Subscriber exclusive — Jay's Bar-B-Que: From the ashes, a tender smoky pig arises

Whenever I make the trip to Marble Hill, it is inevitable I will end up at Jay's Bar-B-Que. The restaurant is a well-known staple of the town, a true family restaurant, adapting with the times while managing to maintain home cookin' quality of the food. Jay's is a unique place. It has a large menu, offering such non-barbecue things such as shrimp po' boy sandwiches and Teriyaki chicken. There is also a Pizza Pro operated out of that same building, so there is going to be something there to please your most picky family member.

In 2017, Jay's suffered damage from a fire starting in the restaurant's wood smoker. That same piece of equipment giving them thick, juicy, and fork-tender pork steaks, turned on them and caused significant damage. They closed down, but to the joy of all, only for repairs. They refused to be held down long and reopened in 2018. This was my first visit back since the fire.

And Jay's is indeed back! Let's talk about what you'll see when you walk in. There will be a bar full of food sitting front and center under a large menu board. If you don't want to wait for them to cook something from the menu, you can order from the bar, and you should. I always do. You can get a meat item and two sides for just over $8.00. For that amount of money, you get an unbelievable amount of food, and it's usually those good country staples that we all know and love. They serve the food in a to-go container, even if you're eating in. You know those large styrofoam containers, with one big section and two little ones? That's what they use, and man, do they use every inch of them. The meat will absolutely fill the entirety of that large section, and your sides will overflow the two small ones. All plates from the bar also come with a piece of bread.

I ordered pulled pork with broccoli and cauliflower salad and ham and beans. The pulled pork was tender, already dressed with bbq sauce, and enough to make three large sandwiches. The sides were standard staples, and good enough to make me feel like I had just bellied up to grandma's table. My husband ordered a pork steak, because he swears by them. The container almost didn't close around it, it was so long. The pork steak was juicy and not dry, smoky and delicious. I liked it better than the pulled pork. For his sides, he chose green beans and baked beans. The green beans were mounded up high and sprinkled with bacon pieces, and the baked beans were overflowing their section. Our daughter ordered fried chicken and received three huge pieces. She got canned peaches for a side and wanted okra for her second one. They didn't have fried okra on the bar, but they whipped her up some fresh ones and brought them to our table. The chicken got a thumb's up from her.

I am not exaggerating when I say we took leftovers home, because they were already conveniently packaged in a to-go container, and it was enough to feed us all supper again the next night. Unbelievable value in a world where you'll pay as much for a combo meal at a fast food joint as you will for real food from Jay's.

We also saw a fresh, uncut coconut cream pie sitting on the counter behind the bar. We asked about it, and were told, of course, it was for sale, and the friendly woman also listed three different kinds of desserts they had as well. We got the coconut cream, and I was flabbergasted when I saw the size of the slice. This pie was 4 inches high, and the slice was bigger than my hand. As for taste, this pie had it. There was so much coconut flavor in the upper layer, and the custard layer had that cold, fresh, rich mikiness I love in coconut cream pie. We ordered two pieces and only ate one, so we got to take the pie home for the next night as well.

If you don't live in Marble Hill, please do drive out there to visit Jay's. It is homey, unique, and delicious, with insane amounts of food that's not fancy but is done well. If you do live in Marble Hill, well, I'm jealous.