Sammie's Bar-B-Q, Fort Worth

Sampled 12/18/10 about noon

http://www.sammiesbbq.com/

One of my racquetball buddies finally graduated from college this weekend and he wanted to have a get-together with some family and friends at his favorite BBQ joint in Fort Worth.  How could I say no to that?  I checked with the BBQ snob and he thought the place was pretty average so I didn't expect too much.  As usual the snob was on the mark.

This place has sit down service in the dining room and a nice little lady came and took our orders and delivered them from the kitchen.  I ordered a 3 meat plate of ribs, brisket, and chicken along with their hand cut fries and onion rings which ran me just over $17.  The brisket was slightly undercooked, a little firm, and despite a decent smoke ring was devoid of smoke flavor.  Sort of the usual sliced roast beef brisket we get up here in north Texas.  The ribs were a bit chewy and seemed to suffer a bit from holding time.  Several folks at the table commented on this and said the ribs were not as good as usual.  A couple of us suspected the first few racks may have been left over from Friday.  One lady said her set was moist and tender so she must have gotten the good rack.  My three ribs were slightly dry and chewy, but not terribly so.  Again, no discernible smoke flavor and no flavor added from bark or rub.  Now I might have been just a bit biased since I had eaten most of a rack at North Main the day before, but these ribs were nowhere near the league of the ribs in Euless.  The chicken was the meat highlight for me and the nicely smoked quarter had some decent smoke flavor and was very tender.  It was just a tad dry, but it certainly would have ranked in the IBCA contest I judged awhile back.  For sides I got their handcut fries and onion rings, on the recommendation of my buddy, and I was pleased with their quality.  Both were excellent and I can see why they are some of his favorites.  I don't usually order fried to go with my BBQ, but I think I would revisit this place just to eat those fries and onion rings.  They were top notch.  The sauce was a thin vinegar base with little taste to it except the vinegar. 

Overall this struck me as an average joint, good for a quick friendly meal.  It is also the only BBQ joint where I have ever seen a mounted flounder on the wall!  Usually the critters on the walls of a BBQ joint have more hair and horns.