I ate lunch this week at Phat Matt’s BBQ in Oakland, California and there is no way I can get around the fact that this review is going to sound like an advertisement. I’ve been thinking about writing this review for a couple of days and I have no idea how to get around the ad problem. But I can’t
So let’s get the hyperbole out of the way. Phat Matt’s BBQ is the second best BBQ restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. I’ve eaten a lot of really bad restaurant BBQ, I’ve eaten a lot of mediocre restaurant BBQ. But only twice have I eaten great restaurant BBQ. Up until this week the only other place I have eaten great restaurant BBQ was Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, New York. Dinosaur may remain my all time favorite BBQ restaurant but Phat Matt’s is a close second.
There are a couple of things that make a BBQ restaurant great. Certainly the food is critical, and we’ll get to that in a minute, but atmosphere is important. I’ve eaten at a lot of BBQ restaurants and most of the them are decorated as you would expect a regional cuisine type restaurant to be decorated. But the staff and cooks are all pretty sterile. Phat Matt’s has a rather sterile decor but it’s more than made up by the friendliness of the staff.
Continue reading Phat Matt is where it’s at!
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.
Continue reading Road Trip: Pat’s BBQ in SLC
Growing up in San Diego I looked forward to tamales at Christmas time. There can’t be a better tamale in the world than one made with low and slow smoked pulled pork. The following pictures and instructions are courtesy of Blues-N-Cues BBQ Concessions & Catering at http://blues-n-cuesbbq.com.
Start with a pork butt rubbed with fajita spice,garlic,onion,comino (cumin),& sage. Smoke the pork low & slow, preferrably with pecan or hickory wood.
Pull your pork after it's been smoked and cooled
Continue reading Pulled Pork Tamales
Last week Celeste, my sweet wife, and I were watching “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on the Food Network. The episode was on BBQ and one of the hosts was eating at a Chinese restaurant with BBQ Pork Buns. Celeste and I almost at the same time came up with the idea that
Continue reading … Not Your Momma’s Hot Pocket!
I recently was thinking about how I could serve pulled pork at my daughter’s wedding in a way that was easy, yet more elegant.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with pulled pork sandwiches but because I was the cater and in the wedding I needed something easy to put together.
I bought some nice
Continue reading … Pulled Pork Crostini
This weekend about 5,000 LDS Boy Scouts will meet for four days of fun, education and spiritual enrichment, just south of where I live. Our Wards Scout Troop asked me to come out and feed them a BBQ dinner on Friday night. I couldn’t say no.
I had to make time today to cook the pork butts for pulled pork. It’s going to be a great time with good good.
I started by rubbing down the butts with John Henry’s Apple Chipotle Rub and injecting with apple juice.
Continue reading Apple Pulled Pork For The Scouts (Part 1)
I ate lunch this week at Phat Matt’s BBQ in Oakland, California and there is no way I can get around the fact that this review is going to sound like an advertisement. I’ve been thinking about writing this review for a couple of days and I have no idea how to get around the ad problem. But I can’t
