Fat Matt's Rib Shack   

Even if you miss the tiny stage set up in one corner of this shoe-box shaped barbecue shack, the framed bluesmen on the wall give it away. At Fat Matt's Rib Shack, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers look down at the long tables in this small venue as if they'd love to join you at the table. Fat Matt's has got the basics down here: chopped pork, ribs or birds, slab, half-slab or sandwich, and quarter-slab/quarter-bird combos, with sides of rum baked beans, Brunswick stew, roasted peanuts and slaw. That's it, and that's all you'll need. With pitchers or glasses of beer, of course. But it's the live blues that elevate this nondescript slab of brick on Piedmont Road to a true must-hear eatery. Things get started every night around 8PM, with musicians gathered under the black-and-blue mural at one end of the building. Get there early, or you may have to listen from your seat on one of the wooden booths outside. And be warned that parking is limited. -- Edna McCown