A barbecue joint that's been smoking meat over a brick pit near Birmingham since 1984 just landed a title that any pitmaster in the state would envy. Chowhound has named Miss Myra's Pit Bar-B-Q the best barbecue spot in all of Alabama, singling out its smoked chicken and signature white sauce as the draw.
National Food Site Spotlights a Family Recipe
According to Chowhound, Miss Myra's is popular among diners for its smoked chicken drenched in the white barbecue sauce that's iconic in the state, and the outlet also pointed to pulled pork, Brunswick stew and seven different pies on the menu. The restaurant's own site, missmyras.com, notes that the business has been operated by Myra Grissom Harper and family since it opened in 1984, and that the kitchen turns out barbecued chicken, beef, pork, ribs and sausage alongside sides made fresh daily.
As Bham Now reported on the honor, Miss Myra's is known for its BBQ chicken sandwich served with Alabama white sauce, and the restaurant introduced that sauce to the Birmingham community back in 1984. The Takeout has previously written that the restaurant uses hickory to smoke its meats in a custom-built brick pit, a detail that helps explain the smoky character Chowhound singled out.
Where the Sauce — and the Address — Get Complicated
Sourcing on Miss Myra's exact address varies: Chowhound lists the restaurant at 3278 Cahaba Heights Road, Birmingham, AL 35243, while Bham Now and a related report from thebamabuzz.com place the same street address in Vestavia Hills. Either way, the kitchen itself is no mystery. The white sauce that built its reputation is made from just mayonnaise, vinegar, salt and pepper, per the restaurant's own account, and a recipe shared with Bham Now in 2019 calls for two quarts of heavy-duty mayonnaise, one quart of white vinegar, two tablespoons of salt and two tablespoons of pepper — whisked together slowly and refrigerated until it thickens before serving.
Alabama white sauce itself has a well-documented origin story. Yellowhammer News traces the condiment back to Big Bob Gibson, who created a distinct style of barbecue in 1925 when he started combining mayonnaise and vinegar as a sauce for chickens he pit-cooked whole at his restaurant in Decatur. What began as a North Alabama specialty has since become, in Yellowhammer's words, sort of a thing these days for smoked-meat restaurants throughout Alabama to include in their liquid lineup — and southernthing.com reports that variations of Gibson's original sauce have since appeared on menus from the East Coast to the West.
A Magic City Staple, Not Just a Miss Myra's Signature
Closer to home, thebamabuzz.com reports that white sauce has become a Magic City BBQ staple not only at Miss Myra's but at other joints around Birmingham, including SAWS and Jim 'N Nick's. That spread hasn't dulled the attention on Miss Myra's specifically. The Takeout included the restaurant in its list of the 14 best barbecue restaurants for chicken in the United States, and a related Bham Now piece noted that the Birmingham metro area claimed two spots on that same list, alongside Rusty's Bar-B-Q in Leeds.
The accolades go back further still. Far & Wide named Miss Myra's BBQ Chicken Sandwich with White Sauce its top pick for best sandwich in Alabama in 2019. Celebrity chef and James Beard winner Andrew Zimmern has also praised Miss Myra's white sauce and banana pudding, per the Bham Now report on the Chowhound honor.
How Miss Myra's Stacks Up Against Alabama's Other Big Names
Miss Myra's newest title puts it in good company among Alabama barbecue royalty. Southern Living named Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur its 2024 pick for the South's Best Barbecue Joint in Every State, citing that restaurant's own famous white sauce, according to 953 The Bear. The same outlet noted that Southern Living ranked Dreamland Bar-B-Que in Tuscaloosa No. 3 among its 2023 list of the best 50 barbecue spots nationwide, with Archibald's BBQ in Northport coming in at No. 14. Whether judged by a national food site or a regional magazine, Alabama's barbecue scene keeps circling back to the same white, tangy condiment that started in Decatur a century ago and now shows up on plates from Cahaba Heights to the coast.
