"The Little Dooey" is a barbecue staple on the Mississippi State campus in Starkville, Mississippi.

 Justin Spears, Arizona Daily Star

STARKVILLE, Miss. β€” SEC country is just β€” for lack for a better word β€” unique.

It's not often the Arizona Wildcats trek to the South for football games, let alone schedule Southeastern Conference football opponents. Before Saturday's road-opening showdown against Mississippi State at Davis Wade Stadium, Arizona had only played eight contests against SEC opponents.

The Friday night before Arizona-MSU, Bulldogs director of photography Michael Mattina, who formerly worked at the UA, provided the Star with a golf cart tour of the MSU campus. Now that's Southern hospitality, man.

It included an inside look of Dudy Noble Field, also known as the "The Dude" β€” Mississippi State's monstrous baseball stadium, which set an NCAA attendance on-campus record with 16,423 through the gate for a game against Ole Miss this past season.Β 

Folks in Mississippi are passionate about the Bulldogs. Some of them are so impassioned they find it worthwhile to snort Fireball, a cinnamon-flavored whiskey, at local bars. That is not a typo.

Bulldog statues are perched in front of neighboring houses, businesses, restaurants, road medians β€” everywhere. Since Starkville's population is nearly 25,000 (not including MSU students), most of the Bulldogs' fan base travels anywhere from 2-5 hours to attend home games.

Besides having cowbell-rattling, diehard supporters, Mississippi State also has a few locally-owned food gems near its Starkville campus. Among them: Two Brothers Smoked Meats, Bulldog Burger, Harveys and Restaurant Tyler.Β 

In honor of our colleagues at This is Tucson, the Star is trying something new this season: We're exploring every town the Wildcats are visiting this college football season and reviewing staple restaurants. But since we're not in Tucson, and "we're not in Tucson anymore, or "This isn't Tucson" didn't roll of the tongue like we wanted, Star colleague and fellow foodie Edward Celaya gets credit for coining the "This Ain't Tucson" moniker.

Without further ado, here's our first food review of the college football season:Β 

Restaurant: The Little Dooey

Food:Β Barbecue

The rundown:Β After Berry Wood and his wife, Margaret Ann Wood, held multiple barbecue cookouts in Starkville, friends encouraged them to open up "The Little Dooey" in 1985. The restaurant is an old home that was formerly owned by Starkville's fire chief and has been expanded over the years, but it still has an intimate setting akin to Tucson's "Mi Nidito." Notable visitors at The Little Dooey include celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, former Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne (now with SEC and national power Alabama) and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Tim Tebow, among others.Β 

The order:Β Cheesy piggy (pulled pork sandwich with queso and barbecue sauce), fried okra, fried crawfish tails and a sweet tea.Β 

The final verdict:Β Maybe it's because us Tucsonans are so accustomed to spicy foods, but the queso needed just a little bit more kick to it. However, it's one of the best barbecue sandwiches I've ever had. The bread wasn't dry and it was somewhere between a Hawaiian sweet roll and a seedless hamburger bun. Their house-made barbecue sauce complemented the queso well. Since I've never had fried okra or fried crawfish tails, I don't have anything to compare it to. The fried okra was better than any fried zucchini I've had at county fairs. 8.2/10.Β 

Bonus: Bully's Premium Ice Cream

Mississippi State has its own branded ice cream, "Bully's Premium Ice Cream," which is sold at Mafes Sales Store near Davis Wade Stadium. Mafes also sells MSU-branded cheese, honey and jelly.

Bully's has 16 different flavors, including Starkville favorite Muscadine Ripple, which is made with muscadine grapes that are grown and harvested at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station. According to MSUCheese.com, it takes 150 gallons of muscadine juice to produce a year’s worth of Muscadine Ripple. 

The final verdict: ConsumingΒ dairy in the Mississippi humidity wasn't the wisest decision, but hey, when in Rome β€” err, Starkville. 9/10.Β 

Games at Davis Wade Stadium, home of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, get rowdy from the thousands of cowbells rattling from MSU fans. The Arizona Wildcats are preparing for the noise factor in Starkville by piping in cowbell noise during their practices. Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact Justin Spears, the Star's Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports