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Forkers BBQ on Highway 58 isn’t new to the Chattanooga scene—they’ve already been testing the market with their catering—but as a brick-and-mortar, family-owned barbecue, they’re starting to make a big impression.
Serving up barbecue, mac-n-cheese, and other delicious comfort foods, pit master Jonathan Morgan says, they’re here to bring “true, slow-smoked barbecue” to River City.
“We just celebrated our one-year anniversary as a brick-and-mortar store,” Morgan says. The past year has had its ups and downs, with the coronavirus being “definitely the most challenging,” he adds. Nevertheless, he’s been able to build a new following for his family business, combining in-store and online customer service to create the interactions with the public that he really loves.
Forkers BBQ does have a public presence, including two appearances on Big 95.3, Morgan says, but it’s the barbecue itself that keeps people coming back. When Morgan talks about the process of creating real, down-home barbecue, you can tell he’s in his element.
“All our Forkers sauces are homemade,” he says. “We slow-smoke our pork butt for more than 18 hours, then cook it in a steam oven for more than 12 hours. Our ribs are cooked more than 12 hours over hickory smoke. We slow-cook our brisket for more than 27 hours.
“This process creates a bark on the outside of the meat which holds all the juices on the inside. It makes for a more flavorful meat, a more tender meat, a very juicy product. Our ribs fall off the bone.”
While some towns have characteristic barbecue flavors, Chattanooga sits at a crossroads, with a number of tastes to be savored. Forkers BBQ aims to blend this diversity into their own unique taste.
“That’s the best thing about Chattanooga—there are so many varieties,” Morgan says. “You’ve got three or four types in the Tri-State area. We’re combining every single one of them to make them our own. We’re trying to make our name as Chattanooga’s barbecue.”
Forkers BBQ has plenty of tasty competition, but luckily no one minds eating their way through all that barbecue goodness. As Morgan says, barbecue is a comfort food.
Better still, Forkers BBQ also excels at mac-n-cheese. There’s loaded mac with pork, creamy sauce, and sweet sauce on top. There’s even loaded mac pizza. Imagine that: a barbeque joint that serves pizza. You’d probably better visit Forkers BBQ as soon as possible.
If you don’t know what to order, Morgan recommends the family pack: a pound of pork with three 16-ounce sides and four buns. It’s also time to start ordering Christmas hams and turkeys, he says.
Fork Some Barbecue onto Your Table
You can find Forkers BBQ on Facebook at facebook.com/forkersbbq or by calling (423) 386-5615. They’re open Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m.–3 p.m. with a special brunch menu, including pulled-pork biscuits, gravy and homemade sausage.
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