Ellington

One of my favorite college professors, Lee Rackstraw of Booneville, once told me, "If a restaurant doesn't have enough respect for the art of smoking meat to advertise EITHER proper spelling of the word: Barbeque or Barbecue, then I don't bother to stop by and see if it's good or not. BBQ doesn't spell anything!" Well, Spooney's spells out the word BARBEQUE and does a respectable job of smoking of meats on the grill.

"Rib Doctor" Spooney Kenter has been cooking and moving his grill around for more than 15 years. He and his prized meats currently reside at 112 E. Johnson St. in downtown Greenwood. He is ideally located between two juke joints and just off the main drag of this handsome Delta village.

Greenwood is virtually an island in the fertile soil once known as the "Cotton Capital of The World," now home to the remarkable Viking Range Corp. "The Culinary Capital of America" could soon read the slogan on the welcome signs leading in and out of this quaint town, today struggling to redefine itself and make the transition from agriculture to manufacturing.

The only thing I remember about Greenwood from growing up in Mississippi was that kids I knew from the region always referred to getting "Greenwood drunk" to define a long night of drinking and driving—a bit of "Delta talk," I later learned.

THE FOOD
The menu is no-nonsense. Ribs, rib tips, hot wings, spaghetti and sides; homemade potato salad, baked beans and sliced white bread. Sodas available. Beer. Ribs and tips are the house favorites. The ribs are served three per order (with sides) and are tender, well trimmed with no fat or shine bone (they are reserved for the rib tips). The sauce is homemade and tangy with vinegar and a tomato base. Nothing flashy, just basic down-home sauce. The loaf bread is for sopping the remaining sauce or simply folding the ribs into a "rib sandwich" if that is your fancy.

THE JUKE BOX
Perhaps the signature feature of this simple but tidy establishment is the juke box. And it is superb. Johnnie Taylor, Tyrone Davis, Denise LaSalle, Stevie Wonder just to mention a few. You gotta love a place where there are only four tables and a few chairs that collectively take up less space than the juke box. The only thing lacking is Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe."

THE REAL DEAL
Call in and eat in. Take in the ambiance of this local cafe and its jovial and unassuming owner/operator, Spooney Kenter. Get change for a dollar and feed the juke box as you feed your-own-self a classic Mississippi Delta BARBEQUE dinner in the heart of these rich and saucy surroundings.

MORE ABOUT SPOONEY'S
Some of my friends have wondered about the existence of this mysterious eatery after calling several times only to get no answer. Why? Because Spooney posts exotic and strange "hours of operations" based on the neighborhood's habits. Open seven days a week, the "Rib Doctor" picks his hours to match his clientele: Monday, 11 a.m. till 2 p.m.; Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. till 6 p.m.; Friday,; 11 a.m. till 1a.m.; Saturday and Sunday, juke joint hours. Spooney's is always available to cater parties, receptions, reunions, corporate functions and, of course, funerals.