Lee-Mo's Smokehouse, Yantis, Texas

Visited about 11 am, 6/22/11

This is a new joint near one of my fishing haunts that has been open a few months.  The building is old, but the BBQ joint is new.  I got there just as they turned on the "open" sign and opened the doors on a Wednesday.  Since they are closed Monday and Tuesday, I had high hopes of some great hot and fresh Q. 

The first disappointment is they do not offer ribs on their combination plate, or in any other fashion except on a rib plate or by the rack.  I have had this problem at a few other joints and I just don't get it.  Folks get a combo plate to sample everything.  Their combo plate included pulled pork, sausage, brisket, corn, and two sides.  No ribs, no chicken.  Hey, it's their joint and they can do it as they like, but I'd sure like to have an option where you can sample all the meat.  I suspect I am not alone in this regard.

On arrival the brisket certainly looked nice.  There was a burnt end and 3 inside slices with nice smoke rings.  The burnt end was truly marvelous.  It was cooked to perfection, had a nice smoke flavor, excellent tenderness and moistness, and the fat was rendered to silky smooth melt-in-your-mouth nirvana.  Unfortunately the rest of the slices were a little dry and a tad tougher.  If I didn't know better, I'd say the burnt end was from a fresh brisket and the other slices came from a warmer after some holding time.  The sausage was supermarket fare with no smoke flavor at all.  The pulled pork was moist and tender, but again zero smoke flavor.  There was no bark in the pulled pork and it needed some sauce.  Their sauce was very sweet and seemed to have a lot of honey in the base with a mix of mustard and tomato sauce.  It did help out the pulled pork but wasn't really my kind of sauce. 

For sides I got the house tater salad, beans, and corn.  The tater salad was the highlight with a nice fresh mayo base and onions.  I liked it.  It definitely didn't come out of a tub.  The pinto beans were average and the corn on the cob was hot and juicy, but a bit watery. 

I am still disappointed I could not try the ribs with a combo.  I plan to hit this joint another time, get a rib plate, and add on a quarter pound of brisket. 

I have put Yantis for the location as that is the closest town.  It is actually about 4 miles south on Texas 154, just north of the Lake Fork bridge on the west side of the road.

UPDATE
This joint is CLOSED and for sale as of early 2013