Ten Park Lanes – Charlotte, NC

January 27, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Ten Park Lanes
Date: 1/17/14
Address: 1700 Montford Dr., Charlotte, NC 28209
Order: Speedy: Burnt ends plate with fries and green beans; Monk: Pulled pork plate with slaw and mac and cheese (link to menu)
Price: Speedy: $13; Monk: $11

Monk: You might be asking yourself why the Barbecue Bros would bother reviewing barbecue from a bowling alley. I mean, you think of bowling alley food and you think of greasy pizza and hot dogs that have been cooking on rollers for too long and served on stale buns. Well, we assure you that is not the case here – Ten Park Lanes was actually named one of the best new restaurants in Charlotte in 2012 by Charlotte Magazine and was included in the Charlotte Observer’s Barbecue Bracket last spring, making it to the Elite 8 before being defeated by eventual winner Kyle Fletcher’s.

Speedy: Of course the atmosphere differs from most ‘cue joints, since it’s a bowling alley. Honestly, I wouldn’t go eat at Ten Park Lanes unless I was bowling, but the menu is perfectly suited for the atmosphere. Monk and I were having a guy’s night with a few buddies and the combination of bowling, beers, and barbecue was perfect for the event.

I decided to order the burnt ends, since we don’t often see them here in North Carolina. And I wasn’t disappointed. They were tender and didn’t need any additional sauce, but the flavor was lacking of any smoke or true barbecue taste. I was a little surprised that they were pulled instead of chunked, but it didn’t negatively affect the flavor. Overall, I thought my order was good – I might even order it again – but it doesn’t stack up to the burnt ends at Midwood Smokehouse, which is really the only other place I’ve had them (at least until my Kansas City trip this summer…)

Monk: The pulled pork was very moist and had decent smoke. It didn’t need it, but I did try it with some of the Piedmont Blonde housemade sauce. I mean, this was legitimately solid barbecue coming from a bowling alley (who do smoke their barbecue in house, presumably in a gas smoker). Although the slaw was mayo-based, both it and the mac and cheese were also quite good. Ten Park claims that all of the food is scratch made, and I believe it. The one thing that I do want to try next time is the Que Stacked Mason Jar, which is a jar stuffed with pulled pork, southern slaw, and BBQ baked beans.

Speedy: At the end of the day, you go to Ten Park Lanes for the bowling, but it turns out that the barbecue is a very pleasant surprise. I’m not ready to crown it king of Charlotte barbecue, but it’s a great compliment to rolling a few (in our case, very few) strikes.

Monk: Sorry Speedy, but this is not ‘Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. And you were over the line on those rolls…

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Burnt Ends – 3 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs

Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q – Concord, NC

January 13, 2014August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Name: Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q
Date: 1/3/14
Address: 7791 Gateway Ln NW, Concord, NC 28027
Order: Mr Jim’s Deluxe Combo with Carolina-style pork, beef brisket, and baby back ribs with slow-cooked collards, cole slaw, and sweet tea (link to menu)
Price: $23.50

Monk: In the reader comments to our December Big Board, a reader had a couple of Charlotte-area suggestions including Jim ‘N Nick’s (albeit the Steele Creek location instead of the Concord Mills location I visited). While we don’t do a lot of chains here on Barbecue Bros, on the first Friday after the holidays I decided to throw caution into the holiday weight gain wind and give it a try.

Jim ‘N Nick’s is a pretty well-respected barbecue chain restaurant out of Birmingham, Alabama with approximately 30 locations in 7 states. Owner Nick Pihakis, a James Beard nominated restaurateur for 4 years straight, is a member of the Fatback Collective, “a group of entrepreneurs and scholars who champion heritage ingredients and cooking techniques” and has also put his money where his mouth by creating a “pork-farming pipeline” of cross-bred heritage pigs with the mission to create a better quality product for their customers. Recently, their Charleston, SC location supported Rodney Scott on the first stop on his In Exile tour.

If you want a particular type of barbecue, chances are Jim ‘N Nick’s serves it. In the past, I’ve been criticized by my fellow Barbecue Bros for not trying enough when I visit a restaurant, so on this day I went for it with the three meat combo platter with Carolina-style pork, beef brisket, and baby back ribs. As for other meats, “classic pulled pork,” hot links, smoked ham, chicken, turkey breast, and spare ribs are also available.

The pork and beef came pre-sauced and topped with a pickle (weird and not ideal for me) but were plenty moist on their own. The “Carolina-style” pork was “chopped with a vinegar-pepper sauce,” however the eastern North Carolina flavor didn’t come through. The brisket was chopped and the larger pieces had a decent tug but overall it wasn’t particularly smokey and the bark lacked flavor. The three baby back ribs were slightly pinker than I’d prefer but were brushed nicely with a sweet/tangy sauce. The two table sauces were an “original concoction” as well as a “hot & spicy” sauce. Of the two, I preferred the hot & spicy used sparingly with the pork.

JNN claims all of their sides (or “trimmings” as they are referred on the menu) are made daily with fresh ingredients, and I could tell based on my meal. The table gets a complimentary basket of cheese corn muffins, which were really good and had a nice sweetness to them. Unfortunately, these muffins appeared to be in lieu of hush puppies, which are not on the menu and thus not cool with me. The slow-cooked collards had chunks of pork and certainly did not taste like they came out of the can. The slaw had a mayo/vinegar base, was sprinkled with fresh pepper, and had a nice crispness to it. Both of my sides were fantastic.

Speedy: I’ve been to Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q twice – once for lunch while working in Fort Mill, SC in 2010 and once for dinner in Birmingham, AL in 2008. Unfortunately, I don’t have any documentation around my meal, as this was BBB (Before Barbecue Bros), but the fact that I was willing to go back means I didn’t hate it. However, I don’t feel a specific need to revisit. Incidentally, I did visit Dreamland BBQ while in Birmingham and found it to be severely overrated. Bring on the hate.

Monk: For chain barbecue (with a drive-thru no less), I haven’t had too many places better than Jim ‘N Nick’s, who by the way also had excellent service. That being said, Jim ‘N Nick’s is still a chain which means they cook their barbecue in a gas smoker. They may use hickory wood during the smoking process (which did create a nice waft of smoke in the parking lot as I exited my car), but ultimately it’s still roast pork (and beef). It’s also a bit pricey – their prices could be cut by about 20-25% (maybe more) – and it won’t make you forget about real pit barbecue, but it’ll definitely do in a pinch.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 3 hogs
Ribs – 2.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3 Hogs

Bubba’s Barbecue – Charlotte, NC

December 23, 2013August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Bubba’s Barbecue
Date: 12/13/13
Address: 4400 Sunset Rd, Charlotte, NC 28216
Order: Speedy: Rib plate with slaw, fries, hush puppies, and Cheerwine; Monk: “Hungry plate” – chopped pork plate with slaw, bbq beans, hush puppies, and Cheerwine (link to menu)
Price: Speedy: ~$22; Monk: ~$14

Monk: In a 2011 reader’s poll, Bubba’s Barbecue was named the third best barbecue joint in NC by Southern Living Reader’s. This was a mistake. But first, a little history. Similar to Bill Spoon’s, Bubba’s Barbecue cooks whole hog eastern NC barbecue in a town smack in the middle of the Piedmont. And this is no coincidence – according to Bob Garner’s Big Book of Barbecue, “[n]ot long after banker turned restaurateur [sic] Ralph Miller bought the venerable Spoon’s Barbecue on Charlotte’s South Boulevard in 1986, he changed the name to Bubba’s. In 1994, Miller moved Bubba’s to the present location on Sunset Road.” While Bubba’s cooks eastern NC-style barbecue, you won’t find a fire pit out back. That’s because Bubba’s cooks their whole hogs in two electric pits. And in light of recently taking the True ‘Cue Pledge, I must proclaim it to be faux ‘cue. FAUX ‘CUE I SAY!

Speedy: Yes. This really just shows that the readers of Southern Living magazine cannot be trusted. In fact, I did a little research (by which I mean looked on wikipedia) and found out that Southern Living magazine is published in Alabama – a state that’s only famous in barbecue terms for producing the most disgusting barbecue sauce on the planet.

I did like the first thing the waitress said to us when she came to take our order – “barbecue or ribs?” So of course Monk and I ordered both. The food came out relatively shortly and the plates were rather large portions.

Monk: I guess that’s what happen when you order a “Hungry plate” portion (for pork at least). The pork was chopped fairly fine – almost minced – and had a decent texture but very little smoke to it. Which is probably as expected when we are talking about barbecue cooked in an electric smoker.

Speedy: The ribs were huge and meaty; however, a lot of that was because the fat was not properly rendered out of the rib and the ribs weren’t trimmed at all. Call me a diva if you want, but a good rib bone has been trimmed of the cartilage and is cooked to pull (but not fall) clean off the bone. When I finish a rib, I don’t want to see anything left on the rib. This was not the case here. Also, while I appreciate a good rib sauce, I prefer a lighter sauce and a nice rub, which I think allows the flavors of the meat to come through more. The rib at Bubba’s was all about the sauce – it came dripping and the ribs tasted as if no rub was used at all. Overall, it was a very disappointing rib experience.

Monk: Hush puppies came in a tray for the table and you could get more if you wanted – we never did (not a good sign). The slaw was mustard-based a la Spoon’s and the barbecue beans were nothing special. In fact, “nothing special” pretty much sums up our trip to Bubba’s Barbecue. In fact, the best thing about it was probably the joint feel of the dining room and the decorative pigs out front.

Speedy: Monk and I like to try lots of different barbecue joints, but I think both of us going in knew that Bubba’s wasn’t going to stack up against some of our favorites. In the end, I think we really made a mistake going there. Barbecue is one of my favorite things on the planet, but when it’s done wrong, it just makes me sad. There aren’t enough meals in this life to waste on mediocre ‘cue.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Ribs – 2 hogs
Sides – 2 Hogs
Overall – 2 Hogs

Q Barbeque – Richmond, VA

November 22, 2013August 1, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Q Barbeque
Date: 11/15/13
Location: 2077 Walmart Way, Midlothian, VA 23113
Order: Three meat plate (pork, brisket, ribs) with two sides (collard greens, hush puppies), Cheerwine (link to menu)
Bill: $20.53

Speedy: So the other weekend, I went up to visit the bro in DC. As I was driving up, I thought this was a great opportunity to stop by Q Barbeque, a small Richmond based chain owned and operated by pitmaster Tuffy Stone. As a big fan of BBQ Pitmasters (and because of Tuffy’s recent win at the Jack Daniels barbecue contest), I was super excited to try it out.

Due to some pre-meal research, I had read about what a Q Barbeque restaurant looks like, but I can’t say that seeing a barbecue restaurant in a strip mall that basically looks like a Chipotle instills much confidence that it will be any good. I will say that Q Barbeque is EXTREMELY clean and organized. After placing your order and paying at the counter, you’re given a number and a cup to get your drink and find a seat.

In order to try as much as possible, I ordered the three meat plate with two sides and got a drink to go with it. When filling my drink, I was pleasantly surprised to find Cheerwine in the fountain – the meal was off to a good start. After a short wait, the food was brought out to my table.

Monk: Nice touch to have Cheerwine available, and in the fountain no less. Definitely unexpected for a joint in Richmond.

Speedy: I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of portion, but the sizes were decent. The three meat plate was too much for one person, but probably not enough for two. The plate came with three rib bones, a small portion of pulled pork, and a small portion of chopped brisket. Along with the sides, a bun and a pickle spear were also included. Everything looked really appetizing – the ribs were cut perfectly and the pork and brisket were both uniform in color and pull/chop. The only thing left to do was dig in.

Monk: Over $20 for one person with no beers seems pricey, but I guess if you get more than a meal’s worth of food it’s not so bad.

Speedy: I agree with that, but there was no reason for me to order that much food for just myself except for the fact that I owe it to the readers to sample everything. Well everything except the chicken. Hopefully none of our readers would even think about ordering chicken here.

I first tried the pork without any of the optional sauce on the table. I was worried that it would be dry, but it really wasn’t at all. It had a bit of smoke flavor, but lacked the tanginess that I like that comes along with a vinegar based dip. Overall though, I was pleased with the flavor. I did add some of the spicy sauce to see what it tasted like, and I didn’t think it really added much.

Next I tried the ribs. They were lightly sauced and cooked almost perfectly. The ribs were tender, but not so much that they fell off the bone. Whatever rub was used was fantastic. I think these ribs were probably the third best that I’ve ever tried – behind only Rendezvous and 12 Bones. The ribs didn’t need any additional sauce at all. In the end, I was disappointed that I only had three bones.

Monk: Wow, that is some high praise.

Speedy: The final meat on my plate was the beef brisket. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no brisket expert, but I have eaten brisket at several places in Texas. And maybe I don’t know what beef brisket is “supposed” to taste like, but I can’t say I’ve ever had better brisket than the portion I had a Q barbeque. It was tender, perfectly seasoned, and required no additional sauce. In fact, I didn’t want to put sauce on for fear of affecting the taste. I just can’t say enough about how good this brisket was. It is literally so good that I will likely play a role in my fly or drive decision next time I head up to DC. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Usually, we just glaze over the sides here, which is appropriate for the hush puppies (which were fine, but not worth talking about). However, the collard greens were superb. They tasted more of pork than greens thanks to the bacon cooked in. I’m sure these collards are terrible for you, but it’s really what barbecue sides should taste like.

My first thought after the meal was to text Monk to tell him how good it was.

Monk: …which I can confirm he did. Thanks for thinking of me, Speedy!

Speedy: My second was that of fear. Q Barbeque looks like a place that would cook with gas (based strictly on appearance), so I was concerned that my credibility would come into question for gushing so much over not true barbecue. However, I drove around the side of the building to check it out as I was leaving and was very pleased to see a large pile of wood, which I’m assuming was for cooking. I definitely tasted a good amount of smoke in my meal, so it tasted wood smoked.

Monk: If this is true (and it sounds like there is no reason to believe otherwise), I am glad to learn that Tuffy isn’t taking any shortcuts. Now, off to plan my next trip up to DC via Richmond…

Speedy: Overall, I was very pleased with my meal at Q Barbeque. I knew Tuffy Stone was a great competition pitmaster, but I’m happy to report that it definitely translates to the restaurant. If you’re in the Richmond area, Q Barbeque is not to be missed.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3.5 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Brisket – 5 hogs
Ribs – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs