First Impression

John: Nothing goes together quite like taxes and barbecue. And in case you're wondering, my accountant says that the Dining Duo saved me some serious money this year. Apparently every time I mentioned the Jonas Brothers, the Disney Channel or Dancing With the Stars in the restaurant reviews, it meant another deduction. Why? I'm not sure why. But the accountant said something about "watching the Disney Channel was research for the restaurant review which meant I could deduct my cable bill, my TV and the couch I watch my TV on." On the other hand, if you work for the IRS, just ignore the whole first paragraph please. Anyway, let me say this about Shane's. On arrival, I wanted two things from them: an outdoor patio and to be able to smell BBQ when I walked in the door - check and check. By the way, we were at the Old Milton location; if you ever get to McDonough, make sure to check out the original location, which looks like it was stolen off the set of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (FYI: I rented that movie off Netflix, so I'm thinking I get to deduct my Netflix subscription next year).

Tim: Shane's is an order-at-the-counter barbecue place, but they make things easy by devoting an entire wall to explaining their food options. They list everything out in a real obvious manner. It goes, "menu item: price." It's got pictures and everything. It's nice for people who have just spent the entire day going through the mental anguish of attempting to do their own taxes. I wish the IRS had a picture menu wall that said "job: refund." 

Fortunately we didn't have to make a whole lot of tough decisions about what to eat. The menu is pretty much what you'd expect from a place called a "Rib Shack," and we basically ended up getting one of everything.

John: 8
Tim: 8

Appetizers

John: There no appetizers per se, but there are a lot of side dishes - nine to be exact. Tim and I didn't want to let you – the reader – down, so we ordered six of them. We went with Brunswick Stew, Potato Salad, Mac-n-Cheese, Baked Beans, French Fries and Fried Okra. And yes, I listed them in the order from what I liked most to least. The Brunswick Stew had some pork in it which really made it stand out. On the other end of the spectrum, the Fried Okra wasn't that bad, I just have never gotten around to liking it.

Tim: The Brunswick stew was the cream of the side dish crop, to be sure. The potato salad and mac and cheese warrant an honorable mention here as well. Of all the vegetables that could have ended up being a fried southern staple, I would say that okra had to be the longest shot from the beginning. If it hadn't been for breading and large vats of piping hot oil, we may never have heard of okra. Have you ever had okra prepared in any manner other than fried? I have. It's a slimy, gooey mess. Breading and hot oil did for okra's career what "Titanic" did for Billy Zane. We never would have heard of either of them without that big time intervention.

John: 7.5
Tim: 7

Entrées

John: I'm always watching out for my vegetarian friends, so let me start with this advice for you guys: unless you want a meal that consists of Fried Okra and lettuce, you probably aren't going to want to eat at Shane's. All you non-vegetarians: I think you're going to like what Shane's has to offer. We ordered a BBQ half chicken (Which is literally a half chicken), a half rack of ribs and a meat platter (chicken tenders, one-fourth a rack of ribs and pulled pork). Let me start with the half chicken because it was cooked perfectly and there was enough chicken to split it three ways. If you're into white meat, make sure you get the breast. It's plump, juicy and the biggest piece of white meat on the chicken. I'll eat either meat, but at Shane's I didn't have a choice, Tim ate all the dark meat in under 60 seconds. If you order ribs at Shane's order the half rack (as opposed to the meat platter). I'm not a chef or a cook, so I can't explain what I'm about to say, but for some reason, the ribs on the half rack of ribs tasted five times better than the ribs on the one-fourth rack. Oh and here's one more piece of advice: make sure you squeeze some of the spicy sauce on your ribs, it makes a great dish better.

Tim: My wife and I once talked about becoming vegetarians. No offense to those who have chosen that route, but our conversation lasted about 19 seconds and the two of us ended up on the floor laughing hysterically at the idea. Meat is the food equivalent of one of my limbs. I could certainly live without it, but I'm not going to unless it's forcibly removed from me forever. So naturally, Shane's is the kind of place that gives me great comfort. Ribs, chicken, pulled pork, more chicken, more ribs - it was like riding a Ferris wheel of delectable meaty goodness. And there's no smoke coming out of the building (big red flag for a barbecue joint) but everything was tender and had a solid, authentic barbecue flavor, especially the chicken. And I usually find the sauce selection lacking at barbecue places (I make my own sauce, so I'm very picky), but all three of Shane's barbecue sauces were really good.

Ribs: John 8.5, Tim 7.5
Pork: John 7.5, Tim 8
Half Chicken: John 9, Tim 9.5
Tenders: John 7, Tim 6

Desserts

John: If you're a regular reading of the Dining Duo, you might know that I enjoy peaches about as much as I enjoy being tortured. For whatever reason I don't like them. Anyway, we ordered a Peach Cobbler and some Banana Pudding. I actually loved the cobbler at Shane's and here's why: it wasn't over-peached. The cobbler was not filled to the brim with peaches and if you're like me, this is a good thing. The only way the cobbler could have been better is if it were A. Weren't peach or B. had whipped cream on it.

Tim: The way Breech feels about peaches, I feel about bananas. For some reason I just don't like banana-flavored anything, except bananas themselves. I mentioned this at the table and an incredulous Breech ran through a quick checklist. Banana-flavored Runts? Always ended up in the trash with the box. Banana-flavored popsicles? Melted on the sidewalk. Banana-flavored Laffy Taffy? You get the idea. So needless to say, I was not big fan of the banana pudding for inherent prejudiced reasons. And the peach cobbler wasn't peachy enough. I know complaining about dessert is like complaining that the $20 bill you found in the back of your sock drawer smells weird, but still. I wasn't impressed.

Peach Cobbler: John 7.5, Tim 5
Banana Pudding: John 7, Tim 3

Final Impression

John: Before going to Shane's, the only shack I had ever been to was Radio Shack. But don't let that confuse you because Shane's doesn't sell electric equipment and Radio Shack doesn't sell ribs. Let me say this about Shane's: they don't pull any punches. They strive to do one thing well (which is BBQ) and they do it. I should probably mention that when we were walking out, I noticed two things: 1. they sell beer 2. They're giving away a free half rack of ribs to the first 100 customers at each store on May 15. If anyone has a tent I can borrow, please let me know. There are a lot of things I'll do for free ribs and camping out in front of the store is one of them.

Tim: Here's the equation that I built up in my head in expectation of what I would get at Shane's: No smoke, plus franchise, equals generic barbecue. I was wrong. It's a good meal. And here's another bonus for you. Shane's doesn't give out the typical wet wipes to clean up the post-barbecue hand stickiness. They have a big sink on the back dining room wall so you can wash your hands and go home sticky free. Just more evidence that meat makes you brilliant.

John: 8
Tim: 8