I know I’ve been visiting the north side of town lately, but this week’s pick is a request from a teenager who has been graciously making this suggestion for months now. This request was serendipitously followed by several claims that Smokey Pig Bar-B-Q has the most unique barbecue in town. So I had to try for myself.

After a little research I discovered that not all barbecue is created equal. There are regional specialties and heated debates about everything from grilling to smoking, from sauce to sides. Should the focus on flavor be in the sauce or the meat? And, should the sauce be primarily spicy hot, sugary sweet or burst in flavor with the help of a little vinegar?

Smokey Pig Bar-B-Q’s menu has its roots in the Monroe County style of barbecue. Monroe County has seven places serving barbecue; it takes the que seriously. As one Web site noted, if you’re on a “quest for que,” Monroe County is the place to go. Unless you live in Bowling Green, that is, because Smokey Pig brings the que to you.

The setting for the restaurant is as rural and rustic looking as the county from which the que originates. The rustic barn-shaped building with the cutout of a pig on top practically hog-ties your attention as you drive by. Inside is much the same. Red and white checkered table cloths, NASCAR memorabilia, hand-written signs about specialties, desserts and anything else you should know that isn’t on the magnet lettered menu board.

I decided to order three different dinners, mainly so I could make sure to try each of the side dishes, and a half pound of pulled pork. Good thing I did, because the side dishes turned out to be the highlight of the meal. Wow. Bite after bite, my dining companions and I ooed and awed over the flavor. I know those aren’t culinary terms, but my job here is to describe my experience and those are the facts.

Specifically, though, I had never had vinegar coleslaw and it was delicious. It was like eating cabbage and vegetables in a mild pickle sauce with a palatable balance of sweet and tangy. The mayo slaw was also tasty, light on the mayo, long on taste. The biggest hit of the evening was the red mashed potatoes. The texture was thick, the taste favored the potatoes with just a hint of butter, and a chunk of potato and potato skin every once in a while made it a bit wild.

The other sides as well, including macaroni and cheese, baked beans and potato salad, had unique flavors and flavor combinations. Bite after bite we each spent time not only enjoying the food, but trying to figure out what was in each recipe to make it so different and so tasty.

For meat, I ordered sliced shoulder pork, half a chicken, ribs, a pork chop and, of course, the pulled pork. The pulled pork was served dry, and by that I mean without sauce. Let’s talk about the sauce. Wow. It was a deep, deep brick color, almost black with just a hint of red. It wasn’t spicy to me, although others have reported it to be. The rich flavor and thick texture meant that no matter what you put it on the flavor improved tenfold.

I say that, because there was a couple of meat items I didn’t care for, but that changed once I added the sauce. I say I didn’t care for them, but I discovered these are specialties to Monroe Country that are a delicacy to many – perhaps an acquired taste for me.

Mainly, I’m talking about the sliced pork shoulder that apparently begins as frozen pork butt and is then sliced to less than a quarter inch thick.

The ribs were the best tasting of all the meats I tried. They tasted as if they were boiled tender, then sauce was added during grilling. The white meat on the chicken and the pork chop were a little dry, but again, that sauce saved all. And again, my job here is not to critique all food as if it were created equal, but to tell you what I experienced so that you can decide for yourself.

I will dictate one thing you should try for yourself, and that is Smoky Pig’s desserts. The derby pie was one of the best I’ve ever had. Just the right amount of chocolate on the bottom, a pleasing texture that was not too sticky, and a crust that balanced out the sweetness.

Smokey Pig’s is another one of those “must try at least once” places, no matter what kind of food you usually think is “gourmet.” I experienced this food as the country gourmet of que brought to Bowling Green from Monroe County and fit to serve on a silver platter or a to-go cup. In this case, the serving dish doesn’t matter.

Smokey Pig Bar-B-Q

2520 Louisville Road Bowling Green, KY 42101

10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Specialties: Monroe County-style barbecue

Cuisine: American

Price range for dinner: $6.25 to $8

Libation situation: None