Jim 'n Nick's - Birmingham, AL

Jim 'n Nick's - Birmingham, AL

Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport
Birmingham, AL
http://www.jimnnicks.com

Now I generally have a special place in my heart for a category that is "airport BBQ".  I generally find this the lowest of low forms of food.  I've had one exception to that and that's The Salt Lick at the Austin, TX airport.  But here I am at the Birmingham airport at 4:30am and I find Jim 'n Nicks and it's open.  Breakfast is usually pretty safe so I stepped in and saddled up the bar.

Now I know it's early and it was obviously early for the waitress.  When she finally came around I asked for the Beef Brisket Breakfast Hash and before I got it all out she said "We ain't got no beef brisket or ham."  I asked..."Can the cook do the hash with pulled pork?"  She said "Hmmm...let me axe 'im".

She never came back with an answer...she just came back with breakfast.

Now I've got to say that I was definitely in Alabama.  Regardless of this being inside an airport, the pulled pork was fresh, tender and good.  Their sauce was more vinegary than I like but it had a good flavor.

For an impromptu early morning barbecue breakfast, I would definitely say that I got a good meal and I look forward to my next trip to Birmingham where I'll try an off-airport Jim 'n Nick's location.

Dreamland Bar-B-Que - Birmingham, AL

Dreamland Bar-B-Que - Birmingham, AL

1427 14th Ave S
Birmingham, AL 35205
http://www.dreamlandbbq.com

Entering Dreamland BBQ you find that you are in a dining area tacked onto a bar.  Rather than a bar added to a restaurant.  I'll get to the significance of that shortly.

I had a seat and was brought a menu.  It didn't really have a list of meals or combos that you could choose from.  Mostly appetizers, sandwiches (which is offers both in regular and large size and either with the cole slaw and pickle on the sandwich or without.  Then there are 1/2 rack and full rack offerings (including a rib sandwich) but nothing with a plate and two sides.

So when the waiter brought me my iced tea, I said that I was looking for having a chopped pork sandwich and wanted some ribs (like a combo plate) and he said that he could just add 2 ribs to my order. Great.  The sandwich came with a side so I ordered the baked beans given there were no greens on the menu. He also brought me white bread (light bread where I grew up) and sauce on the side. Almost like it was chips and salsa.

So I jumped straight into the sandwich (chopped pork with the slaw in the sandwich).  I found that the slaw really covered up the taste of the meat so it was hard to evaluate properly.  I do prefer pulled pork rather than chopped as you can't really see the quality of the meat when it's chopped like that.  The slaw didn't really have much liquid or binding agent to it (regardless of whether it's more vinegar based or mayo based) so it was just mostly cabbage and that didn't do much to add to the bbq flavor of the sandwich.  The ribs were smoked as a dry rub but then served with sauce already applied over the top.  The ribs themselves had an ok flavor and a good smoke ring but they were a little tough.  Now I'm eating them at 7p but that really shouldn't matter.  There was nothing really special about them.

The baked beans were nothing to write home about.  Just baked beans. I feel like I could have gotten these out of a can.

The sauce was tangy and dark.  Not sure how else to describe it.  It was hard to taste the meat with this sauce of darkness and it mostly masked the flavor (or lack of it is what I fear).

So I can't really layout an order for the meat as neither one really impressed me.

Also, this wasn't really about getting a bbq meal.  As I said earlier, the bar was more prominent and so was the menu.  This was much more a restaurant about a bar menu of a la carte items that you could order as you wish.  There were some interesting items on the menu of bbq quesadillas and other items. But that's not what I want.  I want a traditional bbq meal and that's not what they really do here.

Saw's BBQ - Birmingham, AL

Saw's BBQ - Birmingham, AL

1008 Oxmoor Rd.
Homewood, AL 35209
http://www.sawsbbq.com/

I held true to my format.  Fly...drive...eat.  I flew to Birmingham (thru Chicago), grabbed the rental car and headed straight to Saw's.

Now I'm in Birmingham.  I expected to find a more blue collar side of town...okay...I mean red neck but I found myself following the European convertibles headed home after work to this particular side of town.  Lots of turn of the century houses that have been taken over by the professionals in town and a nice little neighborhood with a little neighborhood collection of shops. Antiques, art studios and restaurants.  Saw's is in this little enclave.

Upon walking in I was pleasantly surprised to find a small compact hole in the wall with a chalk board menu of daily specials that included a sampler platter.  Ribs, pulled pork and chicken with 2 sides. I chose collard greens and deviled eggs.

Of course they had multiple tubs of both sweet and unsweet tea that I could sip on while I waited.
 The smoker was visible and did nothing to abate my appetite while I waited for my number to be called.  With outdoor seating available and a cool spring evening, I headed outside to watch all the locals going about the business of hanging out in this little "M" street neighborhood.

 I started with the deviled eggs.  While the yolk mix was piled high, it was nothing more than mediocre.  Next was the collard greens.  Now this was a welcome and pleasant taste.  Exactly what it should be. Not to sweet, not to sour.  Just right.  Now comes the meat.

The pulled pork was pulled into large meaty strips that were tender and smoked to perfection.  Some of the best pulled shoulder that I've had in a long time.  You can tell this is where they shine.  The ribs were smoked dry and their sauce was added upon serving.  This is the perfect way to serve these ribs.  The smoke and tenderness was exactly as it should have been.  Nothing out of place here.  However, they do come in second to the pulled pork but not out of any shortcomings on the part of the ribs.  The pulled pork is just that good.  Now on to the chicken.  I'll admit that I rarely try the chicken at a barbecue restaurant but I was inclined to here due to the white sauce.  The chicken was tender and roasted/smoked as good as the ribs.  The white sauce was a welcome change. Nice and tangy and worked very well with the chicken.  The corn bread was a bit dry and not worth it.  Now I did show up after 6pm and you could tell that it was cooked earlier in the day.

So the order is...

Pulled pork
Ribs
Chicken

They also had 3 sauces.  Their bottled marinade, a mixed bbq sauce and the white sauce on the chicken. The house sauce was a good balance of tomato base and mustard base.  It actually reminded me of the Salt Lick's sauce a bit and had a very good balance. The white sauce was very good.  Had a good twang with the right about of spice.  The bottled marinade was more vinegar based and the least of my favorites. In order of taste on the sauces...

House sauce
White sauce
Bottled marinade

I can also recommend the home made banana pudding.  I'm savoring that as I sit here and write this.

All and all, it was an excellent sampling of Birmingham barbecue and it has me hankering to try more during my short trip here.

Sugar House BBQ - Salt Lake City

The first place I tried in Salt Lake City was Sugar House BBQ.

14 March 2016

Sugar House BBQ
880 2100 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84106

Phone:(801) 463-4800

http://www.sugarhousebbq.com 

Nice big smoker outside and exposed.  Drive thru window and pleasant atmostphere. Which usually means the food will be...ok.  You need a dive for a true barbecue experience.

My expectations were met.  The meat assessment is in the following order.

1. Ribs - 2 1/2 stars

2. Brisket - 2 stars

3. Pulled Pork - 2 stars

The ribs were fine.  Just fine.  That's all...just fine. Nothing much else to say here.

The brisket and pulled pork were functional, edible and totally forgettable.  Again...fine.

The sides however were slightly better. The carrots were the best thing on the plate and the collard greens were very true to being southern.  I enjoyed both of them.

So, in summation, the barbecue that you will have here will likely be an easily forgettable meal.

It will be fine.

R&R BBQ - Salt Lake City

15 March 2016

R&R Barbecue
300 W 600 S
Salt Lake City, UT
http://randrbbq.net/

Had dinner at R&R barbecue with a group of co-workers. We were all out in Salt Lake City for a conference.
  
When we entered you could smell the goodness.  The line was short but the place was fairly full and energized (this was at 7:45pm and the place closes at 9p).  We lined up and asked for a full rack and was told that they only had 4 ribs left.  Luckily they have a catering/take out location next door and was able to get a pan of ribs over from them.  So we all sampled the ribs, brisket, pulled pork and sausage.

In order of preference, that would be.

1. Ribs
2. Sausage
3. Pulled Pork
4. Brisket

Now understand that just because the brisket is last on the list, doesn't mean that it wasn't good and flavorful.  But let's talk about each one.

The ribs were dry rub (my preference), thick, juicy and flavorful.  The smoke ring was present but not overwhelming as was the smoke.  Good, tender and still connected to the bone.

The sausage was tender as well.  Again good smoke and flavor and without any gimmicks. (cheese/jalapeno/etc)

The pulled pork was light and tender. Again good smoke and excellent flavor.

The brisket was good but slightly dry for my tastes. Other than that, the meat was above average all around.

I was slightly disappointed in the sides selection.  What we had, baked beans, red beans and rice, mac and cheese, and hush puppies were all good.  But I was lacking a green. I really wanted collard greens.

However, I would highly recommend this location should you ever find yourself in Salt Lake City.

Intro

Welcome to Shiner Bob's BBQ.

I've had a passion for barbecue since I was a kid.  Dad and I would travel around (mostly Texas) going hunting and fishing and find the most out of the way shacks that were run by local people that were just doing what they had always done...make good food that just happened to be barbecue.

Part of this is to honor my father. But part of it is to respect the time honored tradition of cooking barbecue the way that it has always been done. 

I'm lucky enough to travel quite a bit for my job and am lucky enough to be able to sample a lot of barbecue during that travel.  I hope that my experiences will inform you when you travel and to have the opportunity to do what I do.  Fly...drive...eat.