Black’s Barbecue – Austin, TX

May 30, 2016January 11, 2017 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Black’s Barbecue (Austin)
Date: 5/23/16
Address: 3110 Guadalupe St., Austin, TX 78705
Order: 2 Meat Sandwich, Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes, Tea (Link To Menu)
Price: $14.19

Rudy: It had been a long time since I had done a review and I had been wanting to try the Black’s Austin location. Speedy and I had visited the original Lockhart location a couple of years ago but since then they had opened a new place near the University of Texas campus. I thought lunch would be a great chance to check it out. It is located in a strip-mall type building, but does have a parking lot next door, which allowed for easy access. The Austin location is much smaller than the Lockhart one, but I thought it was much nicer and had gotten rid of the cafeteria-style set up that they have in Lockhart. They also have a small patio outside for dining.

Monk: Was getting rid of the cafeteria-style set up a good thing or nah?

Rudy: I like it much better without the sides sitting out in the open. It also looks more like a restaurant and not a cafeteria. In the past I had always gotten larger plates with a few sides and couple different meats in order to complete a full review. This time I wasn’t as hungry, so I opted for just a sandwich and side. I selected their two-meat sandwich with moist brisket and Jalapeno-Cheddar sausage and a side of their mashed sweet potatoes. This was a great choice because it allowed me to try two different meats, but wasn’t overkill.

Monk: Let me just remind you that I’ve previously gotten flack for only getting a sandwich but I’m with you – don’t go crazy if you aren’t looking for a full platter (particularly in the middle of the day).

Rudy: Normally when you get a brisket sandwich, it is chopped brisket mixed with sauce (which Black’s does offer) but that was not the case this time. Instead, it was a couple of full slices of brisket on the bun with the sausage ring on top. And it was amazing, because the fat from the brisket was soaked up by the bun, giving it a rich moist taste. The spice from the jalapenos also gave the sandwich some great flavor. The brisket was the same great brisket you are accustomed to getting from Black’s, as was the sausage.

Monk: This sandwich sounds like the turducken of barbecue, and I correct me if I am wrong but this is the first time something like this has been reviewed for the blog.

Rudy: I think it is, but if other places offer it instead of the chopped brisket, it may be the way to go in the future. Though if I had it to do again, I would not have ordered the sausage on the sandwich because the casing of the sausage was too much of a change in texture from the brisket. Don’t get me wrong, the flavor was great, I just didn’t like the softness of the fatty brisket set against the snap of the casing in each bite.

The sweet potatoes were amazing. Very creamy and sweet with the marshmallow on top of them. They looked to have a many other good options for sides for future trips to Black’s Barbecue, which I will be making.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 Hogs
Brisket – 4 Hogs
Sausage – 4 Hogs
Side – 4 Hogs
Overall – 4 Hogs

Green Street Smoked Meats – Chicago, IL

May 16, 2016May 17, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Green Street Smoked Meats
Date: 4/30/16
Address: 112 N Green St, Chicago, IL 60607
Order: Half pound pulled pork, half pound sliced brisket, hot link, potato salad, broccoli salad, two beers (link)
Price: ~$60

Monk: Chicago is often mentioned in the second-tier of barbecue styles in the US (along with Santa Maria-style tri-tip). Chicago style (at least along the south side, from what I gather) is more rib and rib tips. While I can’t say that I experienced authentic Chicago barbecue at Green Street Smoked Meats in the West Loop neighborhood, I did get a pretty damn good meal. The West Loop has become a destination for food-loving people, and GSSM was in good company less than a block away from both Au Cheval (with Bon Apetit’s best burger in the US) and The Girl and The Goat from former Top Chef Winner Stephanie Izard.

Located in a warehouse along with partner coffee shop Sawada Coffee, Green Street Smoked Meats is a hip counter-style place with biergarten tables and stringed lights that primarily serves meat by the half pound (except when its by the “each” in the case of a pork sandwich or hotlink or the such). It has a great atmosphere though unfortunately we weren’t able to sit outside in the alley on that day due to cold and rain (ah, Chicago in April).

Naturally, I always have to get pulled/chopped pork if its on the menu, but to tell you the truth I wasn’t pumped about it, especially when I saw a previous order tossed in a bowl with a sauce before being served. The tangy sauce hid any smoke that may have been imparted to the meat from the wood, and the pork was just average as a result.

GSSM is really a Texas-style joint, so it makes sense that the brisket was the star of the show. We even got a few unsauced burnt ends thrown in for good measure (party, bonus). This was a fine representation of Central Texas brisket with a nice peppery bark and both lean and fat slices presented. The Texas-style hotlink was another highlight. It had good snap and flavor while being just moist enough.

Mrs. Monk and I got two sides and the portions were more than enough for us. The potato salad was fine but left me wondering if I should have ordered something else. Mrs. Monk couldn’t get enough of the broccoli salad. I liked it too – what little I was able to sneak away from her clutches. Her mini review:“It was dank; I ate all of it.”

It was unfortunate that it was only the Mrs and I eating that day since I would have liked to try the more unconventional meats on the menu such as the smoked salmon or pastrami (on the recommendation of TMBBQ). We had more than enough food (to the point of taking a box of leftovers with us) and more meats also would have put tab at close to $100. Which brings up a good point – Green Street Smoked Meats may be just a little bit on the pricey side. In any case, I would definitely recommend it.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

Queen City Q – Charlotte, NC (RE-REVIEW)

April 25, 2016April 22, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: Queen City Q
Date: 4/13/16
Address: 225 E 6th St, Charlotte, NC 28202
Order: Super Q platter (pork, brisket, sausage, ribs) with eastern NC bbq slaw and hush puppies (link)
Price: $28

Speedy: So after Monk panned the Concord Queen City Q location last week, we decided we needed to go back to the flagship to see how it stacked up. In the past, we’ve had pretty good experiences, so we needed to find out if Monk just had a one-off bad experience or if quality had started to slip across the board.

Monk: Before Hornets home games, Queen City Q is packed to the gills and the wait time can reach upwards of 45 minutes. Our visit before the final home game of the season was no exception but after waiting in the packed lower bar area, we were able to snag a high top. Regardless of whether the food was still any good or not, it was evident to me that Queen City Q was probably doing just alright in terms of business.

Speedy: The sausage at QCQ has always been my favorite meat. And today was no different. The sausage is served split with a mustard sauce and it just works. The meat is finished on a grill and has very solid flavor. It doesn’t try to be anything it’s not with fancy flavors or fillers – it’s just good. So the first meat is a go.

Monk: While Speedy considers the ribs to be one of the better meats at QCQ, they were overdone and pretty tough on this occasion. Seeing as how they came in individual bones as opposed to a half rack I wonder if perhaps they had been under a heat lamp after they were cut and that ultimately did them in. Whatever the reason they were just average.

Speedy: I was a little disappointed in the ribs as well. They were fine, but not as good as I had remembered. For the brisket, though, I need to find a better word than disappointed. It was flat out bad. It tasted like it had been cooked the previous day and reheated. There was no tenderness to the meat and it took a significant amount of barbecue sauce just to finish. It’s been a long time since I’ve had brisket at QCQ, and it will be a long time before I do so again.

Monk: The pork was at least better than the dry, stringy mess I got in Concord. It was tender and moist to the point where I didn’t reach for a table sauce. This was more along the lines of the quality I remembered.

Speedy: We had red slaw and hush puppies as sides, which were pretty good. I know Monk was a little disappointed in the sides at the Concord location, but these were both acceptable. Nothing to get too excited about, but they won’t affect my decision on whether to go back.

Monk: In my review of the Concord location, I wondered if it was a one-off disappointing experience at a satellite location or an indication of an overall drop in quality for Queen City Q. Unfortunately, with this review I am pretty firmly convinced that it’s the latter.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Queen City Q – Concord, NC

April 11, 2016April 15, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / 3 Comments

Name: Queen City Q (Concord)
Date: 3/31/16
Address: 8524 Pit Stop Ct NW, Concord, NC 28027
Order: Big Q platter (pork, brisket, sausage) with eastern NC bbq slaw and hush puppies (link)
Price: $23.75

Monk: Ever since our last official review of Queen City Q nearly 4 years ago (and two weeks into starting this blog), they’ve been in full on expansion mode. There is now an additional 3 locations – Concord, Matthews, Ballantyne – and they have become the official barbecue of several local sports teams – Hornets, the Knights minor league baseball team, and the Checkers minor league hockey team – which means that they have an expanded presence in each of the respective stadiums or arenas. They’ve also since severed their relationship with Dan “Boone” Gibson, who has gone on to have (in our mind) the best barbecue in the Charlotte area from his own food truck. With all of these changes, is the barbecue still any good at the expansions? I checked out the Concord location (across the street from the Concord Mills mall) to see for myself. I will saw that even though the last official review was 4 years ago, I’ve certainly been to the original 6th Street location several times since – particularly since dads eat free on Father’s Day.

I ordered the Big Q platter and chose pork, brisket, and sausage as my meats. When it came out, the platter was more or less a not-great looking heap of brown meats. The best one of the 3 (and pretty good in its own right) was the sausage. The sausage (not sure if its housemade or not) is split in the middle and finished on the grill. It paired well with the SC mustard I requested on the side. The eastern NC pork was an unflattering shade of brown and just generally lacked flavor. Even adding “Lexington dip” table sauce didn’t help it much. The brisket was plain bad. Now, Queen City Q has always had a slightly unorthodox way of preparing the brisket in that they smoke it, finish it on the grill, and then douse with one of their sauces. In this case, it presumably comes drenched in sauce to hide the fact that it was not smoked very well and had a rubbery consistency.

Speedy: Like Monk, I’ve been a pretty consistent customer for the 6th Street location, especially before Hornets games. I’m really surprised by this review, as my experiences at the mothership have always been solid. I agree that the sausage is the best meat, but I’ve been known to order about anything on the menu. I will say that my second favorite meat at QCQ has been the ribs, which Monk did not order. But still – sounds like a disappointing visit.

Monk: …Seems like a textbook case of an “official re-review is in order” if you ask me.

As for the sides, the eastern NC slaw was nothing you would expect it to be – it contained no mayonnaise and even had a reddish tint to it. In fact, I think they have simply mislabeled it since it’s a Lexington-style red slaw – that or they do not know the difference. The hush puppies were slightly burnt so even though the insides were fluffy the outside left a bitter taste in my mouth. They also threw in a piece of Texas toast which was, you know, toast.

If this is a sign of where this local restaurant chain is headed (as opposed to a one-off bad experience), I may have to move Queen City Q way down in the rankings in light of this visit. Very disappointing.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sausage – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs

Barbecue Bros

Barbecue Travels in NC & Beyond

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Black’s Barbecue – Austin, TX

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Green Street Smoked Meats – Chicago, IL

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Queen City Q – Charlotte, NC (RE-REVIEW)

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Queen City Q – Concord, NC

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