Dreamland BBQ - Tuscaloosa, AL

When I was going to the University of Alabama and working on my Spanish certification I was introduced to a piece of culinary delight - Dreamland BBQ. My friend Greg came and got us one night and told us he was taking us to dinner and it was a surprise. Well, in Tuscaloosa...anything would have been a surprise. We rode out into the country and stopped at this little run down looking building that said Dreamland BBQ. I told Greg...no way Hoser...I am not eating anywhere that looks like this...but he coerced me into the restaurant and my nose was bombarded with the sweet smell of searing meat cooking...and I was hooked. Now, to paint this picture a little better...I had on a white pants suit. White mind you!...We sat down...and the waiter came up with a pad and wanted to know what we wanted...there was no menu...it was just a piece of paper....with a few choices on it. I ordered a half slab of ribs....then asked for beans and cole slaw as my sides...he laughed out loud and told me..."You gets ribs and light bread. You wants chips they at the bawrr." I had not clue what light bread was. Remember I grew up in South Florida...we ate Sunbeam bread, rye, wheat, pumpernickel....I had never had light bread in my life. There was a big pit behind us...and there was a large lady in a dress sitting in a rocker with one of those Jamaican fans...fanning the meat. Shortly our meal was delivered. Slabs of ribs and a stack of Sunbeam bread were placed on the table with 4 sweet teas and 1 unsweet tea. The waiter returned with some kind of sauce...in styrofoam cups....that was the dippin' sauce for "da ribs." My olfactory was on overload...and I could not wait to get one of those ribs in my mouth. I dipped it neatly into the sauce...and ate....after that first bite it was Katie Bar the Door. I devoured the ribs. We ask for three more cups of the sauce and ate all the bread...dipping it in the sauce. I think we ate a whole loaf of light bread that night. Then we talked our waiter into more cups...which we took back to our apartment...and ate for lunch the next day...with bread! Dreamland became a weekly venture. I ate there once a week for two years while I was attending Alabama. Imagine how excited I was when I found a Dreamland BBQ in Birmingham...we ate there...and I was sorely disappointed. The sauce was still just as good...but they have sides...and to be honest...the sides take away from the ribs. Sooooo...if you love BBQ...then you must eat at Dreamland...but wait til you are in Tuscaloosa...and find the original one. It is out on Jug Factory Road...in the boonies...but you will never regret making that journey....trust me....they are truly to die for!