You pull into Patton Creek expecting a strip-mall experience — chain logos, identical storefronts, a parking lot designed for efficiency rather than pleasure. And then you smell Saw’s before you see it. That smoke is doing real work, low and slow, and it hits you somewhere around the Fresh Market end of the lot.
Saw’s BBQ has a few locations around greater Birmingham, and the Hoover outpost on Patton Creek Parkway gets lumped in with the rest of the suburban dining corridor out here. That’s underselling it. This location runs its own pits, sources its own meat, and the results on a good afternoon — say, a Thursday around noon when the pork has been going since before you woke up — are as good as anything coming out of the Avondale original.
The pulled pork sandwich is the thing to get your first time. It arrives on a soft bun, piled with meat that’s been smoked to the point where it shreds almost against its will, still holding enough fat to stay moist. Get the white sauce on the side and add it incrementally — it’s tangy and mayo-forward, a North Alabama style that’s polarizing until it isn’t. Order the smoked chicken if you’re with someone who wants a second opinion; the skin crisps up in a way that’s genuinely hard to pull off on a larger-volume operation. Skip the beef brisket unless it’s early in the week. It’s fine, but it’s not where Saw’s energy goes.
Sides are honest. The baked beans are smoky and sweet without crossing into dessert territory. The coleslaw is creamy and cold in the way coleslaw should be — a cooling contrast, not filler. The mac and cheese is the one side that gets inconsistent; on a busy Friday it can sit a little long. The banana pudding, though, is worth saving room for. Layers of vanilla wafers and pudding that have had time to soften together into something that tastes specifically like a church potluck, and that is entirely a compliment.
The room is casual — wood tables, some Saw’s merchandise on the walls, counter service. It’s loud at lunch but not uncomfortably so. Families do well here. So do solo diners who want to eat at the counter and not be bothered. You can get in and out in thirty minutes if you need to, or sit a while if you don’t.
Expect to spend somewhere around $12–16 per person for a sandwich or plate with two sides and a drink. It’s not cheap for what the room looks like, but the product justifies it. Weekend lunch is busy — a line out the door isn’t unusual on Saturday. Weekday lunch before noon is the move if you want the best pulled pork and a seat without waiting.
What you don’t expect from Patton Creek is a barbecue lunch that actually earns its reputation. Saw’s does, quietly, every week.
