Jabo's Bar-Be-Q

When Jabo Lawson found a permanent address for his once-mobile barbecue operation, he did a quick makeover, cramming overstuffed booths into the former home of a Heavenly Hams. Now blessed with an actual kitchen, he traded in his little outdoor barbecue pit -- the same type that masters in southern Texas and Louisiana use -- for a custom-built in-house smoker, where he can cook 700 pounds of meat at once. But Jabo's isn't just about the meat -- although everything from the fat, smoky ribs to the tender brisket and piquant hot links is wonderful. Lawson also makes about 125 sauces based on a family recipe from Shreveport, Louisiana, and he keeps six of them in rotation at all times, available at different levels of spiciness. As a bonus, each meal comes with a Utah sconut, a fried puff of dough painted with sticky honey butter.