As you walk into Sweet Daddy’s BBQ, you’ll automatically smell the smoked meat along with the thick aroma of buttered buns. Sweet Daddy’s is a BBQ joint that’s located at 420 S. Tyler St. in Covington and has been serving up the same classic meats for the past 17 years. Their small but perfected menu includes pulled pork, ribs, smoked chicken, and brisket, also with a plethora of delicious sides.

My usual there is a pulled brisket sandwich with sides of mac and cheese, baked BBQ beans, and a red cream soda, always. Only five minutes after ordering, my meal comes out. I can see the steam coming off my food as the waitress sets it on the table. Before devouring my hot sandwich, I inhale the creamy mac and cheese and sweet, but smoky, BBQ beans. The BBQ beans are, in my opinion, their best side. They are a fantastic combination of BBQ  flavor with a hint of sweetness; also, there is tender, but crispy, pulled pork mixed into it.

When those had been diminished, I picked up the buttery bun and took a huge bite. The brisket was so juicy, and you can feel the crunch from the crust. Their rub has a perfect blend of spices. While they do not make their own BBQ sauce, the delicious brand they have chosen comes in three flavors: original, smoky, and hot.

The fantastic taste of the food here is also accompanied by an interesting history. Sweet Daddy’s BBQ was opened 17 years ago by Stephanie Hines and was run for two years before being sold to Mindy Weber. After 12 years, Weber wanted to sell, so three years ago, Steven Carthy and his wife Takami bought Sweet Daddy’s. Carthy and his wife were adamant on keeping the menu as close to the original as possible, and only making small changes.

“We wanted to stick to the basics,” Carthy said. “Why fix what ain’t broken?”

Before owning Sweet Daddy’s, Steven and Takami worked and lived in Japan. What prompted them to own a BBQ joint, they are still trying to figure out for themselves. They have improved their menu slightly by extending their smoking time. Now, ribs, sausage, and chicken are smoked for three hours, while pork and beef are smoked for 15 hours each with their own secret rub. One other thing they changed was their method of pulling the pork. Previously, they paid someone $13 an hour to sit for hours, chopping and pulling pork, costing them $10,000 a year. Carthy and his wife eventually got tired of spending hours each week hand-pulling pork, so they rigged up a special device to pull three pork butts in under five minutes. They’ve done this by attaching a rotating apparatus to an industrial-sized drill, which has saved them multitudes of time and money.  They also keep the customer guessing by changing their specials daily, some of which include rib sandwiches and pulled pork tacos.

According to Carthy, the way they perfected their meat is cooking “low and slow.”

Sweet Daddy’s is a down to earth BBQ joint that never sacrifices quality for anything. That said, I give Sweet Daddy’s a 9 out of 10.