Kathleen Cei photo

Uncle Willie’s St. Louis pork ribs dinner, with a pulled pork sandwich and a side of coleslaw.

Uncle Willie's BBQ
403 Saw Mill Road, West Haven, 203-479-4017; 558 Chase Ave., Waterbury, 203-596-7677. Hours: Mon. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Tue.-Thu. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. All major CC. BYOB.

Like a page from the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives," Uncle Willie's BBQ is one of those small, unassuming, family-run eateries that simply excels at what they do. And in the case of Uncle Willie's, what they do is barbecue.

"That's the smoker over there," owner Bill Lombardi pointed out to me. "Hickory and oak wood. That's what gives the meat the flavor."

And flavor, this meat has in droves. From pulled pork to beef brisket to ribs aplenty, Uncle Willie's does it right. Using meat from local distributors ("the best we can find," Lombardi says), everything is slow-smoked on-site — three to five hours minimum for the ribs, and up to 22 hours for the brisket and pulled pork. Not to mention the cast iron pan-fried chicken (cooked to order; allow 30 minutes), mountains of collards, cheese grits, black-eyed peas and mac and cheese in rotation on a list of 11 different sides and over 15 varieties of homemade pies.

On a Sunday afternoon, I rolled up to Uncle Willie's West Haven location with two friends. After perusing the extensive menu, we settled on the "#1 Family BBQ Pack" — seven pieces of St. Louis ribs, a pound of pulled pork, half of a pit-smoked chicken, two large sides and four pieces of corn bread ($39.95).

Because it claimed it could "feed four people or two hogs," we figured it would be just right for three hungry college kids and placed our order.

Seated in the quaint dining room, entertained by the Southern-themed decorations and tortured by the delicious smell wafting from the smoker, we waited patiently.

And waited. As the menu warns, this is real Southern barbecue. It takes time. But when our mountain of meat arrived, we weren't disappointed.

"Melt-in-your-mouth" is too cliché a phrase to describe this barbecue — it's better than that. It's almost as if the meat begins to melt just in the presence of a hungry mouth. No wonder the tiny eatery has garnered so much recognition in its short history.

Uncle Willie's was born out of an extended road trip. Lombardi and his wife Diane traveled the South in the early '90s with their equipment rental business, a branch of their restaurant Lombardi's in Waterbury, and fell in love with true Southern barbecue. After returning to Connecticut, of which Lombardi is a life-long resident, the couple was disappointed at the lack of Southern cooking available up North. So they decided to bring it themselves.

"Being in the restaurant business, we knew how to cook," Lombardi says. The couple opened the original Uncle Willie's in Waterbury in 1995 — "just take-out and a few tables." The small barbecue joint received big attention, being named one of the top 10 best barbecues in America by Roadfood.com (the popular foodie site that highlights noteworthy local eateries "along the highways and back roads of America").

The newer West Haven location has been around since April, and is already gaining a significant fan base.

"Everybody started talking about our barbecue," Lombardi says, his modesty cut short as a customer from the next picnic table over interrupts.

"This is the best barbecue in the continental U.S.!" declares patron Mark Parisa, 23, in between bites of a fried chicken sandwich.

His dining buddy, 25-year-old Joe Gormley, chimes in, "I'm a first-timer and this is the best pulled pork sandwich I have ever had."

With a grin and a shake of his head, Lombardi admits this happens often.

"We get people coming up from Texas telling us our brisket is even better [than what they get in Texas]."

Lombardi's favorite part of his job is the customers. With his smoker, Lombardi is here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making sure everything is done right.

"Well, we do get holidays off," he jokes.

On my way out, Diane waves from the back, a bottle of bourbon in one hand. She's busy making her famous bourbon bread pudding, along with all the other sides ($2.99-$9.59) and desserts ($2.99-$4.99) from scratch.

Just over her shoulder, the trusty smoker silently creates the best barbecue this side of the Mason-Dixon line.