Dolan’s Bar B Que | BBQ at its Best | Millen, GA

Traditional Georgia BBQ at its best

Keith McLendon (Chickenplucker) suggested we meet for lunch at Dolan’s BBQ in Millen, Georgia. So I browsed the internet to find out more about it. When I saw the times it is open, I knew it was the right place to go. (Actually, any place Chickenplucker recommends jumps to the top of my must-eat list. Especially BBQ: He lead the way to Perry’s Pig and to Fresh Air BBQ.) Food is served at Dolan’s only Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. These are traditional Dixie BBQ parlor hours, legacy of celebratory weekend pig-pickin’s many years ago.

Smoke-Pit Classics

Today, Dolan’s menu goes beyond smoke-cooked meat basics. Yes, there is pulled pork that is moist and velvet-soft with crunchy strips of bark; there is meat-laden Brunswick stew; there is gold-skin BBQ chicken; it’s even well-worth sinking teeth into richly-fatted, crazy-tender brisket. Truly, nothing that comes from Dolan’s pit is less than sublime. It really is Georgia BBQ at its best. Glaze it with one (or all) of three available sauces: honey-mustard, sweet red, and mayo-based Alabama white. (That last makes chicken glow.)

What Else to Eat?

In addition to smoke-pit fundamentals, the menu includes very cheesy cheese grits and beans thick with clumps of sausage. Or tear into a Philly steak sandwich made with pit-smoked flank steak. Or consider a crisp-edge smash burger. Tear into a loaf of pull-apart bread bedecked with garlic butter, BBQ sauce, cheese, bacon, and green onions. Similar embellishment customizes a plate of loaded fries. Every day, the kitchen offers a “Green Plate Special”: Creamy fillets of flounder arrive with grits and gnarly hushpuppies. Meat loaf shares the plate with loaded potato casserole. Honey-mustard glazed ham wows taste buds when accompanied by blackeyed peas. It’s all good – very, very good. For dessert, consider a slab of 15-layer caramel cake.

Location Alert

Currently (summer, 2021), You will find Dolan’s just off Highway 25 in the countryside on the outskirts of the town of Millen. Place your order in a vast, welcoming dining room. Pay up front, pick a table, and wait for the food to be delivered. Proprietor Mary Beth Brown advised that she plans to move to a new location in Statesboro sometime in the fall.