ATLANTA, GEORGIA

"Flames are bad; the glow is good," the pit man at Harold's once told us, explaining that classic Southern barbecue is never cooked over a fire but rather basks in smoke from smoldering wood coals. So it is at Harold's, which, despite its location in a sad neighborhood near a federal penitentiary, is Atlanta's most respected beacon of barbecue, with velvet-soft sliced pork, ribs painted with intensely seasoned translucent red sauce, and the vegetable-and-smoked-meat gallimaufry known as Brunswick stew. The stew comes as a meal unto itself or as a companion to ribs or pulled pork; its vegetal sweetness is quietly accentuated by a distant vinegar tang. It can only be improved by crumbling a square of Harold's corn bread on top.

Harold's
Tel: 404 627 9268

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