Confused by Lockhart Smokehouse, Oak Cliff

visited 6/18/11 about 7:30 pm

http://www.lockhartsmokehouse.com/

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I was excited about the prospect of Lockhart Smokehouse booking a local blues artist I enjoy and I was looking forward to heading over to give their Q another try.  Several other bloggers have been saying they've upped their game so it was definitely time for another go.

The Mrs rode along this time and we arrived around the 7:30 pm start time for the music and headed for the counter to order.  The nice lady told me they were out of brisket but still had shoulder, ribs, and rings which was more than I had hoped for at this late hour.  We got a half pound of clod, a couple of ribs, and a Kreuz jalapeno cheese ring and they were kind enough to throw in some extra burnt ends and two extra ribs.  Alright, a nice start!  Then things started getting weird.  My wife asks if I would like a fork.  As I turned to explain to her about "No Forks, No Sauce, No Kidding!" I see that she is holding two plastic forks.  Humna humna humna...   Then the nice lady at the counter explains that the forks are a special fundraiser and are available for a $1 donation to the Kessler School fund.  Well, ok, we'll take one for wifey, but I like my fingers greasey, thank you very much!  I wonder how much they could raise with sauce and plates?

We made our way around to the seating and I was a little surprised not to see the musician set up.  Hmmm.  After getting our beverages and digging in this is what we saw.

The shoulder clod was not bad.  Mostly salty roast beef tasting but fairly tender and moist.  The KCBS pull apart test showed it to be a bit undercooked and the fat was not quite fully rendered.  I tried chewing a few blackened bits of fat, just to see, and they chewed like rubber.  The best bits of clod were the little burnt end bits which had nice smoke flavor that was not overpowered by the salt rub.  I wish I'd had a pile of that. 

Their ribs have improved quite a bit since my first visit several months back.  We had two inside ribs and two ends, including a two bone rib tip.  The inside bones and tip were nice and tender and were also a bit salty.  If there was any smoke flavor to be had, it was overpowered by the salt.  However these were nice and tender, unlike the ribs I had on my last visit.  The big end was overcooked, dry, and a bit tough, but three nice bones out of 4 at 7:30 pm is pretty durned good in my book.  The jalapeno cheese link was awesome, as always.  It's hard to mess up what Kreuz does best, especially when all you have to do is warm it up a bit.

As the staff passed around the room to check on tables, I asked where the music was.  The lady told me they had been expecting a very large crowd so they cancelled the musician.  Hmmm.  Now live music was half the reason we drove 20 miles to get there.  Looking at the dining room, there were about 4 occupied tables and a few people seated at the bar.  Hmmm.   Looking out the door at their sandwich sign it still said "Live music Friday and Saturday nights 7:30".  Their website said the same. 

So I'm a bit confused by Lockhart Smokehouse.  No forks, except when there are, Live music on Friday and Saturday nights, except when there isn't.  As we headed out down Davis we passed by Luckie's Smokehouse.  They had a two piece band out on the patio and the joint was packed.  Hmmmm.