It is not often that I fare better at a BBQ joint than the Meat Eater, but I did here. There is inventiveness with the sides that is generally absent in most BBQ establishments. The Mac and cheese was cool upon arrival, but made with a nice roux based sauce and the noodles were well cooked. The Kentucky Spicy Cole Slaw did have a little zip to it. The blue cheese sweet potatoes were an unexpected delight (so much so that one of our dining companions made attempts to duplicate the dish at home within the week). But the true gem was the potato cake with Russian dressing. The texture of the cake was akin to a crab cake (at least what I remember crab cakes to be like); it was chunky. The exterior was perfectly browned and crisped, allowing for a beautiful juxtaposition of textures. The Russian dressing added additional flavor, but I just as happily ate my cake without it. On the second visit, I strayed away from the sides and opted for a salad and guacamole instead. The succotash salad was chock full of arugula (my most favorite green ever), lima beans, cherry tomatoes, and summer squash. I found the summer squash a bit weird as it was raw. I’m sure raw food folks will extol the virtues of raw squash, but I find it kind of bland. The limas on the other hand were wonderful; tender little baby beans. The dressing was woefully stingy on acid and salt. I was able to rectify the salt issue at the table, but not the acid issue. The Guacamole was fresh and served with fresh fried flour tortilla chips. You could tell the chips were just fried by the grease dripping off of them. They needed a bit more tending to once taken out of the fryer; really, give them a few decisive shakes once out and a few moments to dry a bit before sending them out; it makes all the difference in the world. I could probably be coerced into returning to get another potato cake, but I don’t think I’ll be called upon anytime soon by my meat eating comrades.