Red Barn BBQ,, Colleyville, Texas

Sampled 9/1/10 about 2:30 pm

This is another one of those places I have driven by many times, but never had an occasion to stop.  Well, I can cross it off my list.

The brisket was moist and tender but zero smoke flavor.  It definitely needed sauce.  The ribs were tender but a bit dry with no smoke flavor or discernible bark.  In fact, if I hadn't had a bone in my hand I would swear it tasted like pork tenderloin cooked in a crockpot.  Wait, even with a bone in my hand, that's what it tasted like!  I knew better than to order my usual sausage so I opted for the smoked chicken as my third meat.  False advertising!  There was no smoke flavor to be found and no discernible flavor from the rub.  It was very moist and tender chicken, it just tasted like it had been baked low and slow, not smoked.  The green beans were flavorless and the tater salad was average. 

They had a sweet and a mild sauce to choose from and I sampled both.  The sweet sauce seemed to have a lot of honey in it and the spicy sauce had a good kick, but had too much vinegar to my taste.  I ended up combining the two into a pretty decent sauce and it went well with my roast beef brisket.

Feedstore BBQ & More, Southlake, Texas

Visited 8/31/10 about 2:30 pm
http://www.feedstorebbq.com/ 

I passed this joint on the way to another appointment and a made a mental note of its location for a return visit.  I was the lone customer at this off hour and they were tidying up the extra room from a big lunch business.   I ordered up my usual 3 meat plate, brisket, ribs and sausage, with the sausage being the Feedstore premium link.  I should have asked if they made their jalapeno sausage and tried that, but I didn't.  Their fine grind premium link was pretty good, but had no smoke flavor.  It had more of a ham taste than any other sausage I have had.  The casing was just right and the flavor was definitely original.  I may have to return just to see about that jalapeno sausage.  The brisket was thinly sliced with scant evidence of a smoke ring and zero smoke flavor.  Moisture and tenderness were good, but it was pretty much just thinly sliced roast beef to my taste buds.  This is the kind of brisket that sauce is made for.  The ribs were probably the meat highlight.  Moisture and tenderness were right on. The meat pulled easily from the bone but wasn't falling off. There was a nice sweet bark that added just a bit of flavor, however there was no evidence of smoke.  I got one inside bone and a rib tip and the tip was just a tad chewy.  I enjoyed both ribs, though. 

They have 2 sauces available, a mild and a spicy.  The mild reminded me a lot of City Market in Luling, with a heavy mustard content, however it was not as heavy on the mustard as Luling.  I liked it better than City Market's sauce and it helped out the bland brisket considerably.    The spicy sauce was a deeper red and I seemed to detect some chipolte pepper content.  It was good and spicy.

The sides were both above average.  The tater salad was a nice creamy mustard base with bits of onions and sweet pickle sprinkled within.  The mac and cheese had an extra creamy base and was about as good as mac and cheese can get.  Bravo!

I did have to take a picture of a framed poster they had on the wall.  Sort of the dogs playing poker painting, only it is all Republicans!  I have no doubt Nixon has an ace up his sleeve and Teddy Roosevelt will shoot him when he finds out!

If I get back that way I will have to check out that jalapeno sausage.

Click on the photos below for a larger image

North Main BBQ, Euless

Visited 8/29/10 about 1:30 PM

http://www.northmainbbq.com/
There is a reason this is my very favorite local BBQ joint. Actually, there are a lot of reasons. It is 2 miles from my house. They are two times WORLD RIB CHAMPIONS. They have all you can eat for $12. Their ribs are fantastic. Their brisket, can be fantastic, but is somewhat inconsistent. I think I have the brisket thing figured out, though. Usually, there is little smoke flavor other than around the rim, so from now on, I'm just going to get them to cut burnt ends for me. That's where all the smoke flavor is. The brisket I had today (all from corners) was exceptional. Now I see how that guy from the food network put them on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" for their brisket. Now I get it. This wasn't the best brisket I ever ate, but now I can understand how it can rank.

The ribs here are just as good as ribs can get. That's all there is to it. I have eaten at dozens of other joints and will occasionally have ribs AS good, but I have never had any better, anywhere. Just look at the moisture and smoke ring in the pictures below. Every bite of those ribs produce a dribble of juice down your chin. Just magnificent.

The chicken today was excellent, too. Great moisture and smoke flavor with a nice spicy rub. Sides are average, but go well with their exceptional meat. They have fine spicy sauce, also, but I had no need of it today. My little plastic cup of sauce remained unused. The meat was just too wonderful to use sauce on.

Sadly, this joint is only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But I guess otherwise I would never go anywhere else. It is also BYOB, so if you want beer, just bring your cooler.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS BELOW FOR LARGER MOUTHWATERING VIEWS!

Late Night Snack

Ribs with NO sauce from Off the Bone BBQ on Lamar St in Dallas. Picked up about midnight. Man, they were good!

Vitek's BBQ, Waco, Texas

Sampled 8/21/10
visited about 2:45 pm

We whizzed past this spot on I-35 headed north through Waco, and being determined to disprove Scott's highway BBQ adage, I circled back for a taste. Despite what the sign says, they are durned sure open on Saturday. I opted for the 2 meat plate with brisket and hot link and was served up one of the prettiest boxes I have seen in awhile. This would score high on any judge's BBQ appearance card. Unfortunately, the "hot link" was neither spicy or heated. If anything it resembled a weak and sickly hot dog waiting to go into the pork and beans for beanie weenies. One taste and the rest was consigned to the circular file. The brisket was beautiful with a deep smoke ring, but curiously had little smoke flavor. However if you picked off the end bits there was some nice smoke at the tip of each piece. The brisket was tender with decent moisture but needed some sauce. Here was probably the high point of my Vitek's experience. They had a really thick sweet sauce with a nice punch of heat. One of the better sauces I have had in awhile. Once the dipping got going the brisket disappeared quickly. Scott got a sandwich and I think if we return I'll be going that direction. Sides were decent average mustardy tater salad and nice pintos. They had Dublin Dr Pepper, which is the mark of a class joint.

They are working on a major expansion to this place, probably due to their "famous gut pack", but I think the Q here has some potential. They are not dangerous yet, but could be. I think we'll be back again and I will have to try the ribs.

Scott maintained that since this place is on a side road, not the service road, his highway warning remains valid. The fact remains that it is clearly visible from the highway. So nyahhhh to Scott. :)

Best Quality Meats, Temple, Texas

Almost sampled 8/21/10

Damn, damn, damn! Why did we stop at that Cowboy BBQ joint? This place closed 10 minutes before we arrived. Next time!!

Miller's Smokehouse, Belton, Texas

tried to visit 8/21/10

Unfortunately closed on weekends. It's right down the street and around the corner from Schoepfs, but looks like a likely stop on a future trip.