepared not to my liking I already had a bad taste in my mouth. Then came the noticeably dry meat. With that being said, you could imagine the great facial expressions our table shared while trying this one. I struggled with the first bite and could barely stand a second one. I wouldn't recommend these at all.

The pulled pork sliders were definitely better...not great, but better. This bonafide BBQ joint is what the AJC calls the 3rd best pulled pork and best bark in Atlanta. You would've never known since the only flavors you really taste are coleslaw and BBQ sauce. We had high hopes for these, but unfortunately the mounds of Asian coleslaw and BBQ sauce covered up their award winning pork. From what we could tell, the pork was well-cooked and moist though. Next time I'll definitely be ordering the pulled pork plate instead. 

The star of the show for us were their pork back ribs. The ribs had a great fourteen spice rub and were covered with their homemade Kansas City style sauce. These ribs were cooked perfectly. They didn't just ooze off the bone and they weren't too tough. They were cooked just right with a hint of smoky flavor. All of the BBQ is cooked in their upright, gas powered smoker using oak wood. I prefer real pits but still respect those who can make good BBQ by other means. The only thing I would change about these is the amount of BBQ sauce they cover them with. While I loved the sauce, there's nothing to hide here. I would've certainly enjoyed these dry or possibly with a light coating of sauce. I'd highly recommend these if you're ever at Boner's BBQ. 


As for the sides, they were just ok. The beans seemed to be cooked too long while the potato studs were almost too big to eat with your hands and resembled a quartered baked potato more than a steak fry. With their decent beer prices, friendly staff, proximity to the stadium, and great ribs, Boners is a great BBQ place to go before a Braves game. I'm not sure I'd make a trip out of my way for this place, but I would definitely stop at their food truck for some ribs. You can often find it in downtown Atlanta and the Howell Mill area. Great location, great ribs, and a very friendly staff.