Bigmista's Barbecue is a place I have heard about for a while now, a catering company whose barbecue stand, set up a few times a week at different farmers markets throughout the Southland, has been described to me with adjectives ranging from "awesome" to "the truth." But I never made it over to the Atwater Village farmers market on Sundays to try it out. A few times I intended to, but something always came up. "Am I the last person to visit Bigmista's Barbecue at the Atwater farmers market?" Jonathan Gold wrote in his review of the stand a couple months ago. No, Mr. Gold, you're not. Yesterday I woke up and looked out the window, unsurprised to find it was a beautiful day. Is it just me or is the day of the spring time change always close to perfect? It's like nature's way of saying: "Sorry you lost an hour of sleep, but check out this day." So, while we had plenty of housecleaning to do, I suggested going for a drive for a while, which was met with enthusiasm.
After driving around for half an hour with no particular destination in mind, I suggested checking out the Atwater farmers market. It was, not surprisingly, crowded, but we were able to park relatively close by. After walking through the market and admiring the strawberries (that was Elizabeth), selection of pies (also Elizabeth), and the two girls wearing the smallest shorts I have ever seen (that was mostly me), we came to Bigmista's stand. There were only three people in line so I figured they had to be out of everything. (They were not; it was just one of those fluke things. After we had been in line for a couple minutes at least a dozen people were lined up behind me.)
I wasn't famished - I had just eaten breakfast an hour earlier - so I only ordered a pulled pork sandwich. It was ready in about thirty seconds, I paid and walked a few feet away to eat it. The thing was gorgeous when I unwrapped it: served on a soft bun with several pieces of pork having fallen out. I took a bite of the sandwich at the same time Elizabeth ate one of the stray pieces. We both looked at each other. It was awesome.
I had requested the "hot" sauce, and it was exactly what hot barbecue sauce should be: spicy enough to complement the pork but not so ridiculously hot that it takes away from the enjoyment of the sandwich.
"Have more," I said to Elizabeth.
"I'm good," she said, but then took a few more pieces. I did not blame her one bit.
Was this as good as Bludso's? No, probably not. But it was damn close, and it was, without question, the best barbecue sandwich I have ever eaten from a stand, which includes somewhere between forty and fifty sandwiches. I will absolutely be going back and sampling some of everything they make.