Published September 13, 2011.

A recent photograph project has had me running the back roads of Livingston Parish. There is no absence of local seafood spots and old school, slightly threadbare, burger stands. But what has called out to me the loudest on these country meanderings were the mom-and-pop BBQ shacks. Maybe it is the change in the weather, but the slightest chill in the air makes me crave smoked meat.

Wayne’s Barbeque near the Livingston exit on Interstate 12 is right across the highway from another, more modern looking BBQ restaurant. So, it stands to reason that a little slow-cooked competition keeps both spots producing the best pit product that they can. The interior of Wayne’s is an un-gussied up monument to meat. Slabs of beautifully barked brisket lay atop on another (yes, bark is the pit master’s term for the crispy edges of a good brisket). Sliced pork shoulder shows the pink smoke ring indicative of a true charcoal fired pit. Generous scoops of potato salad and coleslaw make shapely additions to the Styrofoam plates shuffled down the deli-line. It’s a stackable chairs and Formica tables sort of a place, which, if we think about it for a second, is probably how the universe intends for BBQ to be served.

The serving size of the meat portion of the lunch platters is a little on the slim side, but you won't leave hungry as the sides are ample and the Texas-style toast is some of the best around. Brisket is more forgiving than pork shoulder. The latter is generally served “pulled”– a method that requires a long, low temperature cooking process. At Wayne’s they serve it sliced so it retains some of the character and texture of a roast, but still has the juicy tenderness that comes when that sinewy cut of meat is allowed to gradually brown over a slow fire. Both the brisket and pork shoulder were cooked perfectly, which is saying something as both cuts can easily come out too tough or mealy and over-cooked.

I enjoyed my lunch on a fine, cool September day, sitting on a flaking tin topped table in the outdoor seating area that appears to have once had a life as a filling station pump island. There was a cool breeze and the crunch of gravel under patrons' feet. The BBQ was well flavored by both its dry rub and the hickory wood smoke they proudly advertise. In short, it was just the sort of unpretentious, meat heavy experience you would expect from a little restaurant with a big smiling pig on its sign.

Although the service was speedy on the early afternoon when I visited Wayne’s, it does feel like the sort of spot that people are less and less willing to hassle with in our fast-food dependent culture. But, if places like this fade away owing to stiff competition from cheap food by the sack full, then we would be losing something special. I don’t frequent the aforementioned sack vendors too often, but I am pretty sure that the employees of such places don’t stick their heads out off the door on three separate occasions just to check in on a solitary traveler dining on a plate of BBQ.

Without getting too wistful for dining-ways gone by or trudging through the mire of food politics, I’ll just encourage you to visit Wayne’s or your neighborhood equivalent. It wasn’t the best BBQ I have ever eaten, but it was very good. It wasn’t the most charming lunch spot I have visited but it has a lot more to offer than just about anyplace with a drive-through. Wayne’s wont make you change the way you think about food, but it will remind you how pleasant a quick meal can be when you aren’t asked, under the blue glow of signs emblazoned with a celebrity spokes-cartoon and before the register clangs open, “Do you want fries with that?”

Wayne’s Barbeque
29285 South Frost Road
Livingston, LA 70754
(225) 686-7427

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