When the food magazine Saveur named RO’s Slaw "Savoriest Slaw in the South," they weren’t telling Gastonians anything new.
    Saveur, which calls itself the "ultimate food magazine," saluted its favorite people, places, things and ideas of the world of food and drink in its annual Saveur 100 special issue for January/February 2003.
    There, nestled in with "Most Authentic Pizza," "Most Complex Luncheon Meat" and "Best Religious Food Experience" is listed Gastonia’s own R.O.’s Slaw.
    "We got in 32 orders this past week just off that magazine article," said Mark Hoffman, the man in charge of marketing RO’s barbecue slaw. "Just yesterday I heard from a chef in Florida, so many chefs and hostesses take that magazine. The article can do nothing but good for us."
    RO’s Slaw is stocked in 220 stores, available in Gastonia at Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Bi-Lo, Winn Dixie, Kingsway and Turnaround, Hoffman said.
    "And we are progressing. Right across the street from our barbecue building we are building a 10,000-square-foot production facility. They are putting the roof on now, and we expect the building to be finished around mid-April.
"That facility will be completely automated. We’ll be able to make 90 to 120 pints a minute while still maintaining the same quality.
    And RO’s will be hitting the road.
    "In nine to 10 weeks," Hoffman said, "we will have a 24-foot promotional trailer rolling. It will contain a complete restaurant and will be going to food shows, car races, to promote RO’s Slaw," Hoffman said.
    While the beginnings of the famous slaw were modest, the fame of the ketchupmayonnaise mixture has spread and pleased Gastonians’ palates for more than 50 years.
    Robert Ozy Black put his wife Pearl’s tangy mixture on the menu when RO’s opened in 1946. His son, Loyde Black, runs the business,while Hoffman and Manda Hoffman Howe, Loyde Black’s nephew and niece, run RO’s Barbecue Distributing Co., LLC. Howe’s husband, Doug, is in charge of delivery.
    "This article in Saveur will help us to go nationwide," Hoffman predicts.
    The tribute reads:
    "RO’s Barbecue in Gastonia, North Carolina, serves up memorable sandwiches, but it’s the RO’s Slaw that’s truly habit-forming. Invented in 1947, this mayo-and-ketchupbased concoction, with a nice pepper and ginger kick, is far more saucy and interesting than traditional coleslaw. Spread it on meats. Dip shrimp into it. Or eat it solo with a bun the way locals do."
    This is the fifth year the magazine has named its 100 favorites. Editor-in-chief Colman Andrews said this year, the magazine seems to have chosen a number of gustatory delights that can be devoured pretty quickly.
    Andrews said Saveur realized it was worth remembering that sometimes great flavors reveal themselves at first bite, and even if you’re in a hurry, you can still enjoy what you eat.
    That’s why there’s a place among the top 100 for Barcelona bar food, Boston pizzeria fare, Hawaiian diner specialty and oysters to be savored at Maison Rousseau. The list even honors franchise Steak ‘n Shake as the best place for a fast burger and shake, as well as a one-of-akind hot dog joint called Flo’s in Cape Neddick, Maine.
    There are more elegant and time-consuming pleasures as Saveur treks around the world, taking readers from the diversely delicious street Roosevelt Avenue in New York City to vodka and caviar at Sheremetyevo in Moscow’s airport, and from a Thai temple food court in Los Angeles to a sprawling Portugal wine estate.
    And RO’s Slaw is right there with the best of them.
    Gazette Voices columnist Helen Turner has extolled the gastronomic delight of RO’s, writing about driving her ’49 Chevrolet with her teen friends to RO’s Barbecue for slaw burgers.
    "We would park and wait for boys to pull up beside us, then we would pretend not to notice them. We hoped to attract boys who could afford to buy us one of RO’s delicious barbecues," Turner wrote.
    Bill Williams, former editor of The Gazette and guest writer, has written about RO’s, along with his love of fresh tomatoes. He quoted Sue Mosier Summerall talking about Ashley Junior High’s All of Us Girls group: "We always have Sun Drop to drink, a quart of barbecue slaw from RO’s with toasted buns …"
    And Bo Peterson, former Gazette reporter, wrote about the Caldwells of Gastonia taking RO’s barbecue slaw to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
    While Saveur only recently discovered the knockout taste of RO’s Slaw, it’s been a tantalizing part of Gaston residents lives, and memories, for years.


Photos special to The Gazette RO’s Slaw is featured on page 73 of Saveur’s special issue of favorite foods, restaurants, recipes, people, places and things.


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