Midwood Smokehouse – Charlotte, NC (RE-REVIEW)

June 30, 2014July 31, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Midwood Smokehouse
Date: 5/26/14
Location: 1401 Central Avenue, Charlotte, NC
Order: Pig Out Combo Platter (chopped pork, beef brisket, St. Louis style pork ribs, and hickory smoked sausage), bbq slaw, bbq baked beans, and hush puppies (link to menu)
Bill: $31

Speedy: Happy two year blogaversary, Monk!

Monk: And a happy blogaversary to you too, Speedy! What is the present for a two year blogaversary? Bacon?

Speedy: Might be a little early for that. Let’s call it the hushpuppy anniversary.

Anyway, Monk and I have a few spots in our Charlotte that are kind of go-to spots for a nice barbecue meal. We probably frequent Queen City Q and Midwood Smokehouse the most, but I’d probably consider Midwood Smokehouse my favorite in Charlotte. When Monk recently moved a food truck ahead of the Smokehouse on the Charlotte Big Board, I thought it was time for a re-review. The reasons for the re-review are two-fold: 1) our initial review was completed shortly after starting the blog (I mean, we ordered smoked turkey for chrissake), and I think Midwood itself has improved, including adding their awesome burnt ends to the menu full time (or so we thought).

Monk: To clarify, they do have burnt ends on the menu full time but they don’t allow you to choose that as one of the meats in the combo platter we were ordering. Which didn’t matter anyways, because they happened to be out of them that night. Undeterred (well, mostly me, not so much Speedy), we chose our four meats for the Pig Out Combo Platter – chopped pork, brisket, sausage and St. Louis ribs. No smoked turkey this time!

Speedy: I’m not sure if my take on this meal was colored by the lack of burnt ends, but the overall experience was not as good as I was expecting. The pork is very good, but I remember it having a considerably smokier flavor. Don’t get me wrong – you could still taste the smoke, but it used to be the smokiest pork I’d ever tasted, which I actually liked. The brisket was actually better than I remember. Monk and I ordered a mix between fatty and lean, which was a mistake. The fatty brisket was awesome, and included a really nice bark, but the lean was pretty dry. It’s still among the best brisket that I’ve found in NC, but shying away from the lean is the right play.

Monk: Fatty is definitely the way to go, and I agree that the brisket has improved considerably in the two years since our last official review. I may go as far as to say it just may be the best brisket in Charlotte. Although after eating a few slices I noted to Speedy that it seemed a little dry only to realize that was because he had taken all of the fatty slices! Et tu, Speedy?

The sausage had a nice snap and great flavor, but I assume that it’s not made in house. I haven’t heard or read otherwise so can’t be sure, but in any case it’s still a very solid sausage for North Carolina. Ribs are less so my jam than Speedy, but they had a good amount of tenderness and provided the right amount of tug, not falling off the bone with each bite.

Speedy: Rating barbecue restaurants can be hard. This was certainly not the best meal I’ve had at Midwood Smokehouse, but that’s what separates the good from the great. Overall, this was a good meal from a very good joint. But I just can’t say it was great…

Monk: We experienced this last fall at one of our favorite joints ever, Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge in Shelby. We went in fully expecting a slam-dunk 5 hog review but that particular experience didn’t measure up, so we just couldn’t do it. Still, Midwood Smokehouse is our favorite brick and mortar barbecue joint in town, and I think I can speak for Speedy that we would highly recommend it to anyone looking for good and occasionally great barbecue in Charlotte.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Brisket – 4 hogs
Sausage – 3 hogs
Ribs – 3 hogs
Sides – 3.5 hogs
Overall – 3.5 Hogs

Ed Mitchell’s Que – Durham, NC

June 23, 2014September 9, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Ed Mitchell’s Que
Date: 5/26/14
Address: 359 Blackwell St, Durham, NC 27701
Order: Chopped whole hog and brisket combo platter (off menu) with collards and fries (link to menu)
Price: $16

Speedy: I’ve previously declared my love for Raleigh’s The Pit, so I was pumped to hear Ed Mitchell return to the restaurant world with his new restaurant Que (Monk note: It should be noted that Ed Mitchell was gone by the time we visited The Pit in 2012; Speedy note: It should be double noted that I had previously eaten at the Pit when Ed Mitchell was still there – it was just pre-blog.). A work outing to a Durham Bulls game afforded me the opportunity to give it a try (the restaurant is right next to the stadium).

Monk: Also worth mentioning is that Ed Mitchell has a barbecue stall inside the Durham Bulls stadium as well, and I’ve heard on at least one occasion of Mitchell himself working the stall during a ballgame, although that was before Que opened.

Speedy: Walking in, the restaurant has a very modern feel. I didn’t venture too far in, as the bar is there to greet you right as you walk in. It definitely does not look like a stereotypical ‘cue joint, but the upside to that is the awesome beer and whiskey selection. I quickly bellied up to the bar, ordered a beer, and picked up a menu.

Monk: I’m already so in on this place…

Speedy: I knew I wanted to try both the whole hog and the brisket, but unfortunately, a combo plate isn’t on the menu. However, I didn’t even have to play the blog card (would that work???) to convince the bartender to let me order it.

Monk: I can see it now…”but, but, but…I have a barbecue blog and need a combo plate so I can properly review!”

Speedy: As is my custom, I asked if the slaw was mayo based and passed on it when I found out that it was, opting for collards and fries instead. The food came out quickly, and it turned out to be a considerable portion, so I dug in.

At this point, I need to make a confession: I like eastern style chopped pork as much as Lexington style.

Monk: This is honestly the first time I’ve heard you say anything about this. And frankly, I’m shocked. I like eastern a lot but it plays second fiddle to Lexington in my book. Although tasting Skylight Inn’s barbecue at Midwood Smokehouse last fall has me reconsidering. I can only imagine that Ed Mitchell’s might help the case for eastern as well.

Speedy: Ed Mitchell’s pork was nearly perfect. Chopped finely, with the awesome tang of a great vinegar sauce. The one inherent problem with whole hog is the lack of bark relative to Lexington style, and while I did notice that, it did not take away from my enjoyment. There were two dips provided on the table, but I didn’t touch either – there was just no need to.

Monk: And that’s exactly why I will almost always prefer Lexington – the amount of bark created by cooking shoulders, and the inherent smokiness and flavor that comes with it.

Speedy: Rudy is fond of saying the Texas barbecue joints use sauce to cover up bad brisket, so I was a little concerned when this brisket came out slathered in sauce. I don’t think that it was the case that the sauce was really needed, as the brisket had good tug and seemed plenty moist. It wasn’t the best brisket I’ve had, but it was still very good and I easily finished my entire plate.

The collards were very good. They tasted like good southern collards are supposed to and had little bits of bacon thrown in for good measure. The fries were also good, but I would’ve prefered to see fried okra on the menu. That’s getting pretty nitpicky, but I don’t have much else bad to say about the meal.

Overall, this was one of the top barbecue experiences I’ve had in a while. I really loved Ed Mitchell’s Que and can’t wait to go back.

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

La Barbecue – Austin, TX

June 16, 2014November 13, 2015 / Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: La Barbecue
Date: 5/17/14
Address: 1200 E. 6th St., Austin, TX 78702 (link to menu)
Order: ¾ pound of brisket, ½ pound of ribs, 1 sausage, side of potato salad
Price: $30

Rudy: After spending hours in the classroom, minutes in the library, and many thousands of dollars earning a graduate degree, what’s the only thing I wanted to do on graduation day? Go pick up great barbecue instead of going to pick up my degree.

Monk: Congratulations on all that learning, Rudy!

Rudy: I have been hearing great things about La Barbecue for well over a year, but haven’t had the time to go wait in the line (much shorter than at Franklin’s, but still a line). So I figured this would be as good of an occasion as any.

La Barbecue was originally established LeAnn Mueller who is the granddaughter of the famous Texas pitmaster Louie Mueller. She has moved on, and in her place John Lewis has taken over, keeping the name and raising the level of barbecue that’s produced.

It still operates out of a trailer, but it has set up permanent residence, so they have plenty of picnic benches and shade tarps. They opened at 11:00, so I got there at 9:30 hoping to snag a good spot, which I did, 3rd in line. As the line grew, everyone sat on the picnic benches creating a makeshift queue. Adding to the atmosphere was the offering of free beer on weekends. Let that sink in, free beer, not some bread for the table as a freebie. FREE BEER!

Monk: Uhhh wow, best idea ever. Who is going to bring this idea to NC?

Rudy: La Barbecue is known for their massive beef ribs, but I decided to opt out of that and try as much of the other meats as possible. When I got up to the front to order, Lewis (who was taking the orders and cutting the meat) handed me a piece of brisket to try. This is a dirty trick, because I immediately upped the amount of brisket that I was planning on ordering. I started with the brisket, which was amazing. It was so juicy with a great amount of smoke and crust. They served two different sauces with it, but I have no idea what those even taste like because the meat was perfect by itself. La serves thicker slices than many of the other places, and that helps to keep the pieces super juicy.

Next I moved on to the ribs, which were the best I’ve ever had. Very meaty, super moist, and extremely tender. The problem that I have had with most ribs is that they are usually tough or they don’t have much meat. These had a similar rub to the brisket, but they also had a glaze that had just a hint of sweetness and spice. They were perfect.

The last meat that I had was one of their sausages, which they called “Hot Guts.”

Monk: Hot guts? Sounds appetizing…

Rudy: This was the least impressive meat I had. The link that I had was a bit dry and a bit disappointing. They make their sausage in-house and make it from 100% beef, which causes some of the dryness, but it was still more than I cared for.

I also ordered a side of their buttermilk bacon potato salad. It was better than most efforts at potato salad, but it still wasn’t anything to write home about. What’s still my complaint about Texas barbecue is that they put so much time and effort into cooking the meat, and then put little effort into the sides. Most places offer the same ones, which means I usually just end up ordering meat.

La Barbecue pitmaster John Lewis has completely mastered Texas barbecue. For my money, this is the best in Austin. This shouldn’t come at any surprise, because Lewis’s first job as a barbecue cook was to help Aaron Franklin open Franklin’s. He then cooked for them for 2 ½ years before taking over la Barbecue and transferring what he learned at Franklin’s and adding his own touch. It doesn’t have the hype that Franklin’s does, but it also doesn’t have near the line. When you are weighing taste and length of wait, it isn’t even close.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 4.5 Hogs (Half Hog bump for the free beer)
Brisket – 5 Hogs
Ribs – 5 Hogs (because 6 isn’t allowed)
Sausage – 3 Hogs
Sides – 3 Hogs
Overall – 4.5 Hogs

Bonus photos after the jump

Southport Smoke House – Southport, NC

June 13, 2014July 31, 2014 / Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Name: Southport Smoke House
Date: 5/22/14
Address: 1102 N Howe St, Southport, NC 28461
Order: Lunch portion pork and brisket, small red slaw, and sweet tea (link to menu)
Price: $14.51

Like Duke’s Old South BBQ in Leland, Southport Smoke House is another joint by the coast that is cooking over wood. Based on what I’ve read online, it looked fairly promising so we took the ferry from Fort Fisher across the Cape Fear River to Southport so I could check it out for myself (Mrs. Monk opted not to have barbecue for the second day in a row – pfft).

On the website for the restaurant, it claims to have “the finest wood smoked bbq this side of Texas” which is just a weird thing to say in North Carolina. But the restaurant definitely does have a Texas bent to it – in addition to pulled pork it has brisket, sausage (labeled as “Kreuz” in the restaurant so possibly shipped in from Lockhart), and ribs on the menu.

Had the sausage not already sold out (at 12:30 on a Thursday, which is kind of impressive), I would have gotten it as well as pork and brisket for my lunch that day. Instead, I stuck with just pork and brisket and although they don’t have a combo plate, the lady who took my order suggested I just get lunch portions of the two meats. Done.

I could taste the hickory wood smoke in the pork, particularly the bark, but it was a tad bit dry. Southport Smoke House has several house sauces available (with a sign promising more to come), so I tried the pork with Lexington (of course), Eastern, and “NC Tangy.” The Lexington sauce came off best for me, with the Eastern coming second, and the NC Tangy barely registering. Whatever the case, although the pork had good smoke it definitely needed some sauce, whichever one the eater may have preferred.

The brisket was sliced (or chopped if you prefer) to order and had a slight smoke ring as well as a decent tug to it. It also wasn’t completely overdone, so it had that going for it. The restaurant had only been up and running for a little over a month at the point where I visited, but both the brisket and the pork showed a fair amount of promise.

The red slaw was a decent Lexington imitation and not too much more to be said about it. Southport Smoke House doesn’t offer hush puppies, which again is a more Texas way of doing things, and instead each dish came with a couple slices of Sunbeam sliced bread. I think its a shame they don’t offer hush puppies and I’d love to see them on the menu eventually.

Southport Smoke House only opened back on April 18 and I would imagine that they are in some ways still working out the kinks. However, like the pork and brisket, the restaurant itself shows a lot of promise and I’d love to check this place out in another 6 months or year once they really get going. Definitely a joint worth keeping an eye on.

-Monk

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