tacos

Linkdown: 8/16/23 – The Runaway Longhorn Bull Edition

/ Barbecue Bros / 2 Comments

Featured

Monk: As a result of some severe storms in the Charlotte area last week, a 900 pound longhorn bull got loose in west Charlotte and ran free for 4 days.

It would re-emerge once a day or so but no one was ever able to pin it down. It quickly soared to the top of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg PD’s most wanted (animals) list.

it wasn’t until the fourth day that the bull was found and euthanized by a hunter hired by the owner. No word on whether any barbecue was able to be made as a result.

Rest in Power, Runaway West Charlotte Longhorn Bull of 2023.

Native News

Midwood Smokehouse is the only barbecue restaurant in the CharlotteFive’s Reader’s Choice Poll for tacos

NC-based Cheerwine is now available at 4 Rivers Smokehouse restaurants across Florida

Speedy’s is back from vacation

Have you tried livermush before? This NC delicacy is not barbecue but is made from pig: “they ground pig’s liver and head meat and mixed it with cornmeal, salt, pepper, and sage to form something akin to a caseless sausage”

Non-Native News

The Smoke Sheet is now a paid newsletter, so consider subscribing for continued high quality barbecue content

John Tanner checks out Big Bad W Pit BBQ in Stafford, VA

Plus, is ZZQ the best brisket east of Texas?

POV: How to navigate City Limits Q’s queue (or is it que?)

Dispatch from an epic taco road trip from the Tales from the Pits guys

Tacos for the Cause this week at Fox Bros Bar-B-Q

J.C. Reid’s latest column is on beef brands

This year’s Pig Island NYC is September 9

ICYMI, this week’s episode of “BBQ USA” featured the Jeff Michner benefit at Pig Beach

Brisket Tacos at Buc-ee’s – Adairsville, GA

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Name: Buc-ee’s
Date: 6/12/22
Address: 601 Union Grove Rd SE, Adairsville, GA 30103
Order: Brisket taco and brisket egg taco
Pricing: $$

Monk: The cult favorite gas station/mega convenience store Buc-ee’s has been on my list of places to visit for some time now. Over Spring Break we just missed the opening of their first store in the Carolinas off I-95 near Florence, SC, and the closest locations of the Texas-based chain otherwise are in Georgia or Florida. Thankfully, gymnastics travels for the oldest Monkette put me unexpectedly in the path of an operational Buc-ee’s off I-75 between Atlanta and Chattanooga in north Georgia.

At the Texas Roundup station in the middle of the store, staffers in red shirts and cowboy hats were busy chopping brisket or assembling tacos and biscuits. While I was happy to stumble onto a Buc-ee’s, unfortunately my timing wasn’t ideal. Arriving a little before 10am, only breakfast items were available, as the sliced brisket, sausage, turkey, and pulled pork isn’t available until about 10:20. Undeterred, I soldiered ahead with both a brisket taco as well as a brisket egg taco.

Before I get to the tacos, I gotta say that Buc-ee’s lives up to the hype. The bathrooms were indeed spotless, and while a tad overwhelming, the store itself was a sight to behold. I didn’t linger too long but made sure to grab a couple bags of Beaver Nuggets in addition to the tacos. Next time I’ll definitely plan to spend more time in the store and will load up on more Beaver Nuggets as well as jerky and gummies.

I ate the tacos on the road and loved them. The brisket, while surely smoked offsite, tasted fairly fresh and was plenty smoky while the eggs were scrambled perfectly. Pulling it all together was a flour tortilla that was on the larger side and tasted perhaps housemade but may have been just a better quality tortilla than I’m used to. Would definitely get again.

Next time I have the pleasure of visiting a Buc-ee’s, I will try to time it better so I can try the rest of the items at the Texas Roundup station. A pro tip I’ve received is to arrive around 10:15am so you can have both breakfast and lunch available. I can’t wait to try that out and bring Mrs. Monk as well, who is dying to check one out. Buc-ee’s!

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 4 hogs
Tacos – 4 hogs
Overall – 4 hogs

Checking In: Breakfast Tacos at Juan Luis

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

If you’re reading this, its unfortunately too late to grab a breakfast taco from the Juan Luis trailer in front of Lewis Barbecue in Charleston.

Before it changed over to “JLs” after August 2, Juan Luis served delicious breakfast tacos with homemade tortillas made in the trailer unlike anything I’ve had. Of course, Charlotte and NC doesn’t have the breakfast taco culture that Austin or the Southwest has.

I had both the migas (crispy corn tortillas strips, avocado, pico de Gallo, eggs, cheese) and the toro (green chile beef, pintos, onions, egg, cheese) on my one and only visit and these tacos were life-changing. Particularly the migas, which I still think about to this day.

After a quick refresh, JLs will serve green chile cheeseburgers, green chile cheese dogs, frozen custard sundaes and margaritas. I imagine it will be worth checking out.

The Juan Luis concept will be transferred to Rancho Lewis, which is coming soon to the former Workshop food hall at 1503 King St in Winter 2022. For me, it will be a must stop next time I’m in Charleston.

Friday Find: "Are Austin's Tacos Better Than Its Barbecue?

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Eater’s Dining on a Dime checked out the Austin taco scene a few years back to see whether its taco scene is actually better than its barbecue scene.

Description: This week on a bonus episode of Dining on a Dime from Austin, host Lucas Peterson forgoes Austin’s plentiful barbecue options to take himself on a taco crawl, sampling a few of the city’s best offerings. Watch the video above to follow him from Veracruz All Natural to Taqueria La Chilanga to Mellizoz Tacos.