What Makes For A Good BBQ Restaurant?

Most of the restaurants mentioned on this page are reviewed here.
Please visit my Glossary & Standards page to understand what I expect
when I plunk down perfectly good money* for barbeque.

Do you try the meat without BBQ sauce first? 
When I visit a place for the first time, yes, I always taste just the meat first.  That's when I taste the rub and see how well smoked the meat is.

If so, what qualities are you looking for?
SMOKE SMOKE SMOKE.  Slow-cooked meat without smoke is just pot roast.  I want smoke.  This is one of the main reasons I knock Zarda's.  Dickey's is tasty as well, but not smoky.  And the rub should be aromatic as well as spicy.  If you want the best, use this rib rub recipe.

Are there cuts of meat that tip the cards if a place knows what they're doing?
(see my list of best by category)

Well, all of them really.  Goes without saying, everything should be tender.  And there should be a pronounced pink/red smoke ring on the meat.  Brobeck's ribs are the king of this category.  (I always note this in my restaurant reviews.  By the way, a brownish smoke ring indicates the meat has been reheated or slow cooked after some time in the smoke.  That means the pit boss can’t finish his meat right or the meat is a day old.  Something to look for.)  I expect a good bark – the exterior of the slab where the smoke and heat caramelize the rub.  That’s a mark of great BBQ.  (Hickory and oak don’t create as good a bark as fruitwoods - again Roscoe's distinguishes itself with the kind of wood used..  Mesquite is extraordinary for BBQ, but it’s expensive to export out of the Southwest.)

I don't mind if rib meat is falling off the bone, but that's a negative for some.

Brisket should be tender and smoky and well trimmed.  (When you trim the fat off a brisket after smoking, you will lose the smoke on that side of the slab.  That’s ok.  A smoke ring all the way around means the fat was trimmed off before smoking and it will likely be quite dry.) 

Burnt Ends are a good test.  Roscoe’s were freshly carved, distinct pieces (about 1” cubes) and mostly from the flat end.  And they were “dry” meaning served without sauce.  Most joints use the point for burnt ends, but that can lead to very fatty pieces.  Gate's serves chopped brisket point as burnt ends and half is fat.  (Their burnt ends are almost like sloppy joes.  I once spent a lunch hour doing nothing but separating the fat from the lean meat.  It wound up half and half.)   Horrible.  Oden’s in Belton threw odd cuts in a crock pot with some sauce and they were beginning to break down.  Not bad, but I lean more toward big, solid chunks warmed in sauce just before serving.  (Familiarize yourself with the distinction between flat and point brisket cuts.  At WilJenny’s and anywhere else I can, I always request sliced brisket from the flat cut.  In a lot of places in Texas, they’ll expect you to state a preference.)

Sausage casing does not take smoke extremely well.  BBQ joints rarely make their own sausage.  I love Smokehouse’s sausage.  Nice course grind.  WilJenny’s has the best in all the land!  Imported from the sovereign nation of Texas – a firm, red German sausage.  God Himself orders this for take out.

How important is sauce?  Isn't sauce very individual?
Yes, VERY individual – and very important.  Most joints use a ketchup + corn syrup base.  Think about that consistency – it’s clearish and shiny.  Then, most places add liquid flavorings – easy, cheap, and mixes well.  I don’t like that at all.  If you start with a tomato paste or sauce, you’ll have a sauce with nice texture to start.  Add ground pepper, paprika and other real seasonings, you’ll have beautiful, hearty sauce.  It’s more time consuming and costly, but the sauce is superior.  (That’s how I make mine.)  At a restaurant, I always spend a minute assessing the sauce, checking for constituent elements of the sauce.  Sauce is second to the meat, but it can distinguish a BBQ operation.  (Barley’s Brewhouse used to have a killer sauce.  There were bits of tomato and maybe bell pepper.  It was awesome.  I don’t see it there anymore.)

How important are sides? If a joint has good meat but bad baked beans do you hold that against them?
If a joint has killer Q and serves poo on the side, I don’t care.  Sides you can get anywhere, go to Mimi’s.  I demand crisp fries.  Bad fries tick me off so much (right, Big T?).  But still, if the Q is great, I don’t care.  I don’t eat anybody’s beans except WilJenny's.  I don’t like navy / white beans which is all you get up here.  WilJenny’s has regular BBQ beans and “Ranch House Beans” – pinto beans cooked with beer and savory spices.  These are the best beans north of the Red River (Texas).  In Texas, most joints served pinto beans – the only beans that pass my lips.  Smokestack / Jack Stack is famous for cheesy corn.  Sounds kind of Cracker Barrel-ish to me.  Sides only slow me down from eating the meat.

How important is decor? Is blues music required at all BBQ joints?
Eh.  Smokehouse is silly with all the stained oak and stained glass.  I feel like I’m at Bristol.  WilJenny’s is lovely, Johnson County lovely – not Texas Hill Country AT ALL.  Jack Stack… white table cloths… are you kidding me?  OK Joes on Strangline is about right.  Johnny’s is about right.  RJ's Bob-Be-Que feels like a hundred Texas 'Q joints i've been in.  Smokin’ Guns is dead on – real country diner feel.  My new fave, Roscoe’s, is sparse and bare.  No vibe, no music, no décor.  Floor is black&white checkerboard tiles.  Walls are dull green and cream.  Tables and booths are from the ‘70s.  And this will be the next BBQ I go back to.  If restaurants would spend all the energy making great 'Q instead of worrying about decor, there'd be more 5 Piggies reviews.

* perfectly good money - This principle is true of all restaurants... Have you ever had a restaurant DISCOUNT their prices based on the quality of food?  My money is 100% great when I walk in the door.  I expect the joint to give me 100% great food in return.  AVERAGE is not what is expected, EXCELLENT is.  You should not tolerate poor food.  That's why I write these reviews.

also see...

How I go about smokin' my own Q.

Discover the meaning of the word Barbeque.