Jimmy's Backyard BBQ
 Akron, Ohio         Date of Visit  03/26/15         http://jimmysbackyardbbq.com 

Got a recommendation to try a new bbq spot in the space Kiflis abandoned for a new location. I can tell you right off the bat, we’ll be going back to the bbq spot and avoiding the new Kiflis locale.

It’s actually pretty slick inside. Much cleaner and cleverly, if a little kitschily, set up with a backyard feel (plastic grass, fencing on the wall). Most everything is held warm except for wings and ribs, which are heated to order.
 

Service Line.
 

Everyone seemed downright friendly and the few folks who wandered through the door in the late afternoon either knew the owners from somewhere else or had established a relationship over some bbq.

The three of us split the pitmaster dinner plate with wings, ribs, brisket and pulled pork. We added a sausage link just for giggles. It comes with cornbread, which needed butter but was lightly sweet and had a nice balance in texture between crumble and cake. Two tater dishes, parsley taters and tater salad, worked pretty well. The parsley version, little tater nugs, butter and parsley…there’s just no going wrong there. The potato salad turned out to be a very average mayonaisey version. The only side that resulted in some disappointment was the mac and cheese which was bloated with butter (is that a bad or good thing?) but really cried out for cheese. In an area where functional bbq is a rarity, Jimmy’s produces some really decent fare.
 

Them Have Been Worse Than The Muffin

Shaped Version Of Which I Can't Find The Picture
 

Technically overcooked, all of the meats made up for it in flavor. Serious smoke, running juicy happiness, they do alright. The wings could use a bit more heat or a post smoke flash in the fryer to render more fat out of the skin but the smoke and the sauce options were tasty. Both the pork and the brisket are pulled and resting in hotel pans, which means you can be in and out in very little time but both suffer a bit for the convenience. Smoke and sauce again offer redemption. Steph and I actually both preferred the beef option over the hog. The ribs slid off the bone (again technically overcooked…but a lot of people prefer them that overdone/tender) and were just fine otherwise. The sausage was my favorite…maybe due to how they stand up to holding. Great smoke, porky awesome, well seasoned, very nice.

They offer four sauces in bottles, which you can take to the table and blend to your own preference. I usually really like the mustard based version (Mooney’s at Jimmy’s) but it was easily my least favorite here. The Original, Slap Yo Mama and Sara’s Spicy, the three tomato based versions, had the vinegar bite I was missing in the Mooney’s and allowed you to vary from sweet to a mild heat. In Akron, you can do a great deal worse for q.
 

We Liked The Brisket Even Better Than The Pork, Nice Bark