Greater Ann Arbor has happily emerged from decades of near-drought on the barbecue front. The latest of a half-dozen recent arrivals, Ohio-based Old Carolina Barbecue Company, splashed into town in spring with mobile stands (at Mark’s Carts and sporting events) and a storefront in the Cranbrook Village parking lot. It takes a convenience-oriented approach–it’s neither food-fetishist or sports-bar-kinetic like other recent arrivals. And judging from the work clothes in line and trucks and vans out front, it’s quickly carved out a clientele of hungry tradesmen, along with families and others forgoing fast food for America’s hearty homegrown cuisine.

Roll down the window to savor the scent of the smokers as you circle the three-restaurant island tucked between Whole Foods and construction chaos on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. Waiting in line at the counter, we got right to the meat of the matter, scrolling past the wall menu’s list of value-priced sandwiches (under six bucks for pulled pork and only 79c more for a generous dollop of fresh and tangy coleslaw) to check out the combos. For $15-$20, you can sample various smoked meats and get two welcome sides. There are standouts in both categories, plus a disappointment or two.

Turkey isn’t on every barbecue menu, and I liked Old Carolina’s subtle smoking, which gave the thin-sliced breast meat flavor without drying it out. My sons favored the rich–actually kind of greasy–pulled pork. Ribs tasted like they exited the smoker early the first time we had them, but they separated more enticingly from the bone on a subsequent visit. Ribs here have a lightly spiced dry-rub crust, but you may want to head to the counter to sauce them up with one of four house-brand options. You’ll also want to experiment with the peppery, sweet, and mustard versions for other meats (including beef brisket and chicken) and sides like fries, oniony-battered hush puppies, skin-on garlic mashed potatoes–and heck, even the corn muffins.

My favorite of the ten sides doesn’t need more saucing. While I can’t verify the menu’s claim that these are “Simply the World’s Greatest Baked Beans,” they’re definitely well cooked and well flavored. A charismatic mix of big kidney and white beans baked into a thick burgundy-brown barbecue sauce, they kept me saying, “OK, just one more forkful.” Big meat chunks flavor the Country Green Beans, and the “4 Cheese Mac-n-Cheese” is creamy to the max.

I was disappointed by Old Carolina’s take on Brunswick Stew, possibly because I adore the version filled with corn and okra at Satchel’s BBQ across town on Washtenaw (tucked up, like this place, against a Whole Foods–coincidence, or geo-locating marketers cranking similar algorithms?). I thought Old Carolina’s stew went overboard on what tasted to me like canned tomatoes, but other family members liked it. I also scored a near miss on the fresh but mundane Carolina True Q salad, which comes topped with a smoked meat of your choice–mine was beef brisket. I’d try it with turkey next time, now that I know that salad comes slathered in dried cranberries. And I’d go back to the counter for the advertised cornbread croutons on top rather than accepting the cornbread muffin I got.

Along with the expected sweet tea, craft and mainstream beers are on tap at Old Carolina. Soft drinks include Cheerwine, a highly carbonated, cherry-ish concoction that’s a North Carolina tradition.

Cheerwine’s hard-to-define flavor presumably made the trip unaltered. I wouldn’t say the same for the ‘cue. I came away with the sense that Old Carolina’s menu began with one person’s genuine interest in the state’s food traditions, but a decade and the dictates of quick service have whittled away at the artisanal element.

Yet I love that there’s a franchise that celebrates this folksy food, and it does it better than Cracker Barrel. If Cracker Barrel is the Disneyland of Southern cooking, then Old Carolina is Rolling Hills Water Park–still a little forced, but making something good and fun more accessible. Those tradesmen aren’t trading down from the Roadhouse (or Satchel’s), they’re trading up from McDonald’s and Taco Bell.

That makes Old Carolina a low-key but welcome addition to our barbecue landscape. In tailgating season and beyond, its carryout convenience and patio tables give parking-lot picnicking a whole new dimension.

Old Carolina Barbecue Company

980 Eisenhower Parkway (Cranbrook Village)

389-7100 oldcarolina.com

Sandwiches $4.99-$7.99, salads $2.99-$8.49, meat combo platters $14.99-$19.99.

Sun.-Thurs. 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

Wheelchair accessible