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Pork pulled to perfection
When it comes to barbecue, Bozo's doesn't clown around
By Doug Warren, Globe Staff, 12/1/2002
Barbecue bragging rights are serious business in the South. Boast about your dry-rub Memphis-style pork ribs in Texas, and you can find yourself in trouble with the beef-rib-and-brisket crowd. Sing the praises of Tennessee pulled pork in North Carolina, and you may find a surly Tar Heel ready to rumble.
So when a native Memphian urged me — above all else — to get to a place called Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q while I was in town, even proclaiming it "best BBQ I have ever eaten" and writing me with directions to the tiny town of Mason, such an unequivocal endorsement could not be taken lightly.
Especially by a pulled-pork fan like me. I've traveled the backroads around Smithfield, N.C., in search of the tastiest morsels of pulled pig shoulder. I've even braved the wilds of Cambridge, Mass., many times to sample the excellent version served up at the East Coast Grill.
So off we went up US Highway 70 out of Memphis on a hot, sunny Saturday morning in search of Bozo's and the ultimate pulled pork sandwich.
Highway 70 used to be the main route between Memphis and Nashville before Interstate 40 was completed in 1968 and bypassed a lot of little towns like Mason. Today, Mason has a population of about 1,100 — if you count the 600 residents of the West Tennessee Detention Facility. It's also home to two long-running restaurants that serve as reminders of Mason's robust roadside past: Gus's Fried Chicken,
which GQ rated as one of the top 10 places in the world to eat chicken, and Bozo's.
Thomas Jefferson "Bozo" Williams started cooking pork shoulders for the public in Mason back in 1923. The restaurant remained in his family until 1999, when Williams's great-grandson, Jeff Thompson, sold the place to Hayne Ozier, who owns another restaurant, The Hut, in Somerville, 20 miles south of Mason. Ozier's son, Jon, runs Bozo's and has made some changes and has some plans that have unsettled some of the regulars. But more about that later.
Bozo's is hard by the highway, where its big green sign makes it easy to spot. The restaurant has been in the same location for 50 years; before that it operated from several locations in Mason, including across the street, and stepping inside does take you back several decades. The restaurant seats 95 people at 19 tables and 13 stools at the lunch counter, which offers a view of the busy kitchen. The wood-paneled walls are decorated with photographs from Bozo's past.
The atmosphere is inviting, and the waitstaff — headed by manager Cheryl Morris — is friendly, but it's the smell emanating from the kitchen that makes you feel you've arrived in hog heaven.
According to Ozier, the barbecue at Bozo's has been cooked in the same fashion for nearly 80 years. The restaurant has two pits out back, which are divided into the "cook" side and the "warm" side. Tuesday through Saturday at 8 a.m., 40 fresh, unseasoned pork shoulders are loaded on the cook side over charcoal that is kept at about 200 degrees. At 3 p.m., the shoulders are turned over and then taken off the fire at 8 p.m. and put in a cooler overnight.
The next day, the cooked shoulders, in batches of 10, are placed on the warm side at 8 a.m. and are ready by 10:30 a.m. to be taken off the fire and pulled and chopped to order. Extra shoulders cooked on Saturday are put on the warm side for Tuesday's meals. Ozier figures he runs through roughly 10,000 shoulders annually, which amounts to about 176,000 pounds of pork each year.
And what pork it is.
Bozo's is unusual in that it offers its customers a choice of barbecue options. The white meat is shredded, moist, and tender. The brown meat, from the outside of the shoulder is chewy, crispy even, with lots of smoky flavor. You can go with either one, but the menu recommends a combination of the two. The Jumbo Bar-B-Q "Pig" sandwich ($4.10) comes on a toasted bun and is topped with a vinegar-based cole slaw (unless you ask for the sweet slaw, which is made with mayonnaise).
The meat comes unsauced, but Bozo's has three homemade sauces that come highly recommended. The hot sauce, which Ozier said is unchanged since the 1960s, is vinegar-based, with plenty of pepper and other, secret, spices. "It's got a pretty good kick to it," Ozier allowed. The mild sauce has been around for 20 years and is sweet with a tomato base. Ozier has also introduced a medium sauce, which is slightly sweet with a bit of pepper.
The combination of the hot sauce, slaw, toasted bun, and tender and crunchy meat is about as close to pork perfection as humanly possible. Accompanied by a side of french fries ($1.50) and washed down with free refills of unsweetened iced tea ($1.10), this lunch defined "bang for the buck."
Of course, there are other dining options at Bozo's. The Bar-B-Q Plate ($8.25) includes bread and two sides — everything from pineapple salad to outstanding homemade potato salad and Bar-B-Q baked beans. A children's version is available for $4.35.
It's tough to tinker with tradition, and Ozier has encountered some resistance. The french fries are no longer homemade. "When I switched to frozen fries, some regulars asked me where I'd come from and asked why I didn't go back," Ozier admits. He's added catfish ($8.50) to the menu on Fridays and Saturdays, which are also the days Bozo's offers a dry rub rib plate ($10.99).
Ozier has expanded the catering side of the operation to the point that, "We're putting out twice as much out the back door as the front door." He is also seeking the licensing to ship Bozo's products out of state. And he is in the early stages of negotiations to bring Bozo's meat and sauces to a national market.
But some things at Bozo's are stolidly resistant to change, and that should make barbecue lovers everywhere happy. The bun toaster has been in operation since 1940. Katherine Perry of Somerville is still making the delicious homemade pies. And pit cook Mamie Taylor, who has been at Bozo's since 1964, still draws a crowd at the lunch counter as the regulars watch her chop the pork for their sandwiches. "Almost 40 years and she hasn't lost a finger," Ozier marveled. "It will be a sad day in Mason when Mamie steps aside."
As long as those basics are in place, Bozo's will be the place pulled-pork fans must visit at least once in a lifetime. Then they can dream about getting back.
Doug Warren can be reached by e-mail at d-warren@globe.com.
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