Alabama pit stops: 5 of the best gas station barbecue joints

Alabama excels at the gas station barbecue – a sub-genre of one of the few truly American cuisines – which is tailor-made for lovers of the open road
• Barbecue is serious stuff: tell us about your favourite place in the comments

Gas station barbecue is just what it says it is: homespun food, cooked yards from the petrol pumps, in small kitchens. Ribs, pulled pork and chicken wings are served on paper plates at simple table settings inside the garages, overlooking aisles stacked with engine oil, anti-freeze and rubber hoses. It is not surprising Alabama excels at this road-trip cuisine of convenience: the deep south’s Yellowhammer State reputedly has the most barbecue restaurants per capita of anywhere in the US.

Beth Mauch, the assistant manager, says the cooks use a “sop” with a house marinade to keep the meat moist

I am cooking green lima beans and I'll put okra with it. This is healthy eating. I don’t use salt and very little pepper

There's a table for diners next to the slushie machine and a selection of specialities including jumbo boiled peanuts