Leon's Real Fine Bar-B-Que in Waxahachie with Real Fine Pulled Pork

Leon's Fine Bar-B-Que

This past Sunday I was in Waxahachie on account of a little baseball tournament. There was a big break between games, so we went in search of a something local and, hopefully, interesting to eat.

But, that's hard to do in small towns on Sundays because most mom-and-pops are closed. I understand Mom and Pop are tired and need a day off. One of the few places open was Leon's Real Fine Bar-B-Que, which is an old bank just a block off the Waxie town square. (Disclaimer: Barbecue is a little heavy for a pregame meal, so we had to sort of take it easy. No ribs.)

First of all, Leon's has good ambiance. There are several bright red picnic tables outside to take in the clean, crepe myrtle-laced air (Waxie is the crepe myrtle capital of the world galaxy). Inside, Leon's has been haphazardly adorned with vintage décor, and it's a little cheesy. But, not lame cheesy. Fun cheesy.

The dining room walls and ceiling are painted turf green, which renders it dark and cave-like. Then there are a lot of vintage posters with Willie Nelson heads inauspiciously plopped in them.

The owners are very friendly and won't mind at all suggesting food or telling you all about how they make their sauce (Alabama style). In this video, courtesy of the WaxahachieDailyLight, the owner gives a little more background on the place.

I ordered pulled-pork stuffed baked potato ($6.75), which was huge and served with a blob of sour cream on the left and shredded cheddar on the right, all buried under long stingy strips of juicy pulled pork. It was sort of weird to mix all those things together, but I divided the food boat into sections and conquered it slowly. Towards the end it began to happily blend together.

A nice lady behind the counter about fell off her stool on account of the beans. She mixed the juicy pinto beans with a little sour cream and cheese to make a creamy bean soup. She was emphatic about its greatness. So, I ordered the beans (86ing the condiments). And, I'll say, that with a few jalapeños mixed in, they were great beans. And that's important to me because beans are a testament of patience. Whoever is minding those beans at Leon's isn't in any hurry.

Mr. Leon told me their specialty is the pit-smoked pulled pork. They also serve brisket, sausage and ribs. A meat barbecue plate is $8.95, two meats is $10.95 and three meats is $12.95. My son's sliced brisket sandwich was loaded with thick strips of well-seasoned smoky meat ($3.95). Sides include corn on the cob, pinto beans, coleslaw and potato salad.

The rib plates start at $9.95 and a full rack with sides is $19.95.

I think Leon's is worthy of a road trip if you're looking for something new to try. Be sure to get your barbecue eatin' pants out of the cleaners. And fortunately, Leon's decided that Sunday was as nice as any other day to eat out. They're open Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.