Sonny Bryan's - Dallas, TX

Sonny Bryan's
2202 Inwood Rd.
Dallas, TX 75235
214-357-7120

sonnybryans.com

Sonny Bryan started serving up BBQ on Inwood Rd in 1958.  The layers of flavor in that smoker cannot be duplicated or reproduced anywhere.  This is some of the best barbecue around. To complete the experience, you have to sit and eat lunch in one of the school desks that are in the original dining area.  They have a newer room next door which is nice but not the same.

You walk in and stand in the counter area and someone will take your order with a pad of paper, get your name and hand you your iced tea cup.  So fill up, enjoy the smokey aroma and watch them work.  During lunch time the pace is fast, loud and the food is flying so get ready for a ride.

This shows the two plate coming off the line.  A 3 meat combo with ribs, sausage and brisket, onion rings and beans (the bread is to die for and made there fresh). The other plate is a pulled pork sandwich with ribs and onion rings (the onion rings are not to be missed).

 The shown 3 meat combo is hard to beat.  The sausage is smokey and fresh, the brisket is absolutely spot on for Texas beef and the ribs have a smokey goodness that will last all day.

The onion rings and beans are very very good.

This plate shows the ribs, pulled pork and onion rings.  This pulled pork is pure, clean and tender.  At Sonny Bryan's the sauce is kept in long necks on a warming tray and available to pour goodness all over the meat.  Adding his sauce to the pulled pork sandwich just took this to a whole 'nother level.  Very very good lunch.

If you go to one of the other 6 locations, don't be surprised that it is not the same.  It's hard to reproduce what that smoker does and the country bbq atmosphere is not to be dismissed.  I'm convinced it helps the barbecue taste better.

There are 7 restaurant that do not include airport locations.  They can be good but they are not the same.

If you get a chance, do yourself a favor and stop by the original Sonny Bryan's. You'll be glad you did.

Mac's BBQ - Dallas, TX

Mac's BBQ
3933 Main St
Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 823-0731

My friend Billy (Mac's son) continues to put out some of the best bbq there is.  I ordered a sliced beef sandwich, beans, fries and a couple of ribs.

The ribs that Billy smokes are just about as close to perfection that I've found.  Nice crust, great smoke, layers of flavor and always fresh.

His double fried fries are also some of the best.

Notice that I couldn't even wait to eat 1/2 of the sliced beef sandwich before I took the picture.  It's moist, smokey and wonderful.  His sauce adds a great layer to the mouthful of flavor.

 This images shows the 1/2 eaten sliced beef sandwich, ranch beans and sauce.  I highly recommend all of the items on Billy's menu.

This isn't my first review of Mac's and it likely won't be my last.  If you ever have a chance stop by.  The food is juicey, the conversation true to the country heritage of this little shop.  It's like stepping back in time to go have lunch here and don't wait...Billy closes at 2:30pm so get there early.

This is a true blue, Texas, country barbecue, lunch spot and I can't recommend it highly enough. 

Hawg and Sauce - Mt. Vernon, Indiana

Hawg and Sauce
6580 Leonard Rd N
Mt Vernon, IN 47620
(812) 838-5339

hawgnsauce.com

Hawg and Sauce has a very comfortable and homey atmosphere.  Very country diner. 
However the kitchen and food prep is all done in the back.  Let this be a warning sign.  If you can't watch them slice the meat then you don't know what they are slicing it from. That is the case here.

Shown is the 2 meat tray.  I went with ribs and pulled pork.  My friend went with ribs and brisket.

The ribs had a slathering of sauce that was cooked onto the ribs.  Again, I'm not against this out of hand but if the sauce is not that good, then it doesn't help.  I often wonder what is being hidden.  These ribs were nothing special.  The pulled pork was actually quite good.  Good flavor and tenderness.

The beans were typical baked beans and it came with some onion (good choice), pickle and wheat bread (really?). We also got the pork rinds.  These were fresh and hot but had an edgy flavor and mostly sat uneaten.

I tried my friend's brisket and it was sliced very thin (likely by machine) and was dry and without flavor.

They claim to be the best barbecue in Mt. Vernon. That may be true but it certainly isn't the best that I've had...by a long shot.

Hot Rod BBQ - Wharton, NJ

Hot Rod BBQ
175 N Main St
Wharton, NJ 07885

hotrodsbbq.com

Hot Rod BBQ

Hot Rod BBQ puts a lot of emphasis on this being "real pit" barbecue and using a "real wood smoker".  It's certainly the right place to start but a lot more goes into making good barbecue (much less great barbecue) than using sticks of wood.

The atmosphere is fun and inviting with a bar, scheduled events and late night hours but as many barbecue experts will tell you, that's not what makes barbecue great.

I must admit that the menu was impressively red-neckish.  Lots of comfort food options including chicken fried steak (I may have to come back and try that).

We started with Bacon Wrapped Burnt Ends, Deviled Eggs and Hush Puppies.

 The bacon wrapped burnt ends were actually quite good.  The burnt ends are often where the flavor lies and this was surprisingly well received.


 The deviled eggs are where things started to slip.  The yolk mixture was bitter and just not quite right. 



But the hush puppies got us back on track. Fresh, delicious and topped with maple butter.  They were spoon drops of heaven.

For the entry, we choose the 3 meat tray and got ribs, brisket and pulled pork with baked beans and cole slaw.  

Here's where the wheels started to fall off the wagon.  The ribs were smoked but had a sticky layer of sauce that had been cooked on.  While I don't reject that style out of hand, it just didn't enhance it.  The flavor of the ribs were fine but they obviously feel the sauce is needed to enhance the flavor meaning that they are hiding a lack of smokey goodness that should be there naturally.

The brisket was dry and flavorless.  It was more like a oven cooked Jewish brisket than barbecue.  They may have trouble getting the right cut being in the NE but it failed...badly.

The pulled pork....more shredded that pulled, just didn't work.  I actually have no idea how one can get something with so much sauce on it to taste so dry.  It was closer to canned barbecue that I've had from Virginia/West Virginia.  So that tells you a lot right there.

I have to admit that the cornbread was really...really good.  Moist, fresh and hot.

So if you find yourself in the middle of northern NJ looking for BBQ and stop in the Hot Rod, I recommend going tapas style with the apps.  Skip the entree meats unless you want a canned experience.

Bludso's Bar & Cue - Los Angeles, CA

Bludso's Bar & Cue
609 N La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

http://www.barandque.com/

Bludso's has come to the big city of Los Angeles.  This facility opened up in 2014 but they got their start in Compton.  They smoke their meat using only full hardwood or charcoal. No chips are used and they smoke their meat for 14 hr.  It definitely makes a difference in the taste. 

You are ordering my the pound here so that level of authenticity is good.

We tried the ribs, sausage, pulled pork and brisket.  I have to say that this is some of the best meat that I've found in the LA area.  The ribs were very Texas authentic, the brisket was good, moist and had the right amount of smoke.  The pulled pork could have had a little more flavor but the sausage was straight up.

My order will be...

Ribs
Brisket
Sausage
Pulled Pork

 For sides there was cole slaw, baked beams, potato salad and greens. There were also 2 different sauces.  The greens were not overdone, the beans had good flavor, the potato salad leaned toward it's German heritage and the cole slaw was more vinigar based than mayo based.

However the hit of the night was the pickles.  These were home made bread and butter pickles that were fantastic.

They have a strong beer list and an LA worthy cocktail menu.

Overall I would return here in a heartbeat. 

Smoqued BBQ - Orange, CA

Smoqued BBQ
128 N Glassell St.
Orange, CA 92866

smoquedbbq.com

When you think of Southern California and being behind the Orange Curtain, one doesn't think of barbecue.  However, I've got to tell you that there is a place that has some really interesting things going on (aside from the spelling of the name) and that is Smoqued.

  The first thing that got my attention was the menu.  They have some really interesting items. Like this...

HANGOVER BURGER brisket burger topped with roasted red peppers, arugula, cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, a fried egg, spicy aioli and served on texas toast.

I went for the Pork Belly Sandwich with a side of Chili Mac which is their Texas Brisket Chili layered over with Mac and Cheese. 

The pork belly sandwich is sliced smoked pork belly, dijon aioli, fresh arugula and bourbon pickled peppers on toasted bun.

This was smoked well, tasty and delicious. I choose to eat the greens as a salad and the sandwich without all of the extra stuff.

That is one thing about California barbecue, is there will be a lot more ingredients on the food and more complex tastes going on.  Now I don't mind it if it's done well and this is a pretty good run.

Here is the whole plate as served (to go) but with the Chili Mac.  I wasn't quite so enamored with the Brisket Chili.  I find that brisket should be brisket and chili should be chili.  This melding of the two worlds didn't work as well as I hoped.  

Now for the sauces...

They have 3 different sauces there.

SMOQUED HOUSE SAUCE -traditional American BBQ sauce with smoqued seasonings and a hint of sweetness.

CALIFORNIA GOLD SAUCE - deep rich mustard flavor with a slight vinegar finish at the end.

HABANERO RASPBERRY - sweet and smoky with a spicy finish that will give you a small kick of heat.

The gold was my least favorite but the Habanero Raz actually had it's moments and the house sauce was pretty good too.

So if you are ever in the neighborhood of Orange, CA, don't be afraid to stop in to Smoqued BBQ.  You just might be surprised.

Hill Country BBQ Market - New York City

Hill Country BBQ Market
30 W 26th St.
New York, NY
212.255.4544

http://hillcountry.com/nyc/

Pete Wells of the New York Times says  
"The moist brisket, along with beef and pork ribs that carry a similarly peppery, crunchy top layer, show Hill Country’s rotisserie barbecue pits at their finest. The restaurant is a state-of-the-art Manhattan homage to the preindustrial craft of Texas barbecue."

While I'm always cautiously curious to claims of Texas style BBQ outside of Texas, they do hold true to the Texas approach to barbecue.  Dry rub, low and slow and served by the pound on butcher paper.

If you live in the NYC area and wanted to try Texas barbecue without getting on a plane, this would be a good place to start and find out if it's worth getting on a plane to get the real stuff.  Yes that means that I don't consider this top tier.  However, it is the right approach and they do a darn good job.  However it is pricey.  That at least stays true to what is expected of NYC dining.

I tried some brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork and ribs. Along with that their collard greens and beans. They serve you white bread by the slice (very authentic) and a glass of iced tea from the bar.

You request your portions by the pound (or by the rib count in my case) and the sides had different sizes.

The brisket was indeed moist, tender and flavorful.  The pulled pork was just as good. In a more Texas tradition the pulled pork is not pre-sauced.  A good choice for this pork.  The burnt ends were nice and flavorful if a bit salty but not too crusty.  The ribs had a very good smoke and were tasty if a bit tough.

My list would be...
Burnt Ends
Pulled Pork
Brisket
Ribs

Again, all of the meat was flavorful and tasty.  The beans had a good low/slow texture and the greens were just as good.  The sauce was good but a little strong with the flavors.

It's very typical for Texans to make individual sandwiches from a slice of white bread, some meat and sauce.  I found that the burnt ends had a briny bite to them so I made a little bit sized sandwich out of it.  This took away some of the salty edge but it also tamed the flavor a bit. It allows the sauce and meat to blend into a more subtler combination.  Now it did take away of little of the spices. However, you may find that you get more than you lose by doing this.

I found that I preferred their meats between some bread with a small amount of sauce. Any more sauce and it would have over powered the meat.

I think you'll find a good offering of Texas style barbecue here at Hill Country however it won't be cheap.  That paper full of meat that you see, with 2 medium sides and an iced tea was over $60.  Now this is enough meat for 2 at least...but still.  It's a bit steep knowing that this back home would be a lot cheaper.

Although, it's cheaper than a plane ticket to God's country.

Enjoy.