quote:

What!? No lunch invite . . . damn!

No playing today, had to work.

Work, what a crappy excuse . . .

Regional Barbeque Trails

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...ls-america/84744370/

In case you had trouble with any of the links.

http://experience.usatoday.com...as-barbecue/4422683/

http://experience.usatoday.com...ecue-trail/16868639/

http://experience.usatoday.com...becue-trail/2650523/

http://experience.usatoday.com...e-bbq-trail/2772873/

Yesterday I made a quick trip down to Huntsville to pick up a rifle I bought. It would have been cheaper to ship it but, for years, I've had a well known Q joint in Huntsville on my "gotta try" list (it's the second one below) (from my location, Huntsville is kind of in a travel trip dead zone, not on the way to anywhere I frequent) so I went and had an early lunch at.....

#106) Bennie J's Smoke Pit, 621 Ninth St, Huntsville, Tx My overall rating 3.75/4.0 Closed Mondays, and open 11-3 most days. This joint has been open about 7 years, and opened about the time the following reviewed joint's rating started to tank. Whether the two are related or not, I can't say. I don't know enough about local history.

I arrived at basically noon and it was quite busy. Not long lines, but a steady stream of customers. It is located not too far from downtown Huntsville in a more or less residential area across from a cemetery. I noted the neighbors were dead quiet. Groan. It has an off street parking but it was full when I got there, and I had to sort of create a parking place perpendicular to the edge of the street. Probably legal, but just barely. I ordered my standard, pound of fatty end brisket, pound of ribs, and a 1/2 pound each of jalapeno and standard sausage. Brisket and Ribs were $12.25/pound and sausage was $9.75. The cost of fame (or the lack thereof) has not inflated prices here.

Both this joint and the following cook in what I would call, the old style East Texas, Old South standard. That is, they let the smoke do the work, very little if any rub or mop. I grew up on this and find it pleasing, but it is not up to the best of modern Q methods.

The brisket was easily cut with a plastic fork tender, good smoke on outside, but not really penetrating through the meat. Very good. 4.0/5

The ribs were the same, good deep smoke color, tender, and a very solid bite. 3.75/5.0

Sausage, as I found out later, is not made in house, but was quite good for Q sausage. Usually I am not as fond of the jalapeno, because it looks like they throw in some green stuff and call it jalapeno, but in this case it had a good jalapeno flavor but was not really hot. 4.25/5.0 For me, more heat would have been better but it was still good. Regular sausage was good as well, both not nearly as greasy as some other places, which I think is generally a plus.3.75/5.0

Sauce was slightly different than average, thin, tomato based, with enough vinegar in it to be interesting. Better than average, but not outstanding. 3.25/5.0

I ordered a piece of pecan pie, filling was quite sweet, covered in broken pecan pieces. Very good. 4.0/5/0

I might give this place a 4.0/5.0 but it took almost 30 minutes to get my order. Everyone was nice, and they obviously weren't dawdling around, but waiting that long for a rather simple order lowers their rating for me.

** Two Stars. Really a close call, but given that Huntsville is sort of off the beaten path, I'm not giving it 3 stars so as not to encourage people to go out of their way. But, well worthy of a visit if you're in the area.

#107) Church Barbecue, 2601 Montgomery Rd., Huntsville, Tx.It made the Top 50 in Texas Monthly's 2008 edition with a 4.5/5.0 but since then has fallen off the radar. Not as good as a Top 50 joint, but not as bad as some reviews would make it. My overall rating 3.75/5.0

This is next to a church, run by church members and pastor as a support vehicle for the church next door, the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church. The Q joint was started sometime in the late 70s or 80s (exact date is in dispute) and has been going ever since with various cooks after the original and his wife, passed on. It is sometimes referred to as the Church of the Holy Smoke Barbecue and is in a shack next to the church. VERY limited parking on the street, as in 2 spots. There is more behind the church, I suppose, but didn't ask. Very similar style to Bennie J's above. I ordered a pound of ribs, and a pound of fatty end brisket to go and a coke.

Coke consisted of cup of ice and a warm can of coke dug out of an ice chest. Perhaps charming to some, kind of chicken shit to me. At least the damn can should have been on ice.

Brisket was $11.49/lb and ribs were $12.00. Both quite reasonable.

Brisket was fine, basically a duplicate of Bennie J's above. 4.0/5.0

Same for ribs, but I give the ribs here a very slight edge to Bennie J's, and I do mean very slight. 4.0/5/0

Sauce was tomato based, with serious vinegar in it. Not bad but a bit much, even for me. Sauce was quite vinegary, not obnoxiously so to me, but many people might find it a bit overpowering. 2.25/5.0

I gave this place a 3.75/5.0 just like Bennie's, since I'm not trying to overly find tune the ratings, but I'd give this a minus and Bennie's a plus on that 3.75, mostly because the joint is so much more old school, meaning like a fishing shack with poor parking.

** Two Stars. For the same reasons as Bennie J's above. Of the two, I'd give a slight edge to Bennie's if you're in the area, but both should be tried if you're a Q fanatic. This is a REAL old style Southern Q joint with less amenities than most people expect these days.

Looks like the place to be the first week of September.

http://www.nuggetribcookoff.com/

Probably would be fun, if the casino losses didn't take the smile off the rib slavered faces. I've only been thru Sparks, but the weather would probably be nice.

My only real caveat is that Q cook offs don't really produce good Q ON AVERAGE. I've judged a few local ones and cooks have a real problem, they are cooking to try to impress a broad range of palates and they've only got a couple of small bites out of that particular kind of Q to do so. In fact, I believe I can honestly say, out of the dozens of ribs and, at different times, briskets that I have tasted, none of them are up to really good commercial Q quality IMO. I'm fairly sure at some of the larger contests, like KC or Memphis there are some really excellent products. Whether they are the winners or not is another question.

Just for an example, I ate at 17th Street Bar and Grill in Murphysboro, Ill., the home of the winningest Q cook ever, Mike Mills and, to my tastes, the Q there is easily surpassed by that of dozens of Texas Q joints.

PS: I'm guessing, but am not sure, that you can get in other than on the Sat and Mon dates where they are selling individual tickets for $75 each. Which, to me, seems kind of pricey, I know venue, crowds, contest, etc but that is still about 5 pounds of ribs at a good rib joint.

Otherwise you can buy a TABLE on the other dates for a mere $1600. Not stated is how big the table is, but I'd rather go to Vegas, win or lose gambling there and eat ribs back in Texas for that price. Just me, because I'm not the last of the big-time spenders.

I don't know anything about this one but it's closer (Waco), much cheaper, as in free (I think), and has enough ancillary contests that it might be fun. If you go a bit early, ask if you can be a judge in one of the categories (they are usually looking for judges in my experience). It's fun and usually in the shade. On Friday night, they have a salsa and a Margarita contest. I feel fairly confident in saying the Margarita contest won't lack for volunteers to judge.

http://www.coryellcreekcritters.org/

Will be in Seattle in two weeks, so where to get good meal and beer there? Not looking for "fancy dating restaurants" . . .

Jiri

Jiri:

You're really asking the question in the wrong thread. I haven't been to Seattle in many years (it's about 2200 miles from my home), so can't help you. Obviously I think Seattle would have many great seafood joints and I'd check out beer bars. Try tripadvisor.

I had to make a quick run to Dallas yesterday (Friday) to redirect more of my children's inheritance to one of my collections.

While there I met by Q tasting buddy at a place I had been wanting to try for a while, but the VERY limited hours had ruled that out until yesterday.....

#108)Cattleack Barbecue, 13698 Gamma Rd, Dallas, Tx. This joint has been open only since 2013 but has made a pretty big splash in the local Q scene, which is kind of amazing, considering what I would call very limited hours. 10:30 to 2 PM Thursday and Friday ONLY. My overall rating 4.25/5.00 and nearly would have been a 4.5 except for the exceptionally salty beef ribs.

Cattleack has just completed their expansion so there are plenty of picnic sized tables in the room next to the serving area. I understand seating was pretty tough until now.

I arrived at about 10:15, a bit ahead of my buddy, who was held up by a Fed Ex mix up, and was the 4th person in line. This joint is in a sort of mixed industrial/office area somewhat NW or the Galleria on 635 and you won't go by it accidentally unless you are really lost. They opened promptly at 10:30. By they time we ordered, and got to our table, the line was dozens of people long. This is exacerbated by their serving style. They have a cafeteria style line, where they serve one person at a time until he is through with his order and goes to the end to check out. The line stayed long the whole time we were there, snaking out of the serving room until it was next to us, and we were on at one of the more remote tables.

This joint usually has a weekly special, which has included in the past brisket pastrami, which I would really like to try. This week it was Akaushi Beef Brisket Burnt Ends and a separate special of Spicy Italian Sausage which we didn't try. Naturally along with plenty of other items, we had to try some of the akaushi. I guess the best way I could describe them is "interesting". For our tastes, they might have been extremely good, but they were coated in a sweet sauce, similar to teriyaki. This seems to be a style that comes from Kansas City. I was going to try 18th and Vine near downtown Dallas, which has burnt ends as a signature dish, but the above Q friend reports they are DOUSED in a very sweeet sauce, so 18th and Vine has sunk to very far down my "gotta go" list, just slightly above never. I'm not overly fond of this style of sweet on top of my Q so I'll rate them a 3.0/5.0.

Prices were reasonable for a city joint, Special above along with brisket was $18.99/lb. Pork ribs were $15.99/lb. Beef ribs were a relative bargain for beef ribs at $19.99/lb. The 3 types of sausage were $13.99/lb.

Brisket was very fine, great bark, flavor, very tender, but the texture was a bit more chewy than that of Pecan Lodge. Still I'll give them a 4.5/5.0.

Pork ribs were extremely good, better than Pecan Lodge, and I'll also give them a 4.75/5.0

Beef ribs might have been a very slight tad overcooked, but the main problem was the rub was just too damn salty and I like salty. Good, in spite of that, but reduced to a 3.5/5.0 because of it.

Sausage was quite good with 3 standards available, all made by Cattleack. Original, jalapeno with cheese, and Texas Spicy. I'll give them a 4.25/5, a 4.5/5 and a 3.75/5 respecitviely. Very fine for Q sausage in the first 2. My first bite of the Texas Spicy I hit a star anis (licorice flavored spice) which I don't favor in my flavor spectrum so I down graded it a bit for my taste. Still good though.

We tried a couple of sides, cheesy jalapeno grits which were damn fine eating. 4.75/5.0. And burnt end beans which were exceptional as well. 5.0/5.0.

Sauce was a quite interesting tomato based with some vinegar in it. I really liked it but the Q was good enough that I didn't use much. Probably if I had only had a beef rib, it would have helped cut the salt. 4.5/5.0

To me, one of the real downers about this place is their drink selling. They only sell bottled or canned drinks out of a commercial style cooler. No ice available. We got a couple of bottles of some brand (I forgot to note the brand, but it was decent, surprisingly) of unsweet tea. Duh, I never thought when I ordered tea, that a) it would be in a bottle and b) that there would be no way to sweeten it on the tables. They also have beer but I didn't pay much attention to brands since I was driving. I mean, iced tea is THE non-alcoholic DRINK of Texas, and making tea takes no real effort or expertise and could be served in plastic cups so there would be no dish washing involved. A major disappointment AFA I'm concerned.

All in all, a fine Q eating experience that could be better with a few small changes.

*** Three Stars. Well worth a lunchtime visit if you're in the area on a Thursday or Friday. Plan on treating it as a brunch and go early, as in before 10:30.

Yay! Another review. Man, I wish we had some good Q around here. Need to put on my deerstalker cap and do some Sherlock Holmesing ...

I haven't seen your report on Adam's Ribs in Salem. I take it you are not impressed?

I saw this review online of 50 best Q joints: http://www.msn.com/en-us/fooda...mailsignout#image=46

There are a number that Gato has reviewed on here.

I see a food truck in Columbus listed. I tend not to go into the city if I can avoid it so I doubt I will run across it.

Tom

Sorry Tom !
When I think of REAL BBQ, I do not think Rudy's OR Michigan, Ohio, Vermont , Massachusetts or granolaville.
I think you should really question you source.

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Killartist:
Sorry Tom !
When I think of REAL BBQ, I do not think Rudy's OR Michigan, Ohio, Vermont , Massachusetts or granolaville.
I think you should really question you source.

I was surprised to see some real Q joints listed. I was expecting the 'best' of all 50 states which is probably not the best of any state.

If I am going to have any good Q it is going to have to come out of my smoker.

Tom

I am surprised to actually be doing a review. I just learned there is a new BBQ joint in the town I often work in. I had already eaten my lunch so I didn't get as much to sample as I otherwise would have.

The place is Oak Hill Barbecue http://www.oakhillbarbecue.com/menu in Sunbury, OH.

A co-worker went and picked it up so I didn't get to see the place. The pitmaster served her and he sounds very nice.

I got the 1/2 lb brisket sandwich with fries. There was fat and lean brisket on the sandwich. It was sliced, not chopped. All slices had nice smoke ring. There was very little bark on the brisket I got. The meat was moist, but didn't have a lot of flavor, smoke or otherwise. It didn't look like much, if any rub was used. It was slightly tough, not bad. It looked like it was just sliced but I don't know for sure. It came with their Gold sauce. I am not a big sauce user but I did dip my sandwich a couple times. It was tomato based, not much vinegar flavor, slightly sweet, not spicy. There was a unique flavor I couldn't place. It was a good sauce I would use if I needed to. I would much rather have more flavor in the meat.

They have a Fat Man's sampler that comes with three meats and all the sides. They have a lot of sides. The pictures look good. But, I'm going for the meat.

They do sell meat by the pound. The price was pretty reasonable, brisket $15/lb, pulled chicken, pulled pork and rib tips were $13/lb. They did not have any sausage. They did have smoked sausage on their catering menu so that may change.

I will try a wider sample soon. I'll try to stop by in person and meet the pitmaster. It is nice to have an alternative to pizza and fast food!

Tom

Tom, what wood(s) is used for BBQ smoke in OH ?

I was at an outdoor jazz festival last weekend and there was a place selling brisket. I hadn't made any of my own in a while so I decided to try it. At $13, way expensive for a sandwich but it was a street fest, so...

It was terrible. Didn't even have a smoke ring, much less any smoke flavor. GF got a chicken sandwich that had some decent spicy BBQ sauce on it and some coleslaw but the brisket was the worst I've ever had.

Local hardwoods most commonly available are oak and hickory. There are a number of oak species with red oaks more common.

Last winter I was driving past a local orchard and they had a small sign up selling apple wood for smoking. I need to see what they have available.

Tom

If anyone is going to be down in the Brady, Texas area around the 2nd and 3rd of September stop by Richards Park for the "World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-off". It's been going on for about 45 years, but I never heard of it before. Doesn't sound like it's grown much over the years.

http://www.bradytx.com/pages/W...mpionshipGoatCookOff

I would like to hear a review.

I love cabrito, but it's opening weekend dove season. I might go, if, as usual, the doves all flee the county Aug 31. Sounds like a good time if you aren't a goat. I suppose old goats are safe. Never heard of it before. Thanks.

I have been in Brady for the Central Zone dove opener every year since 1971. I have attended the "Goat Off" several times. I have competed in the "Goat Pill Flip" but never placed. The Cook Off is fun event although cabrito is not on my list of favorites.
Done properly it's pretty good but if not it can be very greasy. It needs to cook for a very long time. The event has grown quite a bit over time and is well attended. It makes getting a room a bit of a problem, if you haven't got one now you are probably out of luck. When the 1st coincides with the weekend you need to book your room a year in advance. McCulloch County., of which Brady is the county seat, has in years past produced astonishing numbers of dove. The agriculture has changed however, from a grain area to cattle pasture and cotton fields. I hunt in the northern part of the county over sunflower. Usually no problem for our group to get our limits. I can hunt dove much closer to Houston but our Brady hunt has become great tradition.

Are you on a pay hunt?

I hunted in Coleman Cty, just north of Brady for a/b 10 yrs.
Had some VERY memorable hunts (Dove, Turkey, Deer and Ducks).
Labor Day weekend is a very Large time in that part of the world !

No.,wish I could invite you but I am a guest.
If you are interested in hunting in that area,
The little community closest to where I hunt is Lohn.
Check with Chamber of Commerce in Brady or Brownwood I'll stopping at Cooper's for some Q on the way up last day of August. Not world class but beats Vienna Sausage on the side of the roars.

Yes it is. Great people and nice cuuntry. Especially if an early cool front passes through.

Thanks. I really wasn't looking for an invite but for a reasonably priced dove hunt in the area. I don't mind paying, but since I've hunted Argentina many times, $300 or more for a day of dove hunting totaling 15 doves just doesn't strike me as a good use of my money. Depending on the weather, I can usually have a decent hunt on or around my place up here. However, it seems, without fail, the first cool front blows in with a shower a day or two before, and all but a handful of local doves remove to other areas. I was just thinking of getting in a dove hunt or two and visiting the goat Q on the same weekend.

I don't think the pay to play places have reached that price point.
I don;t know what it is but in years I've out there about half the time a front blows through with some rain in the last 2 days of August. We have managed even so to have good shooting. Two hunts is about all the little place we hunt on can stand before the pressure drives them out.
Actually the best shooting is in October.
If you can put it together let me know there are A couple of decent Q joints in Brady. Both have Cooper style pits. Mac's usually has some goat. We'll sit down and have a beer.

I don't think the pay to play places have reached that price point.
I don't know what it is but in all the years I've been out there about half the time a front blows through with some rain in the last 2 days of August. We have managed even so to have good shooting. Two hunts is about all the little place we hunt on can stand before the pressure drives them out.
Actually the best shooting is in October.
If you can put it together let me know there are a couple of decent Q joints in Brady. Both have Cooper style pits. Mac's usually has some goat. We'll sit down and have a beer.

Somewhat dated, but a related Brady Goat Q story from TMBBQ.com:

http://tmbbq.com/getting-your-goat/

This is an anti-best bbq joints post......went to a "bbq place" on cape cod this past weekend and I still can't get over what evidently passes for bbq. Now I'm no Gato-level Q expert but I know good Q and food in general. I'm sitting next to my good bud who is saying how great the ribs and brisket are and I'm drenching them in a combination of all 3 awful sauce offerings just to drown out the taste of lighter fluid.

And it was $26 for 3 strips of brisket and 4 little ribs. I guess they're lucky their business is mostly tourists and a few locals that must have no taste buds. To top it off, the worst band I've ever heard was playing easy listening songs in the corner. Wow....just wow.

Well, at least, name the offender.

Of course, to be fair, when I go to France, I don't order Mexican food. If I had the money to go to Cape Cod LIKE SOME PEOPLE I'd stick to seafood, but that's me. Some people expect to find a pearl in every oyster.

BTW, one of the first rules of cooking Q is NO LIGHTER FLUID, now you know why.

LOL....I caught so many damn fish this weekend I didn't feel like eating any (primarily because I was too damn tired to cook). Still shocks me they sell striper for $28 pound in the markets around here. No wonder there's so damn many poachers.

Name of the place is Billygoats BBQ. Maybe they just had a bad night but I think not. I don't plan on finding out either.

PS...Gato, you have enough money to buy cape cod from what I reckon.

Well, this isn't really a Q review, but it's sort of close and a dish that is dear to the hearts of many Texans......CHICKEN FRIED STEAK!!

I had to go to Center Point, Tx yesterday to pick up a canoe I bought and it made for a long day....nearly a 1000 miles round trip. Left just before 7 AM and rolled back home just before 12.

At any rate, not to waste a chance to try a new place, I took the supposed shortest but slower route by Strawn, Texas.

Strawn is a community about 4 mi N of I-20, about 75 mi W of Ft. Worth. Be aware that as I drove into town, the speed limit drops, and there was a local yokel sitting there. Luckily, as a Texan, I am well aware of the small towns propensity to raise revenue off passers thru, so I usually stick pretty close to posted limit. This time I was over, but apparently the fine amount for the small amount over wasn't worth the effort to stop me, I suppose. Or, maybe he was asleep.

With no insult to the fine citizens of Strawn, about the only claim to fame it has at this time is Mary's Cafe, 119 Grant Ave., Strawn, Tx, which is right on 16, the hwy in from I-20, just S of downtown Strawn, all 2 square blocks of it.

Mary's is often mentioned as having the finest chicken fried steak in Texas and, since like any Texan, that is a dish near and dear to my heart (not to mention arteries), I have been looking forward to visiting Mary's for a while.

Got there about 11:30 and there was a fair, but not large set of customers inside, to be joined by more as I ate. They have beer, etc but since I had miles and miles to go before I slept, I ordered Iced Tea. Consulted with waitress (very cute high school aged girl) and asked whether I should get the small, medium, or large CFS at $11.50, $15.50, and $17.50. She said small was about size of dinner ticket, that is 6x4 or so, etc. I, in a weak momemt of sanity, decided I'd only order the medium, but then as I was ordering the sides, changed that to a large. "WTH," I thought, "it's only $2 more." So I added a salad and a baked potato to it, along with the two pieces of Texas Toast.

I'd really like to say it was wonderful, but it wasn't. The breading was not crispy, which is the style I like, there was no real spice flavor, including salt in the breading or in the gravy, which came in a soup bowl full of white gravy. They put it in a soup bowl because if they put it on the CFS, if the customer wanted it that way, they'd have to serve it over a garbage can to catch the run off.

This pic is off the net and this CFS is not as large as what I was served, this may be a medium, or maybe I got a larger sample, but you get the idea.





I mean, GINORMOUS, just begins to describe the platter full of CFS I received. It was substantially large than the 9x11 magazine I was reading. I wish I'd taken a picture, but didn't have a camera and have forgotten how to use the pic thingy in my antique flip cell phone. I didn't have a tape, but I'd put the 4 Large pieces of CFS on my plate as being about 12 x 15 inches. Not to mention the very large, but not giant baked potato. The salad was disappointing, slightly wilted lettuce, I took a bite and decided I had enough to handle without eating poor rabbit food. Without exaggeration, I feel certain that a family of five, with normal appetites could get along just fine on one Large CFS with maybe a spare set of fries.

Steak was dead tender, well cooked, and some people might think it is wonderful. It was not crispy and not well spiced enough AFAI am concerned, but maybe they are used to Yankees stopping by. I'd certainly go back but all in all I give it 3 1/2 stars and can say, without doubt, for me, it ain't the best CFS in Texas, but the search is the object, n'est pas?

OTOH, if you're driving W on I-20, take your camera and order the large CFS. It is worth the stop.

They also supposedly have a huge and very good hamburger, but I wasn't looking around and can't comment on that, but, judging by the CFS, you'd better be hungry if you order one.

BTW, 16 running S from I-20 to Kerrville is a really pretty drive.

Fat Cat,

You could start another thread that could grow to 23 pages, as there are many great places with CFS in Texas. Wow, what a great meal.

I'm not going to actively pursue "the best" CFS, but if you want to start another thread on it, I'll be glad to join in and you are welcome to copy the above to add to it. Note: Since I ate at another fine CFS rest last Fri. I changed my mind and will open a CFS thread. Thanks for the idea.

Any suggestions for potential "The Best CFS" are always welcome.

I ate at a place (name long forgotten)many years ago in Stephenville which advertised "the best CFS in the world" and I think it was. However, some years later I went by there and it had changed hands or whatever and the CFS, while still decent, wasn't up to the old claim.

This is related to nothing but the CFS story about Stephenville reminded me of it.

The reason I ate at the unnamed CFS restaurant to start with was that I was attending a trap shoot at the Stephenville gun club, run by a sort of irrascible sort named (I think, from memory, which was never good for names)George.

At any rate, a friend of mine's son, then about 19 or so wanted to go along and shoot. I was about 35. We got up early drove over, signed up, and went to a cheap motel to take an afternoon nap. Roughly 2 PM. I laid down and the son said he was going to take a bath. I went to sleep and woke up around 5. No friend's son on the other bed, and the water is still running. I jumped up, banged on bathroom door, hollering to see if he was OK? I thought he'd drowned or fallen and hit his head. He groggily answered that he was fine, had fallen asleep in the bathtub. Scared the crap out of me.

At any rate, I told the story to his Dad when we got back home and he said (he was as country as you could get), "Oh, he probably jacked off and fell asleep. He's done it so often by now that he gets a hard on when he hears water running." I fell out.

Just ate at Bill's BBQ in Kerrville, TX.

Excellent - had the brisket and ribs. Both were perfectly cooked and generously served.

BBQ is so much better in TX than Florida. Brisket is also cut man size with nice thick slices and BBQ is served warm.

Mike