Munch knows all the tricks to getting on the scale at the doctor's office: wear shorts instead of pants, take off shoes, make sure there is nothing in your pockets and then, at the last minute when the nurse is about to read the numbers, exhale.

At least, that is what Munch did this week at the same office where six months ago Munch had been told that formerly fabulous physique was showing the effects of Munch's job.

Big Mama's House of Soul, 1603 Penn Ave., in the Strip District. 412-471-2910.

Munch mostly sticks to the four basic food groups: beer, wings, hot dogs and burgers, but after that appointment Munch started to exercise more and eat more salads without fries.

So this week, when a definite decrease registered on the scale, the same doc who mentioned Munch's girth, said nothing. No comment is a good comment, so Munch headed directly to Big Mama's House of Soul.

Munch had never met the big guy behind the counter but Munch immediately considered him a Friend of Munch with his warm welcome: "Hey there, I haven't seen you in, well, [pause for dramatic effect] never." Munch laughed as did Munch's sidekicks Spiffy Friend of Munch (SFOM) and Less Than Spiffy Friend of Munch (LTSFOM).

Spiffy ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($5). And, after going to a barbecue place and eating pulled pork, Spiffy noted it was messy to eat -- which is exactly as it should be. In fact, Spiffy loved the sandwich, saying the owner of every restaurant in town that serves pulled pork should eat one at Big Mama's, making Big Mama's the gold standard of pulled pork.

Less Than Spiffy did not comment on the messiness of his grilled barbecue chicken sandwich ($5), which he said had a couple of tough spots but was a portion that was especially large for a lunch.

Munch had the pork ribs, four bones ($7.50) which was as good as any and better than most. What we all enjoyed was the barbecue sauce. If Big Mama ever bottles that recipe, Munch is buying a bunch of jars.

For sides, we all split the mac and cheese and the potato salad ($2.50 each). The potato salad was the sort with mustard mixed in with the mayonnaise and it was fine. But the mac and cheese -- now that was to die for. It had a little sweetness in there and some crumbs from baking. It was so good that Munch only got a taste because, well, technically the mac and cheese was ordered by Spiffy, and Less Than liked it, too.

We all agreed, we could eat just that for lunch and probably will next time we go.

It seems that Big Mama's is getting spiffier, too. This week a new waiting room for takeout will open, so there will actually be a place to wait with air conditioning. Then, maybe next year, the building next door will be ready as a sit-down restaurant.

There's a reason for Big Munch to stay on that diet: to eat at Big Mama's again.