A new barbecue restaurant specializing in slow-cooked meats is now open at 1173 Louisiana Ave. Flying Pig BBQ is a casual, family-friendly restaurant specializing in slow-smoked meats including sweet tea-brined chicken, pulled pork, chopped beef and coffee-cured brisket, as well as a variety of house-made barbecue sauces and condiments including made-from-scratch salad dressings and pickles.

Flying Pig BBQ is operated by Carolyn Huggins Simmons, owner and chef, who is a well-known local caterer and chef. In 2015, Simmons won the Better Burger Project, a national cooking competition hosted by the James Beard Foundation. Simmons was one of six chefs from across the United States invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City as a result of winning the Better Burger Project competition.

We make everything from scratch, including our barbecue sauces, salad dressings and even our pickles," Simmons says. "I want to represent the entire South through having a variety of regional, authentic Southern barbecue sauces."

Those barbecue sauces include some varieties that can be difficult to find outside of their regions of origin, such as the mustardbased sauce known as "Carolina Gold" and the mayonnaise-based sauce known as "Alabama white sauce." Other specialties available include Simmons's signature Key lime pie, scratch-baked chocolate chip cookies made with candied pecans, and smoked chicken wings available without sauce or tossed in Buffalo or barbecue sauce. Catering is available.

Flying Pig BBQ offers indoor seating, as well as a patio area and a dog-friendly outdoor seating area where patrons with pets are welcome to dine. Hours of operation are 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Mondays and Tuesdays and 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays. For daily specials, see the restaurant's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FlyingPig- BBQShreveport, or call 216-5327.