I know, this review column usually sticks to the national chains, but man can’t survive on Big Macs, Whoppers and Baconators alone. I’m serious, man can’t survive on just burgers and fries.

So for only the fifth time in the 17-year history of this column (wow, that’s a lot of Mc-everything), I’m featuring a one-of-a-kind, independent, mom-and-pop joint where the food will knock you senseless.

Burns Original BBQ is located at 8307-1/2 Depriest St. in Houston, in an African-American community where “everything’s tight and everybody has your back,” according to Burns Original BBQ owner Cory Crawford.

Burns Original BBQ started in 1973, when Cory’s grandfather Roy Burns started selling barbecue from his backyard. He didn’t need a sign advertising his food, he just needed the wind to blow his smoke across the neighborhood.

How did Roy learn to cook?

“By having 10 kids,” laughs Cory. “Ten kids will teach you a lot of things.”

A year later, Roy took over a 500-square-foot house, about the size of a one-car garage, and hung a sign that’s still on the front porch: “Burns Original BBQ.”

It’s hard to call this place a restaurant. There’s no dining room. Just a counter, a cash register and a big family in the back — slow-smoking ribs, brisket, chicken and links, mixing potato salad and simmering beans. The “office” is a lawn chair under a tree in the backyard.

Burns Original BBQ is not easy to find. Not too many modern barbecue palaces have a “1/2” in the address. But seek, and you shall find the most delicious, most authentic Texas-style barbecue anywhere. Look for the red beach umbrella in the driveway, which may or may not be there that day. A safer bet is to look for the line of customers outside the front door.

In 2002, Anthony Bourdain and his Food Network show “A Cook’s Tour” stumbled on Burns Original BBQ. Bourdain had no reservations about calling this place “one of the tastiest secrets in America” and proclaiming that “this is some fine eating!” Bourdain also surmised that “a decent sneeze could level this place.”

Didn’t know that Bourdain was an expert in architectural safety, too. Safe to say, the Burns Original BBQ shack has withstood hurricanes and tropical storms. Bourdain should have such sturdy legs.

Today the restaurant is owned by Roy Burns’s son Steve and grandsons Cory and Carl. Steve does all the cooking. That’s him commanding the 8-by-16-foot smoker out back. He smokes with Texas post oak wood. He uses hand-me-down recipes from the original owner. Nothing, I mean nothing, has changed about this joint. It isn’t the land that time forgot; it’s the barbecue joint that time fondly remembers.

Cory Crawford is the manager. He is the first college graduate in the family, earning a degree in business from Sam Houston State University in 2005.

The other owner is Carl Crawford, who works the restaurant in wintertime, when he’s not playing left field for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But you’d never know it from picking up a to-go order here. Find me one other restaurant owned by a Major League Baseball player whose walls aren’t covered with jerseys and sports memorabilia. At Burns Original BBQ, the stars are ribs and brisket. Carl just happens to have a second job playing baseball.

The house specialty is ribs. A pork sparerib platter is $9.75 and comes with potato salad and beans. Just as Cory was describing the slow smoking process, the bones fell clean out of the half rack I was holding — as if on cue.

Best ribs I’ve ever had. And I’m a ribs guy.