Backyard BBQ Pit – Durham, DC

May 5, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Backyard BBQ Pit
Date: 4/26/14
Address: 5122 NC Hwy 55, Durham, NC 27713
Order: Seven pounds barbecue, 8 dozen hush puppies, tray mac and cheese, tray barbecue beans (link to menu)
Price: $110 (for approx. 28 people)

For an engagement party Mrs. Monk was co-hosting in Apex, I got to play the role of barbecue consultant (hey, that has a nice ring to it…) and help pick the barbecue for the party. The theme of the party was “backyard bbq” and as it turns out, a joint named Backyard BBQ Pit in Durham is listed on True ‘Cue. So yea, that was an easy decision.

On the day of the party, I went to pick up the bulk order from Backyard BBQ, located in a small shack on NC 55 not too far from I-40, and walked into small dining room covered in handwritten graffiti. The trays of pork, mac and cheese, and baked beans were all ready when I walked in but the staff waited to fry the hush puppies until I got there, which thankfully didn’t cause any timing issues for me and actually is a nice touch when you think about it. One of the very nice and helpful staff helped me load the food into my car and off I went, with fresh hush puppies taunting me from the back of the car the entire 20 minute drive back to the party.

Backyard BBQ cooks eastern carolina style barbecue using pork shoulders a la Allen & Son in Chapel Hill. Thankfully for us the pork retained it’s moisture for a few hours until the party started, aided by us keeping it warm in the oven. I found the the barbecue to have a nice bark as well as a little bit of a kick due to the red pepper flakes and hot sauce used in it. And it seemed to be a hit among the partygoers and thus made the hostesses (most importantly Mrs. Monk) happy.

The hush puppies were light and fluffy and had good sweetness to them. The texture may have been thrown off a little by the lag in serving, but I (and the rest of the guests) still ate them up. The mac and cheese was fantastic, but the beans themselves in the barbecue baked beans maybe could have stood to be cooked a little longer. We opted for Mrs. Monk to make her own red slaw for the party, so I didn’t try their white slaw.

Backyard BBQ Pit has been featured on Travel Channel program Man vs. Food but from what I can tell doesn’t really get as much play as some of the other joints in the Triangle. Why that is the case, I don’t quite know why. With extremely reasonable prices (at least 30% cheaper than other options for bulk orders in the area) and a solid product cooked over wood, Backyard BBQ Pit should be more well known to serious barbecue fans in North Carolina.

-Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 4 Hogs

Kreuz Market and Black’s Barbecue – Lockhart, TX

April 28, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

“The Lockhart Showdown”

Rudy: Lockhart, Texas, is a small town (population around 12,000) just outside of Austin that is known all over the country for producing some of the best barbecue in the world. The Huffington Post recently listed it as the #1 best city for barbecue in America.

Speedy: I made a visit to San Antonio, so Rudy and I decided to take in 2 of the big 4 barbecue places in town.

Rudy: I don’t want to say there is a trend, but Speedy has come twice to taste some of Texas’ best barbecue, yet no signs of Monk.

Monk: Hey now! I mean I’d love to have been able to come one or both times, but such is the life of a new dad. Not that I need to tell you…

Speedy: Rudy solved that problem by bringing his son with. More on that later…with so many great spots so close together, we figured this would be a good time to try a barbecue showdown and see which place was the best. We chose Kreuz’s Market and Black’s Barbecue. Both were ranked in Texas Monthly’s Top 50 BBQ Joints in ~~Texas~~ The World!

Monk: …uhhh

Rudy: …Don’t blame me or get territorial, that’s the name of the article. Anyway, this would be some great eating.

Speedy: So let’s break it down into the different categories, give a winner for each category, and then we’ll crown the overall champion.

Atmosphere:

Rudy: This one isn’t even close. Kreuz Market looks like an old barn from the outside, and has a great barbecue joint feel to the inside. Even though they moved into a new building in 1999, lots of old photos and memorabilia hangs on the walls to give it a historic feel. They have plenty of signs around stating their slogan “No Sauce, No Forks, No Kidding.” After standing in line for 15 minutes, we walked into the smoker. That’s right, you walk right into the room where they are smoking the meat and they cut your order right in front of you.

Speedy: Black’s looks more like a cafeteria line, where you come through and spoon your own side. Like Kreuz’s, they do cut the meat right in front of you, and throw it on the scale to price out. There’s a fair amount of seating indoors that feels very “diner-ish” (as opposed to the plethora of long picnic tables at Kreuz’s) and very minimal seating in an outside area that, frankly, isn’t well kept up. Like Rudy said, from an atmosphere standpoint, we have a blowout.

Winner: Kreuz’s Market

Brisket:

Rudy: Kreuz is serious about their slogan that they don’t offer any sauce or any forks. And it really doesn’t matter, because neither is needed. I had the fatty brisket, which had great flavor, a good smoke ring, and a good amount of tug. While I liked it, the bark had no crunch to it and seemed to have little pepper in the seasoning. The brisket was good but not great.

Speedy: Agreed. One of the guys I was visiting in San Antonio ordered the lean brisket (amateur…) and it was very dry. Kreuz’s advertises that they don’t carry sauce because their brisket doesn’t need it, but this lean brisket most certainly did. With that being said, I was not disappointed at all with the moist brisket – it seemed to be cooked perfectly, but I think Kreuz’s takes the “let the meat speak for itself” thing a little too far. Rubbing on a little black pepper before the smoke never made anything taste worse.

As for Black’s brisket, I have no suggestion for how the brisket could be improved. It was perfect. It had just the right amount of tug, a good smoke ring, excellent flavor, and the right amount of bark. Being the brisket novice that I am, eating Kreuz’s and Black’s brisket back to back really let me see the difference between good brisket and great brisket.

Winner: Black’s

Sausage:

Rudy: Kreuz is famous for their sausage and ship them all over the world. They serve 2 different types of sausage, plain and jalapeno cheddar. I had both and thought, while both were very good, the jalapeno cheese was much better. Both had great flavor and a good amount of snap to the casings. The spice from the jalapeno, combined with the creaminess of the cheese was fantastic.

Speedy: I only had the plain sausage, which I thought was fine. I wouldn’t place an order to have it delivered to NC or anything, but I did enjoy my link. As Black’s was the second stop on our BBQ tour, neither Rudy nor I had the stomach room to try the sausage there.

Winner: Incomplete

Ribs:

Rudy: At Black’s I opted for the giant beef rib. When they weighed it and brought it to me, they said “Congrats, you got the 2 pound rib!” Getting the large portion is a normally a good thing, except when you are buying meat by weight and have already eaten the equivalent of two full meals. This rib was unbelievable. The meat was tender and flavorful. There was a great bark, and the fat was rendered evenly throughout the rib, resulting in every bite being tender and juicy. The only complaint that I have about it is the same one that I had about the brisket: I would have liked a little more pepper in the seasoning and a crunchier bark. But even without it, this rib was great.

Speedy: I had a similar rib, though mine was only one pound (which was still more than enough). I have no complaints. I thought it was perfect. Members from our group also got pork spare and baby back ribs. The baby backs were awesome – perfectly cooked and super tender. The spare ribs were good, but not great.

At Kreuz’s, the only ribs they serve are pork spare ribs. Honestly, I thought these were better than the spare ribs at Black’s, but not as good as the baby backs. And I don’t think anything on Kreuz’s menu could touch the glory of the giant beef rib we had at Black’s. It was that good.

Winner: Black’s

Sides:

Speedy: Since I knew we were visiting two joints in the span of a couple hours, I didn’t waste any stomach room on sides, save for a couple of bites of jalapeno corn bread at Black’s. But I’ll tell you who did: Rudy, Jr. RJ went to town on some mac and cheese at Kreuz’s. He must’ve eaten a pound of that stuff. When offered brisket, he would just throw it aside and dive right back in to the mac and cheese. What’s up with that, Rudy? Your son can’t eat some meat like a man? How are you raising this kid? I’m really starting to question your parenting skills…

Rudy: I can’t really explain it either. I was a bit ashamed of him turning away the brisket, but I guess it was good because that means there is more meat for me. However, if he loved barbecue, that would give me more ammo for taking him to more places. This was his first experience eating barbecue, so hopefully he’ll pick up on how it’s done before next time.

Monk: Well, congrats guys. Well done. You’ve officially made me even more jealous of the trip than I was before. Really wish I could have been there.

Winner: Who cares?

Overall:

The group consensus is that we all liked Black’s better. There was a noticeable difference in the quality of the food, which more than made up for the lesser atmosphere.

Winner: Black’s BBQ

Ratings:
Kreuz Market:
Atmosphere – 5 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs (docked for lack of variety)
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Black’s Barbecue:
Atmosphere – 2 hogs
Brisket – 4.5 hogs
Ribs – 5 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Kreuz Market

Black’s Barbecue

Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque – New York, NY

March 3, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: Mighty Quinn’s
Date: 2/15/14
Address: 103 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
Order: 1 lb pulled pork, single serving brisket, single serving sausage, single serving spare ribs, slaw, sweet potato casserole, burnt end baked beans, and a growler of Lagunitas Pilsner (link to menu)
Price: ~$94 (for four)

In the middle of NYC’s East Village, there lies an honest-to-goodness barbecue joint that cooks over wood – breathe in the glorious smoke when you enter and check the stack on the shelves as you wait to order – and on a snowy winter night after (several) drinks with friends, Mighty Quinn’s was the perfect suggestion. I first heard of Mighty Quinn’s when it was named one of Steven Raichlen’s 10 Best BBQ & Grill Restaurants of 2013 (fun fact from that article: it is co-run by a former Wallflowers drummer), so naturally when my wife booked us a trip to NYC for my birthday I knew I wanted to get there..

Mighty Quinn’s has a fast casual set up and after entering the restaurant, patrons line up at the end of the narrow-ish 65 seat room. From there you work your way down the cafeteria-style line, ordering meat first before sides and finally beer (being able to order growlers is a stroke of genius). There are plenty of meat options to choose from and in addition to what we ordered you also have the choice of burnt ends, a brontosaurus rib (at nearly 2 lbs, it is recommended for two), wings, or a half chicken.

The pork has a nice bark and is pulled freshly in front of you as you order but is then unfortunately automatically doused with their house sauce which is vinegar-based but is sweeter than nearly any sauce you’d find in North Carolina. I liked the pork a lot but would definitely order it with sauce on the side next time.

The brisket is sliced to order as well, and as you would expect you can get lean, fatty, or both. An order of both was a little more fatty than I would expect but the brisket had a good tug to it and a nice peppery bark.

The sausage was spicy, had a nice snap, and was really good. The spare ribs were tender, didn’t fall away too easily from the bone, and had good flavor. All of the meat was really well smoked and moist and I would recommend any of what we had. Each meat order includes your choice of a picked add-on of either cucumber, celery, red onions, or chiles.

The sides generally kept pace with the meat. While not traditional barbecue sides, the sweet potato casserole with maple and pecans was outstanding and the broccoli slaw was actually quite good. The baked beans were solid and you may even get to see the carvers adding burnt ends to the beans after slicing brisket orders. Apparently the edamame and pea salad is really good, but we didn’t choose that one (seriously, they don’t really do traditional barbecue sides here).

I had a great experience at Mighty Quinn’s. While it bills itself a “Texalina” joint combining the barbecue traditions of both Texas and North Carolina, after visiting I really consider it to be more of a Texas-style joint (as most NYC barbecue restaurants seem to be). Nevertheless, I can’t recommend it enough if you are looking for proper barbecue in the city without having to make the trek out to the Brooklyn joints.

-Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 4 hogs
Ribs – 4 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 Hogs

The Barbecue Center – Lexington, NC

August 15, 2013January 19, 2016 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: The Barbecue Center
Date: 8/8/13
Address: 900 N Main St., Lexington, NC 27292
Order: Chopped pork plate with fries, slaw, hush puppies and a Cheerwine (link to menu)
Price: $10.14

Monk: On our way to fly out of Greensboro for our annual guys trip, Speedy and I took the opportunity to check out a joint in Lexington that is on the NC Historic Barbecue Trail but which neither of us had been to – The Barbecue Center. I personally must have passed within a half mile of it literally hundreds of times heading to and from Charlotte without knowing it was there. Nevertheless, I was excited.

Speedy: Like Monk, I had never been though I’d heard tale of some locals claiming it as their favorite joint in town, which in Lexington is a big deal. (I later found out the reason I never went growing up: when telling Mama Speedy about my lunch locale, she replied with a scoff, “why’d you go there? Monk’s is right around the corner.”)

Pulling in, things looked really good, as there’s a large smokehouse outside and piles of hickory wood. The large smokehouse was not active upon our noon arrival. Additionally, there was hickory wood outside of the kitchen in the main building, which was going, as there was a strong, glorious smoke smell present as we entered the building.

Monk: In addition to the smell, you could see thin veil of smoke wafting in the dining room, so I was definitely encouraged. We grabbed a small two-person booth as the lunch rush started to come in and before too long the waitress had taken our order. As is standard, we each ordered a chopped pork plate (with extra outside brown) that came with fries, slaw, and hush puppies and of course, a Cheerwine to top it all off.

Speedy: The meal looked fantastic – exactly as a barbecue meal should. I bit into the pork and noticed a definite smoke flavor. It was also perfectly tender. I think my biggest problem was with the dip, which seemed a little heavy on the ketchup, making it sweeter than I like.

Monk: The outside brown was very present in the pork, which I agree was very good. The oblong hush puppies were really good and almost as sweet as I like them to be, though not quite. The red slaw wasn’t quite as tangy as I normally like, and I know Speedy had some issues.

Speedy: My love of red slaw is well documented around these parts, but again, the dip really held it back for me. The cabbage was chopped perfectly, but I was just overwhelmed by the sweetness of the dip. Was it better than mayo based cole slaw? Of course. But it just wasn’t up to what I expected in the town of Lexington.

Monk: All in all, I was glad we were able to finally check out The Barbecue Center. It’s former owner Sonny Conrad (who recently passed away in June) was a barbecue icon and was one of six restaurant owners who started The Barbecue Festival in Lexington, the largest one-day festival in the state of NC. Conrad was so iconic, in fact, that he always presented the first barbecue sandwich of the festival to the mayor of Lexington. As for the food itself…

Speedy: It was very good. In fact, if The Barbecue Center were in Charlotte, I’d probably go eat there all the time. But it’s not in Charlotte, and there’s a higher standard in Lexington. At the end of the day, Mama Speedy was right – why waste your time when Monk’s place is just around the corner?

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 Hogs
Pork – 4 Hogs
Sides – 3.5 Hogs
Overall – 4 Hogs