When my husband called me at work last Valentine's Day with an invitation to meet him for lunch, he made it clear that afternoon delight was in the cards. Again. So what if it came (for him) in the form of a Pecos pork sandwich spiked with a hot link, slathered with "medium"-heat barbecue sauce and stuffed in an onion-speckled bun? I was more than happy to join in, as usual, with my own lusty luncheon: a roll loaded with tender slabs of alder-smoked beef brisket, sided with baked beans presented in a Styrofoam cup.

Laugh all you want, but when it comes to these gut-busting sandwiches, our love is here to stay. At this decades-old picnic-bench paradise we order at the window, stuff ourselves silly and always leave with a grin. Ever the romantic, my man has been known to keep silverware and real plates in his rig — lest we're forced to rely on pathetic plastic utensils and the paper lunch sacks that double as "tablecloths" when ripped along the folds and flattened.

At Pecos Pit BBQ, owner Debra Wise stands ready to receive the clamoring crowds that line up in front of the take-out window at lunchtime.

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