A few people suggested Sweet P's BBQ to be one of the stops on BBQ Quest, but at the time it was merely a catering business and I had plans on passing just because I wanted to find a place where I could sit down and indulge. Well lo and behold, Sweet P's opened its own establishment earlier this month, and after several more recommendations from commenters and a hard sell by our own Em, I decided it needed to be our next stop.
photos and original artwork by max.
Sweet P's is slightly off the beaten path but not too far away, located at Willow Point Marina on Maryville Pike. I don't know the rules at the marina, so I don't know if you can visit Sweet P's by water unless you already have access to one of the slips, but the restaurant does have an outside deck where you can eat and gaze at the boats. Thanks to yesterday's rain, Mr. and Mrs. The Pol, Max and I opted for inside, which was spacious and covered with World's Fair memorabilia. Thumbs up. There's a bar with a very random assortment of beers and the restaurant even has its own cornhole setup, which a few customers were taking advantage of Tuesday night.
The Pol and I grabbed what was described as chopped pork, which made me cringe a bit when I ordered. But don't be fooled, it really is pulled pork -- properly pulled pork -- and it is delish. The meat is tender, chunky and has a nice flavor. And, Sweet P's lets you sauce your own meat with your choice of thick, thin or hot sauce. The thick sauce, which had a hint of garlic, was good without being overwhelming. The Pol said the hot sauce had 'nice heat' to it as well.
Max and The Mrs. Pol both got the barbecue burrito, which came with pork, beans, slaw and cheese (I think). Max says the cheese overwhelmed the pork a bit, but I will give anyone props for trying to do creative things with barbecue.
One great thing about Sweet P's: the fried pickles. Fried pickles are a delicacy, my friends. Sweet P's does fried pickle spears in both a regular and a spicy version with a mustardy/mayo-y dipping sauce. Tasty. One not so great thing about Sweet P's: the beans. When I eat barbecue, I want bona fide baked beans oozing in sweet, worcestershirey sauce. These beans were a straight-up pinto/white bean mix. Good for a meat-and-three, not my choice for barbecue. The mac-and-cheese and slaw were good, but nothing to jump in the lake about.
I'll definitely recommend Sweet P's based on the pork and atmosphere alone. The people who work there were super nice and accomodating, and I've said this before: that goes a long way. The Pols and I gave it 7.5 wigs out of 10, though Max gives them 9 and even left Sweet P's with some of his original artwork. We hope to find it hanging on the wall when we return.
Sweet P's (follow that link to get to a menu)
Knoxville, TN
(865) 579-0100
8 comments:
definitely worth the trip out there, even if it is a bit off the beaten path.
they serve a mean Knoxville Corona which lends itself well to greasy bbq.
next time max can you photoshop me in some hair?
thanks pal
Glad you guys liked it. I LOVE it. I think the bbq burrito has mac and cheese in it, which may explain why Max thought the cheese was a little overwhelming. I love that pork, and I am glad MG concurs.
Em, let's go on a pretty day so we can sit outside. I'm interested in trying their ribs, which their website claims are so good "that makes even Memphisites say DA*N!"
i'm sad i missed going. this is kind of weird, but i just really like their name. it's quaint.
It's named for their cutie pie daughter, whose name starts with a P.
Next time make sure to try their Banana Pudding. Yum!
We had a shoot today catered by Sweet P's and I got to try their greens for the first time. OH MY AMAZING! So delicious!
The food I've tried at Sweet P's has been good; however, a word of warning...if ordering to go, you are probably going to get shorted. I recently purchased a 1/2 rack ribs ($9), & two 1# containers of sauteed greens (1 for a friend, cost $7 per pound)...Although the plastic containers the greens came in were full, I suspected they weren't a pound. Weighed on an accurate (postal) scale, the pound I purchased for myself weighed 10.4 ounces....assuming the pound for the friend was approx.the same, I paid $14 plus tax for less than 21 ounces of greens--$14 for 32 oz. is a bit ridiculous, but to get only 21?
now, the ribs---great flavour, but I'd bet there wasn't 5-6 ounces meat total, so that's close to $30 a pound...Place is too rich for me, good, but priced too high....
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