Food Review: Uncle Sam's BBQ Bessemer Alabama

Well I'm back on the road again with my job. Traveling through Bessemer today around 11:30 am and wondering what I was going to do for lunch. I was thinking hitting some place in Trussville after my next stop.  I came around the corner and the smell of smokey meat hit me and convinced me to have lunch right there, right now. The smell of Heaven was coming from a place called Uncle Sam's BBQ. I've passed it a few times and wondered, but today there was no passing this place, so I wheeled in.

I walked in the door, unsure of exactly what to do. So I followed the guy that walked in just before me as he walked up to the counter area and a lady handed him a menu. I walked up and a nice lady did the same for me.  She stood there by me, greeted me and asked if I knew what I'd like.  Having been my first time in the place, and still mesmerized by the smoked meat smell, and seeing all that lovely meat in the open pit..just...mmmm...
The inside seemed to be nice and clean, paper towels and basic condiments on the table. TV's in 2 corners. One was on news and the other was on Sports I think...that part really didn't matter to me, as how I don't care for TV's in a restaurant anyway. 

So I looked at the deals. Lunch deal. Any meat, that's pork, beef, or chicken, and your choice of 3 sides between beans, fries, slaw, or potato salad. All for a decent price of $4.75  Not bad I thought. SO I chose pork, beans and fries, not worrying about the third as I'm not overly fond of slaw or most potato salads due to my dislike of onions.  Then I noticed said combo did not include a drink, so I would have to order my sweet tea separately.  Remember this, it comes in to play later.   Anyway, So the lady took my order and asked my name, and said it'd be ready in just a minute. Meanwhile another server walked by me with a plate of food identical to what I ordered and my stomach got very excited!

So I sat in a chair and started to watch the TV and in just moments a lady called my name. I turned to see who and where, and she was at the register with a bag and motioning towards me.  I got up and went to the counter and she started to ring me up. I told her I'd like to dine in but I was fine with the food in the to go box. She got kind of snippy with me and said no, and took my food and marched back towards the kitchen area. In a very heated tone, said "he wants to eat here, not to go!" She actually said this to a few different people, and I replied "hey no problem, I'm okay with it like this..." to which I was ignored.  She came back over to me and told me they'd fix it and asked where I would like to sit. I pointed to the chair I was in and she got my tea and started walking that way. I asked if I could still pay my ticket and she told me to just wait until I was finished.  So I obliged and took my seat.

Just a few minutes and my plate was in front of me. It smelled wonderful!
So I got my food, and I started prepping everything. Good healthy sized pork sandwich...fries and baked beans. I went to move my sandwich and noticed the bottom bun was super soggy. Almost so soggy that I couldn't pick it up...okay, so I've had messy bbq before...no big deal...the lady asked if I'd like some more sauce. I looked at my sandwich and it almost looked like there was no sauce on it, so I said sure, thanks!

Now, I LOVE me some bbq. And I LOVE a great BBQ sauce. But when I go to pour the sauce on my food, and it's more liquid than my sweet tea? That's not good. I'm a firm believer that your BBQ sauce should stick to your meat, not run right through it like you're rinsing it off...

So, to my disappointment the sauce was very runny. It did have good taste, I will say that. The pork, finely chopped was a bit dry and chewy.  The fries were good, and the beans, although not my style, were good.  Taste wise, I'll definitely say my meal was worth the $4.75. Don't think that's good praise though. A McDonald's Quarter Pounder meal is less than 5 bucks, AND YOU GET A DRINK FOR THAT. Value of the portion, definitely good.   
So I went to pay for my $4.75 combo plate, and the cashier announces the total was $7.15.   So, for a 20 ounce tea, I paid almost 2 bucks for. That's where they kill you. Oh, and they didn't seem real keen on giving me a refill while I was sitting there eating my meal...

So overall, I'm going to have to give Uncle Sam's 2 out of 5 hammers.  I must say this is one of the bigger disappointments I've had...the smell was so overwhelming and so promising...only to be let down by runny sauce, bland chewy BBQ, and limited choice of sides, although very good portions.  I don't know that I'll be returning to this establishment any time soon.  Here's hoping you do better guys.

Stay tuned, you never know where Hammer's gonna pop up next!
Until next time,
Thank you drive through.