it didn't used to be this way in Austin till all the foodie shows on tv
States ranked for BBQ
- Thread starter FAUlty Gator
- Start date
It’s far meatier than sloppy joes, loose meat sandwiches or taco meat and most people don’t have a problem with it.
Too chopped up in a vinegar based bbq for me. I prefer pulled pork in large pieces to retain moisture. Too small, it dries out. But if I’m in NC, I’ll eat it.
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You’re missing the point, I don’t care how “meaty” it is. The pictures posted look like someone already chewed the food and spit it back out on the plate (or even masticated, partially digested, and thrown back up). You eat with your eyes first, and public school lunches look more appealing.
There’s a reason all of the places I mentioned including both Bridges and Lexington are mentioned as some of the best bbq in the country. So no...they are not dried out nor are they soaked in vinegar. That’s what tourons do. At the institutions themselves it’s just a little bit of vinegar or the vinegar/ketchup mixture to cut into the natural sweetness and fattiness of the pork.
Alston Bridges BBQ is the original Shelby bbq joint and his brother 72 years ago named Red Bridges opened up another restaurant. They make exactly the same recipe, but Alston Bridges remained a small diner only open a few days a week for locals while Red Bridges opened a larger restaurant for the tourists. So with the exact same recipe, Red Bridges has won multiple national contests from USA Today, Southern Living, Guns and Gardens, Thrillist etc..
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sh...rbecue-tops-usa-today-contest?template=ampart
“Red Bridges Barbecue Lodge has another title to add to its growing list of accolades. The Shelby joint earned the No. 1 spot on USA Today's ranking of Best BBQ in North Carolina.
The restaurant took the top spot in Garden & Gun's 2015 bracket, where the lodge was up against barbecue joints across the nation. The restaurant also won Thrillist's 2016 March Madness bracket which posed the question, "What's the best BBQ spot in America?"“
Smoky D’s is fine, but even the mediocre BBQ places in Texas shit all over any BBQ from Iowa. It’s really not even close.
Currently, I’m digging in Blood Bro’s BBQ in Bellaire (Houston). http://bloodbrosbbq.com/
We have Killen’s which is a top 10 joint in Texas. But, IMO, Ronnie has moved away from craft bbq to being mass produced like Pappas. It’s still a lot better than 90% of the places around town
There is a drive-thru crawfish shack around the corner from Killen’s. When the weather is good nothing better than getting some brisket, ribs, turkey, crawfish and sides and having a picnic
We have Killen’s which is a top 10 joint in Texas. But, IMO, Ronnie has moved away from craft bbq to being mass produced like Pappas. It’s still a lot better than 90% of the places around town
There is a drive-thru crawfish shack around the corner from Killen’s. When the weather is good nothing better than getting some brisket, ribs, turkey, crawfish and sides and having a picnic
how many times can you miss my point? Who said anything about dried out or soaked in vinegar?
I smell a rat. That embedded TripAdvisor link isn't working and the Google doesn't find it. Only an older link that had Missouri in the top spot.
They make great bbq, that’s a fact. For Lexington style I would put them right up there with Lexington’s bbq, and Stamey’s. I favor eastern style and nobody makes it better than Skylight IMO.It costs five dollars and fifteen cents ($5.15) for my favorite Western NC style chopped pork platter that includes plenty of bbq, red slaw, French fries and either a bun to make a sandwich or some hush puppies. Or you can get just a sandwich for $3.75.
BBQ places up north here are more expensive than the prices that our southern friends are posting.
Chicken wings used to be thrown away now pound for pound it's the most expensive part of the chicken. BBQ started as a way to prepare the poor cuts if meat that poor folk had but like chicken wings things change over time due to supply/demand.
I can never catch Scott’s open, are you sure they’re still in business? Where is Sweatman’s located, never heard of them?
That statement shows you don’t know what you’re talking about in this thread.
No it doesn’t. Pics provided are not appetizing, does nothing to promote how good the food actually is.
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A 1000 times yes. BBQ is a southern thing and we don't have the real deal here in Iowa. Wish we did - but we don't. End of story.
To me, Killen's is still king. But Killen's in Pearland. Not that mass produced stuff at HEB. I haven't had that but I assume it's not great. Killen's cream corn is fantastic.
Scott’s is only open Wed through Sat closed before 6 on Wed and before 8 on the other days but they only stay open until the pig is gone so frequently not to those hours.
Sweatman’s is a SC mustard style place in the middle of nowhere South Carolina on a road between 95 and Charleston. It’s a small town called Holly Hill. Anthony Bourdain repeatedly said it was his favorite roast pig anywhere on the planet. Considering how good the Luau and Kalua pork is in Hawaii, how delicious the Hirshon pig from China and lechon asado from Puerto Rico is and how great the Western and Eastern Carolina bbq styles are, you know that’s really saying something. I still prefer some of the Western and Eastern NC style places, but who am I to argue with Bourdain (fast forward to about 9:40 in).
As far as SC mustard style, Sweatman’s IS probably the best pulled pork. It certainly is the best mustard style that I’ve had and I’ve been to at least ten of them. However, as far as the BBQ hash which I consider just as important if not more so, I don’t actually care for Sweatman’s. For the bbq hash I much prefer Hite’s in the outskirts of Columbia SC. Since I think Sweatman’s has the best Mustard style pork but mediocre at best if not bad hash and Hite’s has the second best mustard style pork and the BEST hash, I’d probably rec Hite’s over Sweatman’s.
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My favorite Eastern style place and my wife’s favorite bbq period end of story used to be Bill Ellis BBQ in Wilson NC. But it closed last year which was two years after Bill Ellis himself died because none of the kids was willing to do the hard work necessary to keep it open.
So now that Bill Ellis is done, I’d agree with you about Skylight being the best still open. The next time I’m driving up 95, instead of my annual stop off at Bill Ellis, I guess I’ll try Parker’s in Wilson instead.
Knowing how good that damned sandwich tastes makes this picture look incredibly appetizing to me. So, I have no idea what you're talking about.
Knowing how good that damned sandwich tastes makes this picture look incredibly appetizing to me. So, I have no idea what you're talking about.
that’s a different pic, and yes, that actually looks like human food.
That's Eastern Carolina BBQ to me. Pork butt chopped with vinegar and spices, on a hamburger bun with slaw. Pretty much the perfect food in my book.
The funny thing is the bbq in your pic is chopped to the same level if not finer it’s just zoomed in. Lol
And of course Eastern Carolina doesn’t have the good red slaw but uses mayo based slaw instead.
Here’s a zoomed in more professional pic of Red Bridges sandwich as Alston Bridges is mostly eaten by locals who just eat it and don’t take pics for food blogs, but as I mentioned before it’s the same exact recipe.
been here 30 yrs. not in lockhart but real close. know a lot of people. might not know her grandparents but know a lot. it's starting to grow just now. took 150 yrs but it's starting to now. for some reason, the other day, I saw the lead singer of dangerous toys, Jason McMaster, walking into the hardware store in lockhart. the other day. I did a double take!! ha ha
The funny thing is the bbq in your pic is chopped to the same level if not finer it’s just zoomed in. Lol
And of course Eastern Carolina doesn’t have the good red slaw but uses mayo based slaw instead.
Here’s a zoomed in more professional pic of Red Bridges sandwich as Alston Bridges is mostly eaten by locals who just eat it and don’t take pics for food blogs, but as I mentioned before it’s the same exact recipe.
Actually. No mayo in Eastern Carolina slaw. Sugar and White vinegar.
https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/eastern-north-carolina-slaw
Which is kind of interesting given how close Iowa is to Kansas City and how much livestock we have in this state.
The funny thing is the bbq in your pic is chopped to the same level if not finer it’s just zoomed in. Lol
And of course Eastern Carolina doesn’t have the good red slaw but uses mayo based slaw instead.
Here’s a zoomed in more professional pic of Red Bridges sandwich as Alston Bridges is mostly eaten by locals who just eat it and don’t take pics for food blogs, but as I mentioned before it’s the same exact recipe.
Oh and I’d note that the above pic is clearly from a tourist because all of the meat is the “inner pink” meat. Locals know to ask for and pay a little extra for the “outside brown” because that’s where the smoke flavor and extra fat is located.
You’re right. I forgot as I typically only get real Eastern Carolina style once a year or more and I frequently get platters not sammies that the REAL Eastern Carolina places use the sugar and vinegar slaw. I’ve been eating too many “North Carolina style pulled pork sammies” in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere where they either leave the slaw completely off or else put on the mayo slaw. And that peppery and slightly sour bite of crisp cabbage, red pepper flakes and vinegar (plus a little bit of ketchup in the red slaw or sugar in the Eastern variety) really brings out the soft texture of the pork and cuts into the fattiness you’d otherwise be overcome with from the pork. Adding mayo slaw does none of that.
Parker's quit cooking with wood a few years ago but they still put out a good product
That sucks. Is there any Eastern Carolina style places near 95 that still do it properly?
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