Fat Matt's Rib Shack

A few words to describe Baby Back Ribs are, delicious, amazing, messy, and tedious. The first two make me want to have them all the time, the second two remind me to steer clear of them. I've tried all kinds of them, from all different kinds of places, and even made my own, but none compare to the deliciousness that is Fat Matt's Rib Shack of Atlanta, GA.

Fat Matt's Rib Shack 1811 Piedmont Ave Ne Atlanta GA
404-607-1622

I mean come on, this place is so good its been featured on both Tasty Travels AND $40 a day! I found it through an ex boyfriend who raved about their tender, fall of the bone, ribs and I just had to try them for myself.

Brian and I showed up for lunch for some white bread, ribs and sweet tea.

Sweet Tea with the "Good Ice"

They seriously have some of the best sweet tea in Atlanta. It's pretty damn good, not too sweet, and nicely chilled, not to mention they have the best ice ever. My sister and I call this kind of tiny crushed ice the "Good Ice" and we know which place serves it and which doesn't. I'm kind of an ice fiend.

We ordered a full slab with extra bread, knowing there would be more than enough for leftovers the next day, or for some midnight snacking, and a side of mac & cheese. Their mac & cheese was very interesting, slightly spicy with a kick. We asked, of course what the secret ingredient was, and they said plain ol' southern hot sauce. We actually made a batch at home later in the week and added some and it tasted amazing.

Full Slab of Matt's famous ribs and a side of mac & cheese.

The meat on these bones is sooo tender that it falls off almost completely with just a little help. I was told once that they first deep fry their ribs first to make them tender and help the fat render off and then they grill them. If that's true it makes sence. They have some of the best BBQ sauce I've ever tasted so I grabbed a bottle to go for $4.50. I have yet to use it yet.

Brian pulling the meat clean off the
bone with the help of only a fork.

My favorite way to eat Fat Matt's ribs, is to take the meat of the bone, and pile it up on some white bread, cover in sauce and eat like a sandwich. Talk about some comfort food. They actually have a "rib sandwich" here that you can get. I got it once expecting this, but instead got 3 ribs on 2 slices of bread. It was more than enough to make a rib sandwich, but you still had to get your hands dirty.

My famous "Berta's Rib Sandwich".

Sometimes they have live blues in the tiny restaurant. (Usually at night, but we were there for lunch) We got lucky while we were there these 2 guys played about a 30 minute set. It was actually really awesome, and made Brian's first experience at Fat Matt's extra special.

Live Blues.

In the end we only got around to maybe 3 ribs each, but as you can see those bones were clean.

Rib bone's picked clean.