If you go
› Where: G’s Detroit Sausages, 611 E. M.L. King Blvd.› Phone: 423-803-2717.› Website: chattanoogasausages.com.› Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.› Price range: $3 turkey franks to $13 turkey rib plate.
Roasted turkey and dressing hits most tables during the holiday season, but if you ever want a change of pace, check out G's Detroit Sausages.
The biggest sign in this sandwich shop touts the turkey rib plate. Instead of gravy and dressing, this turkey is glazed with tangy sweet barbecue sauce and decked with sides of baked beans and coleslaw.
Owner William Green says the turkey ribs are one of the specialty meats that makes his eatery unique.
The plate is listed among several menu items at G's Detroit Sausages, including turkey franks, beef smoked sausages and kielbasa.
G's Detroit Sausages opened in August on M.L. King Boulevard, two years after Green opened G's Detroit Sausages at 3500 N. Hawthorne St. That store is only a meat store, not a place that prepares food.
Green didn't initially plan to open a sandwich shop, but every time he took his meat to a restaurant with ideas about how to prepare it, hardly any restaurant tried his suggestions. So Green opened the M.L. King shop and started preparing his suggestions himself.
A hanging sculpture of Louie Armstrong decorates the outside of G's Detroit Sausages. Green calls the space Satchmo Alley. He's had tailgate parties there where he brings his 60-inch flat-screen TV outside for the community to view football games. He wants to partner with churches to offer hot chocolate and outdoor movie nights for youth.
Green says he wants a family-friendly space and to be known for offering the best cuts of meat in town.
THE MENU
From the name, G's Detroit Sausages, I thought pork would be the main ingredient. Not so.
A jumbo all-beef hot dog ($4), beef Polish sausage ($8), beef smoked sausage ($4) are all on the menu. There's also beef red hot sausage ($4), turkey franks ($3) and, of course, the turkey rib plate ($13).
Sandwiches also include andouille ($8), kielbasa ($8) and hot frank ($7). Chili, slaw, onions and/or peppers can be added to sandwiches at no extra charge.
In addition to the turkey rib plate, Green offers a chopped jumbo all-beef hot dog plate ($10) and chopped hot frank plate ($12). The plates come with chili and slaw, with onions on request. Chips and drinks go for $2 each.
The cafe also serves jambalaya ($8), chili ($5), chicken and sausage gumbo ($10) and seafood gumbo ($11).
Green says his meats have no fillers, no cereal, no dye and nothing artificial.
THE FOOD
The turkey rib plate with baked beans and coleslaw was my choice. I was not disappointed.
The menu says it comes with only two turkey rib bones, but the meat on those bones filled the largest portion of the plate. It was thick, wide and juicy. One plate could make two servings.
The baked beans could stand alone as a meal. They were served with lots of hamburger meat and sauce. I used some of the sauce from the beans to put on my meat.
And then there was the coleslaw. Green calls it "Ms. Gladden's slaw," named for a family friend who impressed Green with her coleslaw years before he opened his cafe. He never forgot how good it tasted, and he asked her to be the coleslaw supplier for his restaurant. It's chopped super fine with just the right amount of mayonnaise.
After enjoying my lunch, I returned to the restaurant to talk about the sandwich shop. That's when Green hit me with what became my favorite dish.
The best seafood gumbo I've tasted in this decade lives at G's. I didn't eat it at the store. I took it back to my office and put it in the microwave before I tasted it. Even warm, the stew was so thick that I turned my cup sideways to show a co-worker how meaty it was. Nothing dropped from the cup. Sausage, shrimp - not the tiny kind, but regular-size shrimp - and chicken filled the bowl along with rice, peppers and other vegetables. No doubt about it, anybody who tries it will like it. I loved it.
THE SPACE
G's Detroit Sausages is a tiny carry-out cafe. There's room for only six chairs along the charcoal-gray-painted walls. Green has a couple of chairs and tables outside his shop, but not enough eating space to expect a seat when you eat there. But if you get a table, it can be nice sitting in front of Satchmo Alley listening to oldies from groups like Earth Wind & Fire and eating barbecue turkey ribs.
THE SERVICE
Most customers order food at the counter and leave. Green cooks it, and his sister-in-law, Kathy Green, puts it in a bag, hands it across the counter and rings it up. It doesn't take long.
I chose to eat at one of the two outdoor tables. It was near record-breaking hot that November Thursday, and the sun beamed on my face. Green offered to put up an umbrella around my table. But I didn't want to stop eating while he set it up, so I declined.
The food was really good, worth enduring heat and sun. And I got to enjoy the old-school tunes from Satchmo Alley while dining on my good turkey ribs.
THE VERDICT
Good food is at G's Detroit Sausages. The $16 I paid for my turkey ribs and Sprite is more than I usually pay for lunch. It was still good.
But hands down, G's Detroit Sausages has the best gumbo I can remember tasting, so on special occasions I'll buy it. And of course when you taste something that good you want other people to experience it, so I'll probably buy a bowl for a friend too. Yes, I will return. Next I want to try the turkey frank with chili, slaw and onions.
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or call 423-757-6431.