reviews

The Green Mesquite – Austin, TX

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Name: The Green Mesquite BBQ
Date: 3/3/13
Location: 1400 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas
Order: 2 Meat Plate (Brisket and Pork Ribs) with sides of Cajun Rice and Fried Okra
Bill: $12

Rudy: It had been a while since I had eaten barbeque and The Green Mesquite BBQ was a place that I had driven by several times but had not had the chance to visit. Located just outside of Zilker Park, it has a great old timey feel to it with an enclosed outdoor courtyard where live bands can play. The inside looks like an old “meat and 3” restaurant from back home and has a pretty cool feel to it. Besides barbeque, the menu has lots of other options that looked pretty good. Great location and great atmosphere, there was so much potential. Heck even “Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives” did a segment there (and who knows great dining better than Guy Fieri?). So much promise, and yet so little delivery.

Monk: Well sheesh. If we can’t trust Guy Fieri, then whom can we trust?

Rudy: I ordered the brisket and asked the waitress which she recommended between the sausage and the ribs, and she came strong with the rib recommendation. The waitress also said that they were running slow in the kitchen, so it may take a little time. I had no problem with this since it probably meant the food would be hot and fresh. When the food did come (it wasn’t much of a wait after all), the food that came was old and cold.

Monk: Old and cold. Worst. Porno. Ever.

Rudy: The first bite of the ribs was moist, but after that it got very dry. It felt to me that they had reheated meat from a few days earlier because almost all of the flavor and the tenderness were gone. The brisket was room temperature at best and got pretty close to cold before I got through it. Regardless of that, I could not tell much flavor to the meat and was thoroughly disappointed in all of it.

I used some of their sauce, which was tomato based and tasted like regular store bought sauce. As far as sides, they were pretty nondescript, but were not bad.

Monk: It’s too bad that the food was nothing to write home about because this place looks pretty great. Between the stage for live music and the courtyard, this place seems like it has the potential to be something special if it weren’t for the quality of the barbecue (or lack thereof) holding it back. 

Rudy: While the atmosphere is great and the rest of the menu looks promising, I don’t think I’m willing to give The Green Mesquite BBQ another chance, especially with all of the other better options in this city.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance: 3 hogs
Ribs – 1.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Sides – 1.5 hogs
Overall – 2 hogs

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Blackstrap BBQ – Montreal, Quebec

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Name: Blackstrap BBQ
Date: 2/13/13
Location: 4436 Rue Wellington, Verdun, QC, Canada
Order: Brisket place with a side of pork. Coleslaw, fries (link to menu)
Bill: CAD 15

Growing up in the south, I had never really associated Montreal with good barbecue. Actually, I had never really associated it with anything other than snotty french people. But I’d like to go on record and say I was wrong. I learned on one of my first trips to Montreal about the famous smoked meat, which I’ve grown to really love. So when one of my co-workers told me about Blackstrap BBQ and swore by it, I decided it was worth giving a try. I’m glad I did.

Blackstrap is about 3 miles (excuse me – 5 kilometers) from downtown Montreal in an area of town that I’m not at all familiar with. It’s relatively easy to get to via the rail system, so I was excited to check it out.

Upon entering, you see the order counter and a small dining room. You can also see part of the kitchen (but not the smoker) where the food is prepared. I was happy to find out that the cashier spoke english completely fluently (you never know up there), so I inquired of her what she thought I should order. She quickly responded that I should get a brisket plate with a side of pork, so who was I to argue? She also recommended the fried mac and cheese, but due to my intolerance of dairy, I opted for the fries. The meal also came with slaw. As an aside, slaw in Montreal is a frequent side dish and it is ALWAYS vinegar based and awesome.

When I went to sit down, I was excited to see a wood pile, making me suspect a stick-burning smoker. I was also excited to see one of the workers slicing the beef brisket in a meat slicer. I prefer brisket to be sliced, but for some reason have been getting pulled or chopped brisket when I’ve ordered it lately.

I sat down and the food was brought out shortly. I must say, I was pretty pleased. The brisket was tender with just the right amount of tug. The pork was also tender and had a bit of bark in it, which is how I like it. I will say that both meats seemed to have been prepared without excessive rub or sauce, which is nice, but I did find it necessary to apply some of the sauce provided on the table. I used the spicy sauce, which was vinegar based and seemed to have a good bit of red pepper. The mild sauce was more ketchup-y and probably a little sweet for my liking.

The slaw also was good and the fries were fine, but it really was the brisket that stole the show for me. This is likely because I rarely get good brisket in NC, while the pork (which I did enjoy) wasn’t really anything that I couldn’t find in a dozen places back home.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. If you ever find yourself in Montreal and are homesick for some good southern barbecue, you could do worse than going to check out Blackstrap BBQ.

-Speedy

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance: 3 hogs
Pork – 2.5 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 2.5 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs

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Blackstrap BBQ on Urbanspoon

Wink’s King of Barbeque – Salisbury, NC

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Name: Wink’s King of Barbeque
Date: 3/2/2013
Location: 509 Faith Rd, Salisbury, NC 28146
Order: Chopped barbecue tray (with coleslaw, hush puppies, and barbecue bread), Diet Cheerwine
Bill: ~$9

This past Saturday, I met my parents in Salisbury to trade cars for a week or two (long story short my father has this genius mechanic to which he wanted to take my car in for a tune-up), so I thought it would be a good excuse to try out a barbecue joint that was both on the NC Historic Barbecue Trail and in the city that claims to be the original birthplace of Piedmont or Lexington-style barbecue. Because of it’s proximity just a half mile off the highway, Wink’s was the place for us.

Because it is included the NC Barbecue Trail, it should be no surprise that Wink’s does indeed cook their barbecue low and slow over a stick burner and I confirmed that by the glorious wood pile and burner out back. Wink’s not only does barbecue but also has seafood, breakfast, and regional items such as livermush or chuckwagon (a favorite of my wife’s) on their menu. In that respect, they are more akin to a local diner. However, inside it definitely looks the part of a barbecue restaurant with light colored wood paneled walls adorned with old Cheerwine and Sundrop signs (two more wonderful Salisbury creations).

I ordered the small chopped barbecue tray (sliced was also an option, but screw that noise), which came with white slaw (boo), hush puppies, and a side of “barbeque bread.” As per yoosh, the food came out shortly after our order. The first thing I tried was the spherical hush puppies and they were pretty much perfect. Nice and fluffy, not too dense, with a nice sweetness to them. Some of the best I’ve had in quite a while as a matter of fact. The barbeque bread was essentially Texas toast and once I tried a half piece of it I decided I didn’t need any more.

As I stated above, the coleslaw was mayonnaise-based and while I am not necessarily against it *COUGHSPEEDYCOUGH* it was a little disappointing considering Salisbury’s proximity to Lexington. This is atypical of the region, and it is curious that Wink’s serves it as opposed to red slaw.

The chopped pork was tender, had nice pieces of bark mixed in, and had good smokiness. The sauce was a bit sweeter than I’d have preferred (or have had from a Piedmont-style barbecue spot) but for the most part I had no real complaints. My parents, also big fans of Lexington #1, liked their food but my dad happened upon a chunk of unchewable gristle in his sandwich. He simply removed it and trucked along.

So would I eat at Wink’s again? Well, if I have ever left Charlotte, am ever driving north on 85, and our upcoming firstborn absolutely cannot make it another 15-20 minutes to get to Lexington #1, sure. But that scenario just seems unlikely to me, and chances are I would just go ahead and make drive into Lexington in this hypothetical scenario. Still, it’s good to know that Wink’s is still doing their old school thing and is conveniently located off the highway if I am ever in a pinch.

-Monk

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

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Wink's King Barbeque & Seafood on Urbanspoon

City Smoke – Charlotte, NC

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Name: City Smoke
Date: 12/7/12
Location: 100 N. Tryon St., Charlotte, NC, 28202
Order: ‘Cue Combo (brisket, pulled pork, Memphis, Kansas City, and Texas dry rubbed ribs
Bill: $26

Speedy: Well Monk, I hate to say I told you so, but I definitely told you so.

Monk: Speedy – you LOVE saying I told you so. This is the one time it happens to be true.

Speedy: So this past Friday night, Monk and I decided it was time to try a new barbecue restaurant, as it had been a while. Monk had never been to City Smoke, the latest of several modern, trendy barbecue restaurants to open in Charlotte. As the restaurant is in the bottom of the building I work in, I actually did check it out for lunch one day the first week it was open, which was about six months ago. My experience wasn’t good then, but I thought six months probation was enough.

Monk: Well Speedy – apparently you thought wrong. Before we even ordered any barbecue, I was at least struck by the impressive whiskey list (well over 50) which included bourbon, Tennessee, craft rye, Irish, and Scotch. And for the beer lovers, there was a good sized craft beer list on tap.

Speedy: Now all of our readers may be thinking,“Hey, that all sounds pretty good. Why are you guys dumping on this place so much?” Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because of the food.

Monk: Which we always say is a pretty crucial element when judging a restaurant. As is our M.O., we ordered the sampler which had pulled pork, brisket, and three types of ribs as well as your choice of two sides. We’ll start with the pork. You may be wondering how they got a smoker at the bottom of the tallest building between Atlanta and Philadelphia. Well wonder no more, because based on the lack of smokiness in the meat they definitely didn’t. The pork lacked any discernible smoke or flavor. We tried each of the three sauces on the table (one of which basically tasted like A1 steak sauce), but ultimately we didn’t even bother finishing our portion.

Speedy: And the brisket was even worse than the pork! It was rubbery and tasted like it had been reheated. Honestly, it reminded me of grocery store pre-packaged roast beef.

Monk: The ribs were at least better than either the pork or brisket. We got three types of ribs as part of the sampler – Memphis, Kansas City, and Texas Dry. They were tender enough and the saucing and flavor was actually pretty decent. However, once again there was no smoke. Also, we did get shafted by only getting one bone of the Texas dry flavor as opposed to two.

Speedy: I will say this. The sides we had were pretty good. I thought the slaw was great. It was legitimate Lexington-style red slaw. Probably the best I’ve had outside of the great city of Lexington. The collards were good as well. They had bacon bits in them, but the bacon flavor (unfortunately) wasn’t noticeable. City Smoke does have a bin of free peanuts that you can get while you order – probably the only thing in the restaurant worth what you spend on it.

Monk: As you can gather, we were not fans of City Smoke whatsoever (and apparently not a lot of other people are either since it was more or less empty on a Friday night). When the best things about the meal were the sides and the free peanuts, that is never a good thing.

Actually, since we were still hungry we decided to finish our beer and walk a few blocks for some actual good smoked meat in the form of the chipotle apricot wings from Queen City Q. And that’s all you really need to know about our City Smoke experience – we finished our meal at another barbecue restaurant. In fact, City Smoke was so bad that I feel confident in saying that the only reason I can see myself ever returning to City Smoke will not be because of the barbecue but instead to drink some bourbon at the bar.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance: 3 hogs
Pork – 1.5 hogs
Brisket – 1 hog
Ribs – 2 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 1.5 hogs

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City Smoke on Urbanspoon