Remarks: Peppers BBQ

Adventure is finding hole-in-the-wall restaurants and trying them out, no matter how scary the appear on the outside. Sometimes, I go for places because they look a little scary on the outside. Peppers is kinda scary looking. It’s across the street from the New Mexico State Fairground, on San Pedro and Copper in Albuquerque, in a run-down looking strip mall. If you walk by, or drive past with your windows down, you can smell the food. Their smoker is on a trailer in the parking lot, so you can’t avoid smelling it. Wow, does it smell good. If you don’t notice the place otherwise, the smell should grab you. It’s hard to see, otherwise. There’s no big sign out front. There are a couple of sandwich board type signs out near the curb, but that’s it.

When you walk in, there are a couple of tables and a counter. It’s a tiny, tiny store front. The menu’s on an old-fashioned board, the black fuzzy kind where you push the white letters into it. That was like a trip back in time. There’s an open plastic cooler with canned sodas in it, sitting in front of the order window. A sign advises you that they only take cash, because their credit card machine is broken and has been for some time, and there are no immediate plans to replace it. To one side there’s a doorway, leading down a short hall to a large dining area.

The food comes served on paper plates, with plastic utensils. The food is amazing. Katie and I made a point to order different things, so we could try a variety of offerings. We got ribs, chicken, sausage, and brisket. All of it was perfectly cooked, moist, smokey, and delicious. It wasn’t spicy; this is more soul food than Texas BBQ, despite what the sign inside says (the only reason I know the place is called Peppers is because of that sign inside). For sides we got cornbread, collard greens (oh, the greens, the wonderful greens), sweet potato fries, and macaroni and cheese. Again, more soul food than BBQ, and everything was delicious.

The people were incredibly nice. It’s a family-owned business, and the cook came out to say hi and ask us how everything was. The atmosphere inside is eclectic but warm and friendly. It was very much like being invited in to someone’s home for dinner. A number of people came through picking up takeout, commenting on how this place is a hidden gem. We’ve been telling everyone we know about it, and Katie and I have already added it to our list of regular haunts.