Bat’s BBQ – Rock Hill, SC

July 30, 2012August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Bat’s BBQ
Date: 7/26/2012
Location: 1912 Mount Gallant Road, Rock Hill, SC
Order: Sampler platter with pulled pork, smoked sausage, and cajun beef brisket. Hush puppies and sweet potato fries. (link to menu)
Bill: $16.00

Speedy: I recently started doing some work just outside of Rock Hill, SC, which of course means more opportunities to eat barbecue! First on the menu was Bat’s BBQ, which was just off highway I-77 in Rock Hill. Bat’s BBQ is a pretty new establishment – just opened in 2009, and it looks that way. It’s a corner plot in a shopping center with a small indoor dining room and a few tables outside. You go order at the counter and the food is brought to you once it’s ready. The atmosphere is OK, but it’s not exactly your typical ‘cue joint. Honestly, there’s really nothing to rave about in terms of atmosphere.

Even though it was lunch time, I ordered the sampler platter in order to taste the biggest variety of meats as possible. Unlike Monk, I am truly committed to the cause.

Monk: Hey now…don’t confuse my small tummy with a lack of commitment to the cause.

Speedy: None of the sides really caught my eye, so I ended up getting hush puppies and sweet potato fries, as there was no barbecue slaw, collards, okra, or any of the other traditional sides that I’m partial to.

Monk: I see that the menu also has “Mexi-Q”…so would be fair to say that Bat’s BBQ isn’t aiming for traditional barbecue?

Speedy: That’s probably fair, though it advertised itself as having a “cajun spin.” I didn’t really see the cajun-ness, though.

The food came out quickly, and to be honest, I was a little disappointed with the portion size – which is rare for ‘cue joints. It was definitely plenty to eat, but would not have been enough for two people, which I thought it should’ve been based on the price.

Rudy: Here in Texas they charge by the pound, so you know exactly what you are getting as opposed to the varying serving sizes. I’m definitely a fan of quality over quantity though.

Speedy: I quickly dug in to taste all of the meats, first without sauce, and then with along with the various sauces provided. The pork was dry and a little bland and I definitely wouldn’t recommend eating it without adding sauce to it. The tenderness also left a little to be desired, as a couple pieces were a bit rubbery, so the meet could probably have stayed in the smoker a bit long. I had a few chunks that were also not sufficiently pulled, which is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. This is also a reason why I prefer pork chopped to pulled.

The brisket was considerably better. It was cooked well, tender, and had decent flavor. It also wasn’t nearly as dry as the pork. The brisket was also pulled, which was really surprising, as I’ve only seen it sliced (which I prefer) or chopped. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised with the taste and tenderness that was there. This was definitely the best part of the meal.

Monk: Pulled brisket? I’m curious to see if Rudy has seen this before or if this might be considered heresy in Texas.

Rudy: I have never seen that before. You will see chopped beef listed on the menu some places, but every time I have ordered brisket or even seen it, it has been sliced. A quick Google search proved that it is true, but I can’t say I would be a fan of this.

Speedy: The sausage was decent, though I’m fairly certain it was not made in house. I’m certainly a sausage novice, but I’ve been ordering it more frequently lately at ‘cue restaurants. This sausage isn’t at the top of my list of favorites, but I wasn’t upset that I ordered it.

I only tried that cajun sweet and the rub sauce (as well as a Texas Pete style hot sauce they called fang sauce). The sauces were decent, but nothing I felt I really had to have again.

I was glad that Bat’s BBQ served hush puppies, and they were actually pretty good, but like I said, I wasn’t thrilled with the other choices of sides.

I did get a sneak peak at the smoker in the kitchen (see photo below), and they look to be electric, though they could be gas I suppose. I’ve defended electric smokers before, as they can put out good meats, but if you really want to be a top quality ‘cue joint, it just doesn’t cut it.

Monk: Glad to hear you have come around on this.

Rudy: I also was against this until you said that most places use them. But having a true smoker increases the rankings in my book.

Speedy: All in all, I think this will probably be my only trip to Bat’s BBQ. There was just nothing there that excited me about the restaurant, and I wasn’t that impressed with anything I tried. The meal was fine, but when you’re eating ‘cue, fine is not what you’re looking for.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 1.5 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Sausage – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Smokey Mtn BBQ & Grill – Bristol, VA

July 11, 2012August 7, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Smokey Mtn. BBQ & Grill
Date: 7/10/2012
Location: Exit 7 Linden Dr., Bristol, VA
Order: Combo platter (pulled pork, brisket, smoked chicken), ribs, okra, hushpuppies (link to menu)
Bill: ribs (1/2 rack) – $10; Combo Platter (included two sides) – $10; sides included

Speedy: Before I start this review, I just want to lay a few things out. Yes, I was eating by myself. Yes, I ordered a boatload of food. But I had to try everything for the review, right? It wouldn’t be right to just do a partial review? DON’T JUDGE ME!

Rudy: Oh we can judge… but as a barbecue blog, we ought to judge why you didn’t order more.

Speedy: Phew. I feel better. Now that that’s out of the way, on to the review. Smokey Mtn. BBQ & Grill sits just off Highway 81 on the Virginia side of the city of Bristol, which is split between Virginia and Tennessee. I’m not really sure why people would come to Bristol outside of NASCAR races, but I find myself up here quite frequently – at least until this blog gets huge and the Barbecue Bros are offered their own show on Food Network. But anyhoo, right off the highway, you’ll see a gas stations and right behind that sits Smokey Mtn. BBQ and Grill. Honestly, it kind of looks like a dump. It is in its stand-alone building, but the structure just isn’t that impressive. The inside is well lit with plenty of space and a few tables for seating. To order, you go up-front and order at the counter and take your seat and the food is brought to you. I understand that dive ‘cue shacks are often the best in terms of food, but this building just doesn’t seem like your traditional old-timey ‘cue joint.

I chose to sample all of the meats for this meal. I had eaten at Smokey Mtn BBQ before but had only had the brisket and pork. Turns out I was skipping out on the better meats. The chicken was chopped and smoked and served with sauce on the side. You could definitely taste the smoke in the chicken and it was tender and with good flavor. The sauce choices are either spicy or mild and they are tomato based sauces, similar to western-style NC sauces. I think the sauce actually works best on the chicken.

Rudy: I tend to shy away from chicken or turkey because I find most places’ are dry. I usually go with other meats that I find consistently better. Good to hear the chicken was done well here.

Speedy: Generally, I’m the same way, but like I said, I was all about variety and literally eating as much food as humanly possible.

The ribs are also quite good. My biggest complaint about the ribs is that they are actually too tender, as you could pick up a bone and lose all the meat. They’re served wet – pretty heavily covered in sauce (again – either spicy or mild). I think the ribs would’ve been better with a little less sauce, actually, and maybe a more noticeable rub prior to smoking. Overall, though, I think the ribs are definitely worth ordering.

The pork, on the other hand, is a little disappointing. It’s a little dry and absolutely has to be sauced. In my opinion, the sauce doesn’t work quite right with the pork. I think it would be a lot better if there was a vinegar or Lexington style sauce option, as the pork is tender enough and pulled nicely – it just lacking moisture and sufficient flavor.

The brisket had a little more flavor but also was a little dry – requiring the sauce, though not as badly as the pork. It also could definitely stand to be a little more tender, as it was slightly rubbery. All in all, the brisket was better than a lot of brisket I’ve had, but I won’t go out of my way to have it again.
The sides are fine – nothing great, but they have all the staples. Of course the slaw is mayo-based, but at least they have hushpuppies.

Rudy: Nothing sounds too great here. When chicken is the only thing to write home about, you don’t have a top notch barbecue place in my opinion.

Speedy: I wouldn’t write home about the chicken either. Mama Speedy would be all “SON – I RAISED YOU BETTER THAN TO ORDER CHICKEN AT A BARBECUE RESTAURANT” and I would have to go to my room next time I visited my parents. But you’re right – not a top-notch barbecue experience.

Overall, if you happen to be driving through the Tri-Cities, Tennessee area and are craving barbecue, you could do worse than stopping at Smokey Mtn BBQ, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 1.5 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 2.5 hog
Chicken – 3 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Sides – 2 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Mac’s Speed Shop – Charlotte, NC

June 26, 2012August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: Mac’s Speed Shop
Date: 6/22/2012
Location: 2511 South Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28203
Order: VTX Chipotle Smoked Wings, Combo Platter (St. Louis style ribs, brisket, pork, sausage), Kansas City Beef rib, mac & cheese, baked beans, collard greens, brunswick stew, hush puppies (link to menu)
Bill: ½ dozen Smoked wings – $5; Combo Platter (included two sides) – $16; Beef rib plate (included two sides) – $16

Speedy: Our next visit was the Charlotte staple, Mac’s Speed Shop. When I first moved to Charlotte, Monk and I used to be pretty regular visitors to Mac’s, but truth be told, that was partly due to a lack of better options than anything else. In fact, I don’t think either of us had been since Midwood Smokehouse opened up. In fact, our guest for the evening, Sus, was trying to convince us to skip Mac’s in favor of the Smokehouse. More on our buddy Sus later…

Monk: Mac’s is a “biker bar” and while it does attract a biker crowd, there’s nothing there that would make your average yuppie squirm or feel uncomfortable. In fact, I’d argue that yuppies are really the true target demographic for Mac’s. Since we’ve started coming here, it has expanded its patio seating to one of the better patios in town and thankfully we were able to sit outside on a Friday night with no wait. One of the things I’ve always dug about the place is the great beer selection – this is the only bar or restaurant in Charlotte that I am aware of where I can get my longtime favorite beer, Rogue Hazelnut Brown (in a 20 oz. bomber, nonetheless). They have a wide variety of beers on draft and bottle, and were even doing the canned craft beer thing before it was fashionable to do so, so credit to them for that.

Speedy: Our order here was actually a pretty difficult choice. We obviously were going with a combo platter, but wanted even more variety beyond that. For some reason, Monk took a shine to the Kansas City beef rib on the menu, so that was ordered as well, along with an appetizer of smoked wings.

Rudy: I can’t decide if I feel jealous of the fact that you guys are always getting wings at your barbecue places. While I love wings and I love barbecue, I have never been to a barbecue place that offers wings. I think I am going to have to find some and try them at some point.

Monk: I guess that’s a good thing about going to these “barbecue fusion” places – you get things like wings on the menu. I hadn’t had a beef rib in I don’t know how long (I missed out on them at Buz and Ned’s) and we don’t really see them on most menus, so I thought it might be something worth checking out. This was our buddy Sus’s first time taking in a barbecue spot with us since the blog started, and he couldn’t have been more lost. Between me stepping away to take photos and us wanting to sample just about everything, he eventually decided to focus on his beer and let the pros handle things.

Speedy: The wings came out pretty quickly – and we got 7 even though we only ordered a half dozen…suckers. They were quite good – properly smoked and the sauce had a decent but not overwhelming kick. Definitely one of the best parts of the meal.

Monk: The entrees didn’t take long before they were brought out and HOLY HELL IS THAT A BRONTOSAURUS RIB?!?! The beef rib was by far the largest one I’ve ever seen. I mean, it was comically large – as in straight out of the Flintstones or something.

Rudy: That was one of the things I had to get used to in Texas coming from North Carolina. I thought you ordered a rack of ribs, but they were selling them by the pound… and a single rib was a whole pound! I think they are very good, but I also feel strange when I order them because I think they look comical.

Speedy: As for the meat, I think we both agree that the brisket was just bad. It was tough, overdone, and lacked flavor. I couldn’t have been more disappointed. I know brisket is tough to cook, but it amazes me how bad some of these NC places are at it. Mac’s was probably the worst. I’ve had the brisket there before and don’t remember it being that bad, so it could’ve been an off-night, but I think it’s best to just steer clear.

Monk: While the pulled pork had decent bark (at least what I pulled onto my plate did; Speedy had some complaints), the meat was dry and begged for one of the three sauces on the table – Carolina BBQ, Red BBQ, and SC Mustard. Ok, well not really the SC Mustard – I mean, who would add that to pulled pork?

Speedy: I have no idea why these places insist on serving it. I definitely have opened up to different barbecue style over the last several years – mainly due to being able to travel to Memphis, St. Louis, and Texas and sample all that’s there. However, I’ve also spent lots of time in South Carolina (and had some great barbecue there), but I’ve yet to budge on my opinion that mustard just does not belong on barbecue. But anyway, off my soap box and back to the food.

Monk: As for the beef rib, well…I liked it a bit more than Speedy did but it was quite fatty. We were expecting a platter of beef spare ribs, not a huge slab of meat connected to a single bone. Looking on the menu online now, I do see that it does say “rib” singular. Other than the hilarity of how big it was, in hindsight it wasn’t the best decision to order.

Speedy: I thought the St. Louis style ribs were pretty good. They probably could have been a little more tender, but I did like the sauce quite a bit. If I went back, this is probably what I’d order.

Monk: I would agree. As has been documented here, I’m becoming more and more a fan of Texas sausage. So much so, in fact, that it’s now pretty much an automatic order if I see it on the menu. The sausage here was a bit dry and required the mustard sauce that it came with, but it still had good flavor and was one of the better parts of the meal.

Speedy: I was disappointed that the combo platter only came with one sausage link (to be fair, we did order the small platter), and I thought the sausage was pretty good, so I ended up ordering a sausage sampler and some hushpuppies for dessert.

Monk: Mac’s serves sides of honey butter along with the hush puppies (of which I am a huge fan) – so big ups on that.

Speedy: The sampler came with Texas beef sausage, andouille sausage, and kielbasa. All were good, though I think they were overcooked slightly. The mustard based barbecue sauce worked well with the sausage. I also had a hard time distinguishing between the three types. Initially, I thought ordering this extra plate was a mistake, but when Sus decided to pick up the bill, it suddenly was a great idea again.

Rudy: The only thing better than barbecue is FREE barbecue.

Monk: I couldn’t agree more! Speaking of Sus, while Speedy and I were comparing notes aloud on each meat during the meal he simply couldn’t understand why we didn’t think everything tasted as amazing to us as it did to him. To be fair, he is more of a burger guy, but c’mon Sus not everything was “ZOMG AMAZING YOU GUYS.”

Speedy: I guess not everyone has a sophisticated enough palette to be a Barbecue Bro, Monk.

Monk: True, not everyone can hang. So, Speedy, other than the atmosphere of the outdoor patio is there much of a reason for you to recommend folks come here if they are looking for good barbecue?

Speedy: No – not really. Like you said, the beer selection and atmosphere are really the best things about the restaurant, and while I appreciate that, it’s not what you want from a barbecue joint. So if you’re looking to have a beer or two with friends in a fun spot on Friday night, by all means, go to Mac’s. If you’re looking for good, authentic barbecue, there’s definitely better options.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sausage – 3 hogs
St. Louis Style Ribs – 3 hogs
Kansas City Style Beef Rib – 2.5 hogs
Wings – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 2.5 hogs

Bobbee-O’s BBQ – Charlotte, NC

May 25, 2012August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Bobbee-O’s BBQ
Date: 5/25/12
Location: 8432 Old Statesville Road, Charlotte, NC
Order: Pulled Pork and Brisket platter with cole slaw and collards, half-rack of St. Louis ribs, 3 whole chicken wings (link to menu)
Bill: ~$30

Speedy: How’d you hear of this place?

Monk: I literally searched on Yelp for Charlotte’s best BBQ places, and this was #1 on the list.

Speedy: Haven’t you learned not to trust Yelpers when it comes to BBQ?

Monk (hanging head in shame): I have now.

Speedy: Regardless, it was a new place to try. I was actually pretty pumped when we walked into this place. It’s a hole-in-the wall joint in an obscure shopping center. It’s very understated inside, with just a couple of crappy tables and a cashier to take your order. If I’ve learned anything in my years of eating barbecue, it’s that the dumpier the place, the better the ‘cue. At least usually…

Monk: Taking a look at the menu, they had the barbecue mainstays – pulled pork, brisket, both St. Louis and baby back ribs, mac and cheese, collards, etc – but no hush puppies! How can a restaurant call rightfully call itself a barbecue joint with no hush puppies? However, unphased by this glaring omission, I ordered the pulled pork and brisket combo with sides of collards and cole slaw while Speedy ordered a half-rack of ribs, three chicken wings, and a corn-bread muffin. However, they were out of corn-bread muffins; another ominous sign…

Speedy: The food came out pretty promptly, and everything looked pretty appetizing, save the cole slaw.

Monk: Oh no, not this again…

Speedy: Everyone knows that barbecue slaw should be vinegar based! Mayonnaise just doesn’t belong in the barbecue world!

Monk: Don’t forget to tell them about the “wings”.

Speedy (now irate): Oh yeah! The wings were fried! If you call yourself a barbecue restaurant, and you have wings on the menu, they need to be smoked!

Monk: Speaking of smoked, did you see the smoker out back?

Speedy: No, I didn’t.

Monk: That’s because it doesn’t exist!

Speedy: I thought the flavor was a little lacking.

Monk: The pulled pork was decent enough. It was eastern NC-style, vinegar-based with a slight kick due to the use of red pepper flakes. But you know, it just didn’t have that smokey, charcoal flavor that I like to taste in my ‘cue. In terms of pulled pork, I would consider it passable.

Speedy: I thought the brisket was actually pretty good. The sauce fit well with the beef, and it was plenty tender. The cut wasn’t too fatty. Brisket isn’t exactly a North Carolina specialty, so all things considered, I thought this was the highlight of the meal.

Monk: The ribs were probably second best. They were tender and falling off the bone, and the sweet sauce nicely complemented the meat. But again, there just wasn’t that underlying smoke flavor to really bring it home.

Speedy: The collards were collards. Not much more to say about that. And though I didn’t have any, the cole slaw was disgusting.

Monk (rolling eyes): Eh – it was fine.

Speedy: I guess that’s pretty much it. Next time, keep the Yelp suggestions to yourself.

Monk (once again hanging head in shame): …

Ratings (out of 5 whole hogs):
Atmosphere/ambiance – 2 hogs
Pork – 2 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Wings – 0 hogs
Sides – 1 hog
Overall – 2.5 hogs