City BBQ - Lexington, KY

City BBQ
2187 Harrodsburg Rd
Lexington, KY 40504
CityBBQ.com

City BBQ is a typical southeast restaurant chain that provides better than what you would expect out of a chain.  There. I said it.

The have 2 locations in Lexington but are in Indiana (5), Kentucky (5), North Carolina (8) and Ohio (18). They offer Beef Brisket, Pulled Pork, Lo Lo's Pulled Pork with Slaw, Turkey Breast, Pulled Chicken with 'Bama Sauce, Smoked Sausage and Pork Ribs.

Sides are Fresh Cut Fries, Green Beans with Bacon (how else do they come?), Mac and Cheese, Sweet Vinegar Slaw, Corn Pudding, Hush Puppies, Cornbread, Collards with Pork (same question), Potato Salad, Side Salad, Baked Beans with Brisket and Gumbo.

 I had brisket and ribs with beans and collards.  Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water at the marbled brisket.  It was great. Just tender and moist as it should be.  The ribs were spot on as well.

 They had multiple kinds of sauce.  In the back is a mustard based and a vinegar based.  Up front they were all pretty similar. It was hard to tell much difference so I'm not much sure about it.  Just know that the original sauce was good, the mustard wasn't my favorite but the vinegar was spot on for any pulled pork you might jump on.

I was very impressed that, for a chain, they had good hi quality barbecue served up just the way it should be.

Enjoy.

Jessie Rae's BBQ - Las Vegas, NV

Jessie Rae's BBQ
Las Vegas Style BBQ
5611 S Valley View Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89118
https://jessieraesbbq.com/ 

The owner of Jessie Rae's named the restaurant for his wife.  The website says it's the best BBQ in Las Vegas.  Let's go inside and take a look.

It's a very small restaurant with big flavor.  It's one of the few places in Las Vegas that still smokes it's meat the old fashioned away.  No electric or gas burners here!

For Salads they have a Caesar Salad and a Southwest Salad.  For their Loaded in Las Vegas section which is all about fries there are Maniac Fries (Brisket), The Duke (pork), Big Belt Buckle (chopped brisket), The Jive Chicken (pulled chicken).

For meats they have Pulled Pork, Brisket, Chicken, Hot Links, Beef Bone, Pork Spare Ribs and a Full Rack of Beef Ribs.

There are lots of sandwich options: The Jessie Rae, The Jessie Mac, the We Pork'd In Vegas Sandwich, Household of Three Sandwich, the Double Brisket Sandwich (both point and flat), the Jive Chicken Sandwich, the Hot Link Sandwich, and the Rip Tip Sand.

For combos: Two Meat and one side, Three meat and one side plus the High Roller Combo (for 2).

They have BBQ Street Tacos, BBQ Nachos, Platters for 4, 6, 10 or 20 people!

Sides are waffle fries, coleslaw, corn with smoke butter, BBQ beans BBQ mashed potatoes, tater tots, and Lexington red slaw.

This is their Maniac Fries.  One of their most popular items.

I had a combo with ribs, brisket and pulled pork and a side of baked beans.

The brisket was very tasty and moist.  In fact, all of it was moist.  The pulled pork was tender and clean.  The ribs were well smoked and very tasty.

Some other items at the table were...

...beef ribs.  They were well smoked and tender.  They were part of a 2 meat combo with brisket and mac & cheese.

They have 3 sauces. Fallen Angel (spicy), God Sauce and a Carolina Style Vinegar Sauce.  All were good.

So if you ever find yourself in Las Vegas and want to avoid the strip like I do, give Jessie Rae's a try.  You'll be glad you did.

Nic's Outpost BBQ - Bridgewater, NJ

Nic's Outpost BBQ
793 US-202
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
https://niks202outpostbarbeque.eat24hour.com/

Nic's Outpost BBQ was discovered by chance on a drive by.  It's been a barbecue joint since 2016, before that it was a NJ diner.  That may be all the 'splainin' I need to do about this but let's explore further for the folks inclined for more detail.



As is typical for a diner style establishment, they have a rather larger number of items on the menu.

For apps they have Onion Rings, Fried Pickle Chips, Cheese Sticks, Quesadilla Bites (pulled pork or chicken), BBQ Smoke Wings, Loaded Texas Fries, Brisket Stuffed Portobello, BBQ Rib Tips, BBQ-Nachos, BBQ Ribs to Share.  They have Chili or Brunswick Stew and a Brisket topped Texas Caesar Salad.  

Hint: Any item on the menu that has Texas in it, has beef on it. Subtle...very subliminal.

Then there was a confusing section called "Lighter Fare". Offerings were, Pork or Chicken Carnitas, Portabella Carnitas, Crunchy Fish Carnitas, Beef Brisket Carnitas, Mutton Carnitas.

While the word "carnitas" comes from a Mexican dish that originated in the state of Michoacan and literally means' "little meats", the current day definition doesn't separate this from it's pork origins.  Therefore I take exception to calling anything other than braised/simmered pork as carnitas.  However, I guess you can do whatever you want in the great state of New Jersey.

For sandwiches, Pulled Chicken, Pulled Pork, Sliced Kielbasa, Hot Links, Mutton, Brisket, "Off the Bone" Rib-Wich.

They have platters with all the meat options above plus Beef Ribs as well as 3 different sampler platters, Country Boy (Pork, Chicken, Kialbasa), Memphis Man (Chicken and Ribs), Outpost BBQ (Pork Brisket Chicken Ribs for 2 or 4).

There is entire menu for Crabby Abby's Seafood. You know...Clams, Shrimp and stuff.

Hot Dogs: Naked, Outpost, Atlantic Dog, Louisiana Pup, Georgia Dog, Tennessee Pup, Texas Dog, Alabama Dog and the Harambe.

6 different burgers, 4 golden fried platters and sides galore...Bacon BBQ Beans, Fries, Coleslaw, Fried Okra, Potato Salad, Side Salad, Mac & Cheese, Corn on the Cob, Sweet Potato Fries, Texas Toast, Steamed Broccoli and Corn Bread.

We tried the Pulled Pork Nachos.  They were actually tasty but typical. (Who puts lettuce on nacho's? Diner people!)

 I had the rib sandwich.  It was fairly tasty but as it was smothered in sauce, it was hard to get a good sampling of the subtleties of the smoke.

 The surprise of the day was the sauce offering.  They had Texas Sweet, Memphis spicy, Kansas City smokey and yes...a Alabama White.  I was so impressed with the Bama White.  It was a good option for chicken.

It just goes to show you, keep your eyes open and look for barbecue opportunities wherever you are.  You just never know what you are going to find.

So if you want diner BBQ, come to NJ. The capital of diners.  However, it is not the capital of BBQ.