Building is cute, and the barbecue and desserts are yummy

Lake Sinclair has a new tenant in this great space on North Columbia Street, with picnic tables out front, a giant bar inside, and lots of good food to boot.

Only open on the weekends, BirdCat BBQ starts serving Friday at noon and shuts it down as soon as they run out each night. While they haven’t had to close earlier than 9 p.m. in a while, it’s a good idea to get here earlier if you want something in particular.

The smoker gets going around dawn, loaded down with pork shoulder, ribs, brisket, chicken, and jalapeno pork sausage. We went for the All In platter so we could try all five meats for $29, but you can also get your choice of three of them for $21 or two for $16. If you can narrow it down to just one favorite, expect to pay around $12 or $13 dollars, which includes two sides and bread.

The cornbread is made in a cast iron pan and served with house-made honey bacon butter. With it, we ordered the Spread Some Love appetizer, consisting of tasty smoked chicken salad, pimento cheese and bacon jam for $8. Of course, we had boiled peanuts while we waited, at $4 for a generous bowl.

If you prefer, each of the meats comes as a sandwich as well, for around $8 or $9 with a side. There’s also a BirdCat burger for $12, but we’ll have to try that one next time. Rib plates are $18 for a half rack or $28 for a whole.

Somehow we never got our sides, but you can choose from baked beans, collard greens, potato salad, coleslaw, mac-n-cheese, skillet corn, Brunswick stew, pork rinds or a side salad. Kids sandwiches are $6 for either a pulled pork or pulled chicken with a side.

We really enjoyed our desserts, especially the chocolate pecan pie with bourbon whipped cream for $6. The banana pudding and seasonal strawberry Dump Cake were surprisingly good for four dollars each.

Come as early as you can to get your first choice and bring lots of friends to get the full fun effect of this cute new barbecuery. It may not be cheap but you won’t leave hungry.

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This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Building is cute, and the barbecue and desserts are yummy."