Big Barn BBQ, North Richland Hills, Texas

visited May 29th, 2010 around 7 pm

I'm playing catch-up with this review. It's been a few months since I have eaten here, but I did and I shot some pix so here it goes from memory (back-posted).

The main reason we went over to this place on a weekend (when North Main was open) was to see a band we love. The BBQ was pretty average but the band more than made up for it.

First off, they were packed. Their lot was full but we had no problem finding a spot just down the street and it was a short walk up to the joint. Inside, the line was not too long, but I think it was slower than any other cafeteria-style line I have ever been in. It must have taken us 20 minutes to get our order in, despite the fact there must have been 10 folks working behind the counter. I don't know what it was, they were just real slow. Our disappointment began before we even reached the counter. A sign at the trays told us they had no ribs or chicken due to "pit malfunction". We were told some "might" be ready between 7:30 and 8, but we were not prepared to wait as the band we had come to see was about to start. I settled for the 2 meat plate with brisket and jalapeno cheese sausage and ended up with mac and cheese and tater salad as sides. There was zero smoke flavor in the brisket and the sides were average. The brisket was moist and tender, but it could just as well have been roast beef. The sausage was much better. Nowhere near Kreuz-worthy, but definitely a cut above most sausage in DFW. Overall, I'd just call it an average BBQ meal in an above average setting.

The setting was outside on their patio, under some big trees and in front of a nice small stage. We had table service re-filling our teas and beers while listening to the Christian Dozzler band play some blues. I would definitely go back, but only if there was a band I wanted to see. I don't think their Q would be worth a special trip, especially on weekends when I can get better just down the street.

Home ribs and chicken

5/15/10

Well my Mrs got around to practicing on smoking ribs and chicken today and, as usual, I sure did enjoy snacking on the experiments. Her chicken was as good or better than any smoked chicken I have ever had. Perfectly tender, moist, and with deep deep smoke flavor throughout. She did boneless skinless breasts today and I wouldn't change a thing. The crispy bits were beyond awesome. I think chicken is one of those things that suffers most from holding time so getting them hot off the smoker certainly helped. However I think it was her secret marinade and perfect cooking time that sent these birds over the moon.

The spare ribs were a bit more experimental. Before cooking we actually cut the slab in half, down the middle, so she could try some different techniques and cooking time. We left the membrane on and smoked the whole thing. She was convinced when the chicken came off that the ribs were "done". I told her they needed more time for the low and slow to work it's magic. We ended up wrapping both halves in foil, smoking one more hour, then pulled one of the half-racks. The smoke and flavor were definitely on target, however they weren't near tender enough. We left the second half on for a couple of additional hours and they came out close to perfect. Still, just a tad on the chewy side, but way better than the first half. North Main BBQ doesn't have anything to fear from my Mrs just yet, but given a few more shots she's going to be in their neighborhood.

The smoke this time was charcoal fired with chunks of store bought hickory, supplemented with pecan and oak from our yard and fired in a bullet smoker.

Click on the photos below for a larger photo

Charby's BBQ and Burgers, Hurst, Texas

Visited 5/11/10 about 1:30 pm

I've seen this place getting ready to open over the last month or so after a Mexican place moved out. It's also the site of a former BBQ joint, Ron's, that I never ate at. They finally opened last Monday but I thought I'd give them a few days to get up and running before stopping by.

Inside it is a nice sit down style restaurant with table service. I ordered the 3 meat plate with sides of Charby beans and tater salad. The brisket was alternately tasty and trying. The outside near the smoke ring had a very nice smoke flavor, but inside it was straight roast beef. It didn't help that it was served cold, no evidence of having been kept in a warmer at all. It was not a tough chew, but it did require a knife to cut. Out of 3 slices of briskets I think I had 3 really nice bites. The ribs were much better. Not much smoke flavor to them, but they were piping hot and very tender. No real bark to speak of but the flavor of the pork came through nicely. I wish I had more than 2 of them to sample. The sausage was standard Ekrich style, sliced thin as pepperoni. Honestly, I don't know why I keep trying sausage around DFW. It seems to be a waste of time up here. The Charby beans were very nice baked beans with little bits of smoked meat in them. I never could quite discern if it was bacon, brisket, or ham, but the beans were excellent. Reminded me a lot of Shak beans from the Baby Back Shak in Dallas. The tater salad had a nice mustard flavor and had a mix of smooth and chunk potatoes. Better than average, I thought. Their BBQ sauce was an interesting mix of tangy and sweet, not really to my taste, but it did help out some of the roast beef pieces.

For dessert I had a small piece of chocolate pie. Really small. About one and a half bites. Apparently they had pre-cut little pieces of pie to go with their daily lunch special and that's all the chocolate pie they had. At first, the little lady had brought me a HUGE piece of chocolate cake until I mentioned I had wanted pie. I may have to try that cake next time. The pie was so-so.

I think the brisket here has potential, the ribs are pretty good, and the baked beans are really nice. I may stop by here again in a few more weeks and try them again. Danny D's is right around the corner from this place and that won't help their business.

BBQ Sauce Ice Cream!!!

Yes, here it is! Made by my buddy Scott from some Dr Pepper BBQ sauce. It was actually pretty good. A little bit of tang, a little bit of sweetness. I've challenged him to do smoked brisket ice cream next, but I think he's chicken. :)

Family Restaurant and BBQ, Quitman, Texas

visited 4/26/10 about 4 pm

On a recent trip back to Lake Fork I noticed that Family BBQ had closed down. My fishing guide told me they had re-opened south of town but he was not sure where. On my trip back to DFW I saw their sign on Highway 37 just south of town and made a mental note to try them again in their new location.

Usually, restaurant/BBQ combinations are disappointing on the BBQ side. However since these were the same folks who had a good stand alone BBQ joint previously, I suspected it would still be pretty good. This is now a sit-down restaurant as opposed to the cafeteria styled BBQ joint they previously had. They now have a full menu with many items besides Q, a lunch buffet, and are even open for breakfast. Of course, I went straight for the BBQ.

I was the only customer in the place and ordered a 2 meat plate with brisket and ribs. Sausage had been disappointing on previous trips at their other place so I didn't bother with it this time. The ribs were OK, but suffered a bit from some holding time. Not unexpected at a 4 pm visit. The bark was a little chewy in places and I only noticed sweet coating on one bite out of my three ribs. The inside was very tender but had no discernible smoke flavor. The brisket was much much better and I was happy with the nice sized serving, a half pound or so. Plastic fork tender, perfect moisture, well rendered fat that was good enough to eat (and I did), and deep smoke flavor throughout the meat. Perfect brisket. Absolutely perfect. I also enjoyed their baked beans and potato salad, though neither would win big rave-ups. The tater salad had a nice mustard tang with small pieces of onion and was of the chunky variety. The meal also came with Texas toast which is a nice touch.

The nice little lady who served me said their smoker had taken a hit during the recent storms and she showed me some pictures of a tree which had fallen on it. Apparently it is still in good working order, based on that brisket. She also brought me a small piece of cake, on the house. Ya got to like that! I left a full and happy man, but I also picked up a pound of sliced brisket to go. That made for some dynamite sandwiches after fishing the next few days. My dinner was about $11 and the pound of sliced brisket was $9.95.

Now I don't think this place would be worth a long drive just for the BBQ, but if you are in the neighborhood it is well worth a stop. It's in the same category as Mr. B's in Grand Saline, however Family is also open Sunday 6 am to 3 pm and Mr. B's is closed on Sundays.

One word about the plate photo below. I wish I had moved that big bowl of baked beans so you could see that big pile of brisket, but I guess I was too ready to dig in to be thinking straight. Just take my word on it, it was a big pile and it was delicious! Click on the photo for a larger image.

UPDATE: As of July 2010 this place is closed due to fire. Hopefully they will reopen here or elsewhere.

Is it just me?

Is it just me or is this just wrong?

rocksbarbque.com/

My wife's nephew sent me an e-mail telling me he's going to get one of those things for his 2 barrel smoker. His plan is to control and monitor his meat from work via his blackberry. It's a special little fan with LEDs, temperature gauges, and a built in web page server so you can monitor your BBQ remotely. It all just seems so CALIFORNIA. Like Nancy Pelosi's idea of how to BBQ. Does your smoker really need an IP address??? I'm sorry, but I think you have to stand there, in the smoke, monitoring your fire, IN PERSON, preferably while drinking beer, for it to be a real barbecue. Barbecue is NOT something you are supposed to do by Twitter. At least that's my opinion. What do you think?

Pickle Parkway to paradise

I ran out of Kreuz jalapeno cheese sausage last week so it was just a matter of time before I had to make a sausage run to Lockhart. I headed down Wednesday, in a steady rain, which continued all the way to Lockhart. This was my first time to use the new toll road 130, the Pickle Parkway, named after former congressman Jake Pickle. Man, I love the Pickle Parkway. It's not as funky or scenic as taking the back roads down through Taylor, Elgin, etc, but it drops you off 15 miles north of Lockhart and avoids all the traffic mess on I-35 between Georgetown and San Marcos. I've taken the slow, funky route many times. I've taken the traffic nightmare that is I-35 more than I should have. From now on, it's the Pickle Parkway for me. I think the total toll is about $6 between Georgetown and the 183 cut-off, but it is 70 mph all the way and you practically have the road to yourself. I think that's a bargain.

I checked into the Lockhart Best Western, our usual spot, and grabbed a siesta before hitting Black's BBQ for supper. It wasn't very busy but the food was off the chain, as usual. The brisket was extra super smokey and I enjoyed it immensely. I think the lady who served me up gave me a regular link instead of a jalapeno one, but it was still tasty. The ribs were nice, too. That was the first time I had seen spanish rice on the menu and it was pretty good with BBQ. Black's always has different sides than the standard coleslaw, beans, and tater salad which is a nice feature. Their iced tea also came with a plastic cup this visit so I came away with a free Black's souvenir as well as a full happy tummy!

Outside of Black's some brave Girl Scouts had their cookie shop set up in the cold so I took the opportunity to pick up some thin mints.

After a fun night in Austin seeing some friends and hearing some blues, I headed down to Luling at 11 the next morning to grab some lunch before starting the trip back. I got there just before the lunch rush and all was as it always is. Awesome. The ribs were of particular note this visit as they had a dynamite sweet bark that had just a hint of crispiness. The inside of the ribs were juicy and moist and full of smoke. The brisket was very tender and smokey and the link was tasty and moist. I picked up some extra brisket to bring home and a bag of goodies for Scott and left just before the big lunch rush hit. There were about 20 people in line as I hit the door.

Back to Lockhart next to fulfill the goal of my trip, 6 boxes of Kreuz jalapeno cheese links. No, they're not all for me. As word leaked out of my foray south, others put their orders in, so I ended up being a BBQ mule, hauling sausage back to DFW. It's certainly a lot easier this time of year than mid-summer. With temperatures in the low 40's I just tossed the boxes in the covered bed of my pick up and they rode in refrigerated comfort through all that rain back to DFW. Distribution will be tomorrow, but only if I can't find more room in my freezer for those other 3 boxes. :)

below--Black's BBQ, Lockhart 2/3/10 (click for larger view)






below---City Market, Luling 2/4/10 (click for larger view)

Kreuz jalapeno cheese sausage, below