Grand Champion BBQ

Not a grand champion in my book.
Atlanta isn’t known for their BBQ, of course, but there are still some great BBQ options around town.
That being said, there was something a little off about Grand Champion. The beef brisket was dry. Well seasoned, but imagine beef jerky… There is definitely better around Atlanta, for sure. The Texas Toast that it came on was literally just white untoasted bread. Fluffy and white, for sure, but there was no juices or sauce in the meat for the bread to soak up. The Mac and cheese is pretty tasty, but super expensive for the small amount you get.
My friend also picked up an order of the banana pudding to share. It was just ok, nothing special.
We left a little disappointed with the food and regretting not ordering everything for lunch from Yalla one stall over.

Put simply this place is okay. I had the ribs, they were good enough to eat, but not great. They need more seasoning or smoke to flavor the meat more. The quality of the meat was very good it wasn’t fatty at all for a rib.

Absolutely amazing. I was in Atl on vacation and bumped into this place. The beef short ribs are tender cooked to perfection and falls right off the bone! Mac and cheese is great as well as the baked beans. If your in town this is a must! My friends got the chicken sandwich which is also delish. The first day I was in town I tried the beef brisket sandwich which is also a great buy.

I had the ribs here, and was very happy with them — great sauce, meat falling off the bone. Solid option for take-​out in Krog Street Market!

The BBQ brisket and beef ribs were a little bit disappointing. They did a great job on selling us and the people behind the counter are super friendly, but the BBQ overall was a little disappointing. My first bite was without sauce and the meat just didn’t have that «smoke» flavor that they boast about. My second bite was with the sauce and it did taste better, but does good BBQ have to be defined by its sauce? Probably, but there’s got to be something appreciated about meat smoked for hours.
Maybe we got the wrong thing? I’ve never really been a huge fan of BBQ so I guess it took a little more to impress me. I wish I had gotten some banana pudding though. That looked delicious!

Get the brisket! It’s so delicious! You’ll be back after your first taste. The staff are friendly. The only downside is having to deal with the overcrowding of Krog St Market on the weekends. If there’s a line, it’s worth the wait. However, go during the week, when there aren’t a lot of people.

NEXT HOLIDAY MAKE SURE YOU PLAN FOR COMPANY!
My husband and I stopped at this particular stall while visiting Krog market because we were overcome by the awesome smells. As we stood in line my husband immediately pointed to the menu that indicated that a large container of collard greens was $ 12. We then looked at the large container and immediately realized that this was actually a $ 1 container of greens, (based on what we pay for them).
At this point it hit me, the people who reside in the immediate area of this market probably can’t even afford to shop here and that is a shame. What a slap in the face!
We decided that we would try an order of the chicken salad with pecans and grapes. Oh wait, on this, (the busiest shopping holiday of the year, at approximately 11:30 am), this restaurant is out of a main menu item! WHAT? They informed us that the salad would be ready in 30 minutes. No thanks.

I don’t frequent this spot because of the chaos that is Krog Street Market. However, the handful of times I have eaten here, I’ve never been disappointed. I’ve tried most of the meats, including the sausage, brisket, pulled pork, and chicken. The meat is delicious — tender, well-​seasoned. I have yet to try anything that I don’t like. The sides are a slightly different story. I could really do without them versus some other places I’ve tried that offer sides just as good as the main attraction. That said, GC is one of my favorite spots at Krog Street Market.

The brisket sandwich and the mac & cheese are mind blowingly awesome.
Krog Street has a lot to offer, and I’m glad that there is a good barbecue joint.
One thing that I would love to suggest, is allowing there to be bacon as an additive onto a sandwich… A little bit of bacon with brisket who can complain about that !

First of all, I love the Krog Street Market. I’ve always lucked out and been able to find a parking spot in the small free lot right next to the building, but there are plenty of valet lots around, or street parking a little further away if you can’t find a spot.
My best friend was in town and wanted to try out a few different Atlanta spots for mac and cheese, so pair this with Hop City and we had a great evening! She liked the mac and cheese here, but didn’t seem blown away. I tried the pork, brisket, and mac and cheese with the vinegar bbq sauce. I thought the brisket was really great, and really didn’t even need any sauce — yum yum! The pork was a little dry, so I enjoyed adding the sauce. They also had a sweeter bbq sauce option you could try, but that’s not my style. The meat comes with a slice of white bread, which was fun, but I would have enjoyed slightly more if toasted. I thought the mac and cheese was ok. I think the noodles may have been a bit overcooked which impacted my opinion, but the cheese flavor was very good.
All in all, I would likely eat here again, but it probably wouldn’t be my top choice at the Market. Can’t wait to try the other places there!

I went to Krog with my girlfriend and a friend. They got food from Fred’s and I opted for BBQ because I had seen the brisket on the Creative Loafing list of things to eat and I find the list, despite being a marketing ploys, helps me from getting in a rut and I try new places and things.
I regret my decision to eat here. I am from Texas and one thing I know about is brisket. This brisket was dry and didn’t really taste like anything. No meat taste, no smoke taste. It was not much different than eating the piece of white bread that came with it. BORING AND NOT GOOD! I had to use sauce because it was so dry and with brisket, you should NEVER need sauce. EVER. The meat was really disappointing and I have pretty much decided to never eat BBQ brisket outside of Texas again. The mac and cheese was kind of meh.
With so many other great places to eat at Krog, do yourself a favor and don’t eat here.

So, I’ve tried this place twice. And twice I’ve been disappointed. I had the ribs the first time. My first thought was «these are some really overpriced mediocre tasting ribs.» They were meaty and kinda tender. I like a smoke taste. In the flavor department, the ribs were dull.
I was going to try the ribs again. They were out of them (it was July 4^th and all). I chose the brisket. The man pulled out a block of brisket from the refrigerator and cut up a pound of it. The brisket was dry-​as-​a-​bone and completely uninspiring.
The macaroni and cheese was watery and minimal on the cheese. The greens hadn’t been pulled from their respective stems because it was… full of stems.
Maybe it was just me or people in East Atlanta have a different BBQ palate. The business seems to be brisk and it is thriving as an enterprise.
I don’t think I’ll be back anytime soon.

$ 18.62 for a quarter pound of beef brisket and quarter pound of smoked sausage (well, more of both and they never cleared it with us, but whatever) plus a beef sandwich, all of which were solid sustenance in Krog Street Market. Belly app rewards didn’t hurt, even though they’re far from generous:
You’re 7 visits away from a Reward at Grand Champion BBQ — Krog

You earned 15 Points! That’s 10 Bonus Points for your first visit.
50
POINTS
You’ve Earned It! 1 Free Pie
Get even more Rewards Here!
100
POINTS
Your Choice — Free Pound Of Any Meat Excluding Ribs

Their brisket has been consistently cooked and not dry. It’s hard not to appreciate a BBQ place in the south that serves up Beef and does it without drying it out. I’ll need to come back for the pork ribs, but they get 4 stars on the brisket alone.
I recently also got to try the spare ribs. Pricey at $ 19/​lbs, but holy crap is it good.
Unfortunately the 5^th star is missing since the sides are lacking. Both in flavor and creativity.

It’s not mind blowing BBQ and it’s not bad bbq. It’s like an average BBQ but it’s a safe choice to get if you are not open to the other choices at Krog Street Market.
The mac and cheese are good though!

Stopped by Krog Street Market for lunch, and I decided on GC BBQ!
I got the beef brisket sandwich and a small side of Mac and cheese. I loved both! The brisket was a little on the dry side, but once you dip it into one of their BBQ sauces, it’s so much better. The Mac and cheese was so cheesy and gooey. I loved that they use those big rigatoni type of noodles.
The only reason for 4 stars is because of the price and the menu. I wish they had a combo plate or some sort of meal. Everything is a la carte. Sandwich was $ 9 and very tiny side of Mac and cheese was $ 4.
If I ever venture back over here I’ll definitely eat here again!

The staff is as dry as the BBQ or so it seems.
There are sadly a number of cons I find visible at Grand Champion. Which may lead to me never trying it again or who knows, but hey, that’s just me. By all means, if you’re on Krog craving some que, go for it.
But as for what I took from G.C.
It’s $ 8 or $ 9 for a simple pulled pork sandwich plopped between two pieces of Sunbeam. You’re thinking, well, damn, for the sandwich alone at that price there must be some mighty fine cookery afoot. Much like top grade sushi, you get what you pay for, right? The sandwich also comes with 2 dill pickle slices (if you so wish to partake in them) and your daring choice of two sauces: a Carolina sweet & tangy or a semi-​peppery hot BBQ sauce. For my sandwich, I choose the Carolina sweet.
BBQ sandwiches tend to be staple to Sunbeam bread, so I’ll excuse it. No need for overly fancy bread courtesy of Little Tart, H&F, or what have you. It’s cool.
Sadly, as far as meat goes, though, it barely and depressingly had no smoke flavor or barely a flavor at all. Drowning it in sauce gave it some flavor, but that’s not what I wanted to do. Oh well. I ate it anyway, so it surely wasn’t inedible.
The brisket was a tad bit better, but yeah, pork… hm. Not sure what’s up.
Also, two sauces??? What’s up with that? Haha. That’s truly bizarre. I mean, sure, let’s not go overboard and create a sauce monster but most of the fancy BBQ places around here are touting at least three. Maybe that’s just how G.C. rolls. Keeping it fairly simple. Well, hopefully you’ll like sweet and tangy (which is more sweet than tang) or peppery hot. I miss my backwoods vinegar sauces.
Other cons— People have mentioned it. Nothing really ‘sit down at Krog’ friendly. Perfect for ‘go home and eat with a few people’ though. No plates or combos with sides. This set up had been a deterrent on purchasing from G.C. for a while.
–No ice for drinks.— Some people hate ice. I, on the other hand, am an ice fiend. I love ice with drinks — especially sweet tea. Thanks, nonchalant dude who was all like «we have ice cold drinks, you don’t need ice.» Let’s not get too hasty there. –heartbreak– I still bought their tea though. Wasn’t half bad but awkward to walk around with half a jug of tea in a crowded food court, but you get over it. Still though, no ice… I’m not letting that one go. I’m sorry. I’m the jerk who will order extra ice at the sacrifice of drink space. It’s probably a sensory thing.
–Sides: Once again, large non-​one person friendly sorts. Collards just plain out sucked. I’m sorry. I just can’t even be nice about it. They were the worst collards I’ve ever had. I still have them, and it has been forever since I ate here… Plus they were kinda expensive.
–Lastly, staff– You guys seem busy, so maybe that’s why you’re so cold. But… why you gotta be so cold? Why not be chipper and customer friendly while you’re chopping up those smokey rumps?
Let’s talk Pros?
G.C., you have the cutest restaurant shirts I’ve ever seen in regards to a BBQ spot. You win this. This is a solid A. I half want to buy one despite my opinions.
Fast — Really fast. The food comes out quickly, so not much of a problem there. Everything is fairly pre-​packaged and freshly prepped. You can watch them prep the sandwiches, etc. — The wait is in hoping you didn’t come on a busy day and can find seating with your half gallon of tea.
Aesthetic — Woodsy, clear cut, dare I say, authoritative? The layout is quite nice. So kudos.
Hopefully, all I mentioned were just crappy kinks in the chain and after a few more months all of this will require an update review, but til then, I dunno. We shall see.

I’m weirded out that there is nary a review for Grand Champion, despite there being 40+ for both Fred’s and Yalla. Poor Grand Champion seems to be the red-​headed stepchild of Krog Market. I’d heard from a friend that their barbeque was quite delicious, despite the meat being cooked at another location and delivered daily.
The other day I was feeling a bit under the weather and decided that macaroni and cheese would lift my spirits. Isn’t it sad how we tie food to feelings? Never mind, that’s a post for another day and another website. I was hoping to get some smoked chicken with said mac n’ cheese. I arrived at the booth catty corner from jenni’s and surveyed the menu. Not a single chicken item on the menu. If you don’t eat red meat be prepared to only be able to consume small, medium, or large sizes of collards (they prob have meat in them though), potato salad, coleslaw, or mac. I went with a small side of mac and then asked the dude what was up with the no chicken thing. He said that there is a no compete clause with food booths and since Spice Road chicken would be making chicken Grand Champion couldn’t serve any. I find that a bit ridiculous, since I thought Spice Road was only doing kerala FRIED chicken. Hopefully they’ll make a roasted version too since they are cornering the market in their chicken products. I need a healthier chicken option than fried. This coming from the girl who went to a place just for some mac and cheese. So anyhoo, a long review lamenting on the lack of non red meat proteins at Grand Champion. I’m wondering if there is a tofu non-​compete, because if there isn’t then Grand Champion should totally have smoked tofu as an option.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the macaroni and cheese was quite good.

Pretty solid brisket sandwich. And the mac & cheese rocks. I do wish they’d redo their menu to offer, you know, single meals. Instead of just pounds of delicious BBQ and sides.
Not that there’s anything wrong with having pounds of GC BBQ on hand.

Yo, this is some delicious food right here. When you walk by and think, should I? Listen to me and answer «Yep, I sure should!»
What got us roped into having lunch here was not only the fact that we were drooling at the thought, but when we passed by deciding which spot to choose, the staff here greeted us and started a convo. Perfect, now they serve BBQ AND are engaging and nice, done deal. We discussed the types of lunch options, meat options and all the sides.
This is what we went for, two of us to share:
½ pound of Brisket /​served with Texas Toast
½ pound of Pulled Pork /​served with Texas Toast
Mac N’ Cheese
I mean, look at it in alllll its glory:
EVERYTHING was outstanding. We have pretty good BBQ in Florida too but I think this may have been my favorite I have ever tasted. The Pulled Pork was just — really no words, you have to experience it for yourself — but since this is a review site, it was heavenly. It melted in your mouth. It was so velvety and delicious that I could have easily eaten 3 lbs of it on my own. My thighs thank me that I didn’t. The brisket was a close second with the crispy top and moist meaty inside. The bread paired with both was a great option if you wanted to make a sammie or just use to lick up the rest of the meat. It was fresh and delicious. I liked the original BBQ sauce over the sweet Carolina but both were great. Now, the Mac and Cheese… They did NOT skimp. This is legit mac and cheese. Melty, gooey, oozing amazing cheese goodness. It rounded out the meal to a perfect 5 stars from this girl who loves her food.
To top it off, as we were eating (aka scarfing down this goodness) the manager made his rounds and checked out how we were doing. So awesome!
If you are in the Krog Street Market area, go here!