It’s well known that a staple of southern cooking is the barbecue so if you’re enjoying the experience of the stupendous attractions of the Land Between The Lakes what better than to find a restaurant offering the best of the grill? You’re in an area of outstanding beauty and you might have spent the last few hours hiking along one of the wildlife trails or water skiing on Lake Kentucky so you deserve to round the day off with something better than that which national barbecue chain diners serve up.
An excellent independent barbecue restaurant can be located about 2 miles from Kentucky Lake at the intersection of Highway 402 (old Hwy 80) and Highway 68, about 5 miles south of Jonathan Creek. You are greeted by the sign of a winking pig at the Aurora Bar-b-Que and are welcomed into a simple but homely restaurant.
Don’t go to the Aurora Bar-b-Que for a snack. This is one place where you need a hearty appetite as even the shrimp basket contains 21 fried shrimp. The barbecue meats are chicken and pork and of course the ribs which come either as a half or full rack. The barbecue platters come with vegetables and Texas Toast. It always says something about a meal when the vegetables you get to choose include French fries, baked beans and onion rings. If you don’t fancy the full barbecue fare there are plenty of sandwiches and burgers you can choose from including 1 lb Angus Beef cheeseburgers and barbecued bologna. Hot dogs and pizzas also make an appearance on the menu and naturally they come big, 12 inch pizza and 1 lb dogs.
Despite the feasts on offer you really need to save room for dessert which are ice cream based and include butter pecan, tropical orange and blue goo flavors. There’s shakes and floats and sundaes or pig out on strawberry shortcake, banana split, hot chocolate fudge cake or Italian Cream, coconut or carrot cake.
There’s always tomorrow to work it off on another hike along an LBL trail or a lake swim.
