MILLIANS: Brisket capital of Georgia

Published 8:00 am Saturday, January 18, 2025

Are you seeking the holy grail of Texas brisket?

You could fly to Austin, wait in line for three hours at Franklin’s Barbecue, chow down on brisket and then meet Aaron Franklin, the restaurant’s owner and “chief fire starter.”

Or, you could drive half an hour to Straw’s BBQ in Sparta and meet Trey Dunagan, the restaurant owner and pitmaster who has spent the past two years trying to perfect his brisket.

An online reviewer called Straw’s “a nice little find in the middle of nowhere.” It’s actually east of Sparta, just past the city limits on Highway 16 going toward Warrenton.

Keep an eye out for a yellow, cement block building on the right. You’ll know you are in the right place when you see all the cars in the parking lot.

Straw’s is well known for its pulled pork, ribs and chicken — as well as delicious sides such as Brunswick stew, baked beans and slaw.

But it is the brisket that Dunagan says is really putting Straw’s on the map.

A couple of years ago, Dunagan found out just how big beef brisket was in Texas. Why not bring it to Georgia, he thought.

He had never cooked or eaten brisket, but he was hooked on learning how to prepare it.

He studied tutorials on YouTube: how to season the meat, how to trim it and how to cook it just like they do in Texas.

He has a big pit to cook the pork, ribs and chicken. But he went out and bought a small smoker, just to experiment with the brisket.

He smoked two briskets and let his customers try it for free.

The next week, people were back, asking for the brisket.

On the menu it went, and it has been a hit ever since. So much so that it’s usually gone by 12:30.

Several factors — in addition to time and hard work — go into preparing brisket.

There’s a lot of trimming to ensure a good fat-to-meat ratio.

There needs to be visible marbling through the meat.

You cook at a consistent low temperature for at least 10 hours to ensure tenderness.

You must monitor the internal temperature to know when to wrap it and when it’s done.

Dunagan usually smokes eight briskets at a time. After being trimmed, the briskets can weight eight or nine pounds.

That’s 72 pounds of brisket.

“Heck, even two pounds is a big pile of brisket,” Dunagan said, laughing.

People come from all over — Augusta, Sandersville, Greene County and, of course, Milledgeville — to eat Straw’s BBQ.

“We’ve got a very loyal clientele,” Dunagan said. “Hancock County is a big deer hunting area, so they come here after rising early to hunt. You won’t believe the people — and they’re from all over — who tell me the brisket is as good here as any they have ever had.”

There are no strangers at Straw’s. You’ll see camo hats, farm supply caps and Georgia Power reflective vests and hard hats. You’ll see Masters caps, as well as Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide caps.

“There’s really no other place in Sparta like this, where you can sit down and enjoy a meal,” Dunagan said. You’ll be dining on walnut tables that Dunagan built in his spare time.

And the service is as good as the food.

Kathy Foster is retired from the Hancock County Bank. She said she came out one day to help serve “and now they won’t let me leave.” She greets customers with a smile or a hug.

Madeline Clark is a senior at Baldwin High who works at Straw’s on weekends. She loves meeting and talking to her customers.

“They’re all so nice,” she said.

Trey’s grandfather, the late Dickie Dunagan, originally opened the restaurant. He passed it down to Trey’s father, Richard, who still helps out at the restaurant. Straw was Richard’s childhood nickname.

Now, the restaurant is Trey’s to run. Business has been so good that he quit his job in physical therapy to work fulltime at the restaurant.

He has plans to expand his mouth-watering brisket and BBQ business.

He wants to do more catering, and he’s considering a food truck.

Straw’s is open Thursday (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Friday (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Saturday (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

It’s well worth the drive to Sparta.

—Rick Millians, a 1970 Baldwin High graduate, retired after working at newspapers in Georgia, Ohio, and South Carolina. Reach him at rdmillians@aol.com.