I have to admit when Char-Broil first contacted me to come out to Memphis In May and do some cooking demonstrations one of the first thoughts I had was that someone was going to pay me to fly out and eat at Interstate Bar-B-Q.

For a BBQ enthusiast there are a select group of “famous” restaurants that are must eat ats.  And for me Interstate Bar-B-Q was high on my list.  And as hard as it is for me to say I’ve got to admit that it may have been one of the biggest BBQ disappointments I’ve ever had.

There are a variety of negative reasons why I don’t eat in BBQ restaurants very often.  And I don’t think Interstate BBQ missed a single reason.  Everything I dislike about most BBQ restaurants was encapulated in one meal.

Go figure…who would have thought that one of America’s most celebrated BBQ establishments was my first Memphis In May disappointment.   Dang, I’m sad writing this.  I so wanted a good BBQ experience and I didn’t get it.

As I am like to do when eating at a BBQ restaurant for the first time I ordered the sample platter.  This was one of the biggest sample platters I’ve ever seen.  It came with chopped pork shoulder, chopped brisket, pork ribs, beef ribs, sausage.  And every bit of it was drenched in bbq sauce.  There was so much bbq sauce on the plate that the plate resembled a little swimming pool of red sauce.  It must have just been ladled over the meat after it had been piled up.

I cannot even begin to describe the disappointment I felt when the plate of luke warm soaking wet meat was sat down in front of me.  Nineteen hundred miles I came to eat at the world famous Interstate Bar-B-Q and I got food that could be purchased at any local, “cook once or twice a week and reheat” BBQ restaurant.

The chopped pork and chopped brisket lacked any flavor outside of the sauce.  I couldn’t taste the smoke at all.  If I had not smelled the smoke when I first walked into the place I would have sworn the meat wasn’t smoked.  The sausage was flavorful and had a nice “bite” to it with the natural casing.

I got two pork ribs and two beef ribs with the sample platter.  The pork ribs were soft, mushy and fall of the bone.  Not the way I like them at all, but probably the way most people want their ribs.  Without a doubt the biggest disappointment of a disappointing meal were the beef ribs.  The beef ribs were not edible at all.  The membrane was not removed and there was not way you could bite into them and the meat was so over cooked you couldn’t even get the meat off the membrane with a knife and fork.

The sides weren’t all the much better.  The beans looked as though they had been kept under a heat lamp for hours in the little white bowls they are served in.  The cole slaw was average at best.

The famous Interstate BBQ spaghetti was tasty, but lacked any real reason to get excited about it.  Over cooked pasta covered in sauce with a little meat isn’t anything to I’d recommend. 

You know you’ve got problems when not one person out of 8 finished their meal.  What do you do when the only thing that tasted like you would expect it to taste like is the plain white bread served with each meal.

Some of the people in our group thought that the reason the food was as bad as it was may have been due to it being the end of the day and everything had been kept in hotel pans all day on a steam table.  Now I don’t know about the steam table, but the food sure had the texture that meat has when it’s been kept “warm” all day.  But even if that was the case doesn’t a restaurant have an obligation to make sure the food served in the evening is the same quality as when they first open?  We paid the same price, we should have gotten the same quality. 

And for the first time ever, we were denied a chance to look at the pits.  I’ve never, ever been told I couldn’t see the pits in a restaurant.  Makes me wonder about things.

So that’s my first Memphis BBQ experience.  I figure it’s going to get better because it certainly can’t get any worse than it was tonight.

© 2010, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

I’ve wanted to eat at Pat’s BBQ in Salt Lake City ever sinse seeing the restaurant on “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” on the Food Network.  I’m not sure what it was about the show that made this a must eat at place for me, but I knew the next time I was in SLC I would be paying the place a visit.  When I first turned down Commonwealth Ave and headed down to the end of the street I just knew I was end for a treat.  Good BBQ establishments are found off the beaten path.  And certainly Pat’s was.  My wife and friend’s first response was “there’s no restaurant down this street.”  But sure enough there it was.

When you first walk into Pat’s you know this is a legit BBQ restaurant.  The smell of smoke and meat greets you as soon as you walk in the front door.  It just smells like BBQ.  To many times over the years I’ve walked into BBQ restaurants and there is no indication they serve BBQ.  That’s not the case with Pat’s.  It’s BBQ through and through.  From the pictures on the walls to the picnic tables with buckets of plastic silverware and rolls of paper towels.

I ordered, as did my wife and guests, the three meat combos.  Between the four of us we had most of the meats and sides covered.  I was a little disappointed they were out of the mustard greens I ordered.

Three meat combo. Pork spares, brisket and pulled pork.

Since the sauce was in squeeze bottles on the table I was confident Pat’s would not make the cardinal mistake of a lousy BBQ restaurants, meat that comes to the table sauced.  And sure enough the meat came naked.  No sauce.  The pulled pork was juicy without being mushy from overcooking or warming.  It had a nice flavor in addition to a smoke ring and real honest to goodness “bark” on the meat.

The brisket was good.  It was tender and had a very mild smoke flavor.  Again, a smoke ring and nice bark told me this was really smoked brisket.  I like my brisket a little more fatty than served at Pat’s.  But, the brisket served was far from dry.

Of the three meats the ribs were my least favorite.  Pat’s serves untrimmed, full pork spare ribs.  The flavor was excellent.  Just like everything else the flavor was just meat, seasonings and smoke.  But they were just a tad undercooked.  Not raw, mind you, they just came off the smoker a little to soon.  The meat was a little chewy and didn’t come off the bones as clean as it should.  I’m not a fan of “fall of the bone” overcooked ribs, but on a properly cooked rib the meat should come off the bone with a little tug of the teeth.

Two sauces are served at Pat’s.  Mild and a “Sweet & Hot” sauce.  The “Sweet & Hot” was fantastic.  The sweet hit the front of the tongue immediately while there was just a little heat on the back of the tongue.  Great sauce that complimented all three meats.  The “mild” sauce was very, very mild.  Almost void of flavor.  But that is probably just because of my palate.  My wife and guests enjoyed it.  Oh, and the corn bread was good too!

Cole Slaw and Red Beans & Rice

Close up of the cole slaw

Between us we had cole slaw, red beans & rice, mash potatoes & gravy and bbq beans.  The sides were awesome.  The cole slaw had a great deal of flavor and was not drowned like most slaws in liquid.  The flavor would have been perfect on top of a pulled pork sammie.  The red beans & rice were good, but did lack the kick normally in the dish.  The mash potatoes were fresh and covered with brown gravy that must have been made with brisket drippings.  I don’t normally associate mash potatoes with BBQ but these worked quite nice.  The BBQ Beans had the appearance of “doctored” canned beans but didn’t have the normal mushy consistency canned beans get.  They were flavorful and loaded with meat.

You can follow Pat’s BBQ on Facebook.  Don’t let their Facebook page fool you though.  They are proud of their food, even though the five night a week entertainment seems to get top billing over the food.   You can read more about Pat’s BBQ at www.patsbbq.com.

How good was Pat’s?  Well, I’ve eaten at a lot of BBQ restaurants and I’d only return to a handful.  And Pat’s is one of those I would go back to.

© 2009 – 2010, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.

I enjoy eating great BBQ and rarely do I find great BBQ in restaurants. One of the exceptions would be Yunece 61 BBQ on Folsom Bvld. in Sacramento. I had the chance to eat a late lunch there yesterday and it was well worth the drive from Rocklin.

The food was fantastic. You could tell the owners actually had a smoker they used when you walked into the place. The J&R “Oyler” pit was right down front. The owner without hesitation let me take a walk around the pit.

I ordered the “Smoked Meat Plate” which came with tri-trip, brisket and pork collar and two sides. The meat was great. The brisket was tender and moist and done to perfection. It almost melted in your mouth. The pork collar (a different cut of meat I need to check out) was sliced and again was just amazing. The tri-tip was, well tri-tip. Nothing great compared to the other two meats.

For the sides I had beans and cole slaw. The beans had a unique flavor profile. They were good, but trying to guess the spices was challenging. The owner would only confirm that cinnamon was in them when I guessed right. The cole slaw again was unique and very tasty. The vinegar based sauce had a good heat kick at the end, but was not overpowering. My wife had the Memphis style pulled pork sandwich and again it was very good. We ended up sharing both plates.

The most amazing thing was that everything from the side salad to the cole slaw and beans were all from scratch. No bagged lettuce, cabbage or canned beans here, all scratch.

There are not many BBQ restaurants I will go back to more than once. But Yunece 61 will be a regular stop on our evenings out. Check out their website, lots of specials. Including “All You Can Eat” nights during the week.

© 2007 – 2009, The BBQ Grail. All rights reserved. On republishing this post you must provide link to original post.