D-Luxe BBQ & Catering

                    

10/29/14 12:15 - D-luxe is D-ifferent.  The mercato wine sauce gives these smoked meats a whole new flavor.  Look for the bright red food trailer with a big black steel pit at the corner of Eldridge & Fm 1960.  A welcomed addition to the barbecue desert of North-West-No-Where.

I scored D-luxe an 86 out 100.  Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ.

Smoke:  "Red oak, Mesquite, Pecan and little bit of Hickory".  (???)  The big black ancient rusted pit is for real and not for show.  They use the pit to cook offsite and haul it to the trailer everyday.  This pit is a sight to see.  It looks like they resurrected this thing from the bottom of Galveston Bay and painted it black.  Not sure why it has smoke stacks.  There was more smoke billing out of the 1/2 inch gaps between the lids and holes at the seams.  Very primal.  The poor folks parked at the traffic light get a nice smoke bath.

                     

Brisket:  Very Good.  An 1/8 inch smoke ring beneath a well constructed black bark.  Near perfect tenderness.  Full intense smoke so bring the Rolaids. They use a sweet white mercato wine sauce as a mop. It gives this brisket a unique flavor unlike I have tasted anywhere.  There was a slight bitter after taste from either the charred sugar from the mop or too much smoke.  If they could get this balance corrected it would be a slice to rave about.  Serious flavor in this brisket.  No sauce needed.

Ribs:  Good.  A big meaty spare rib. A little past tender and little dry.  A great smokey bark with same mop flavors and sugar coated rub seasoning.  Full smoke flavor but not as intense.  A lot flavor packed into a big meaty rib.  No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Very Good.  They serve a beef and a venison link.  Both are equally delicious.  Moist, bold traditional spice with beef and venison flavors.  A nice peppery aftertaste.  Very juicy so have a napkin handy or you have grease running down you face.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Excellent.  This is not a traditional BBQ sauce and very unique.  This wine sauce had strong ginger and herb flavors.  It worked well with all the meats and gave every bite a rush of flavor.  Get it on the side, dip and enjoy.

                                           

Brooks Family BBQ

                            

9/19/14 12:38pm - Funkalicious! That is the one word that best describes this East Texas style BBQ joint. I was greeted by a stereo blasting out the Gap Band's "You drop a bomb on me".  In my mind I was dancing all the way up to the counter.  Felt like I was back at the high school dance listening to a funk play list from the 70's & 80's. The BBQ roots of this family stretches back 50 years to Nacogdoches.  Harlon brought his family to Houston in the 70's and started Harlon BBQ (out of biz).  Marlon continued the family tradition and open his restaurant December 26, 2013 across the street from UH's new football stadium.  No relation to the Brooks Place in Cypress.  The service is great; they pour the love on their customers.

I scored Brooks Family BBQ an 84 out 100.  This is Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ with a little Funk.

                              

Smoke:  Hickory and Mesquite.  There is a steel barrel smoker outside but its most likely for catering, since outdoor cooking is forbidden.  Not a stick of wood in sight and their Facebook page is littered with rotating steel racks.  Its a gasser.

                              

Brisket:  Very Good.  An nice bright red 1/4in smoke ring beneath a respectable black bark.  Slice thin but it tested and ate tender.  Well done.  Good smoke flavor.  Seasoning was mild but you could taste a hint of salt.  No sauce needed.  Not bad for a gasser.

Ribs:  Very Good.  Fall-off-the-bone spare ribs.  Even though these ribs were overcooked they were very moist. The red savory salty pork suggests these ribs may have spent a night in a brine.  Love it.  The moist seasoned bark suggests these ribs spent their final hours wrapped.  Lot of love goes into these ribs.  No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Excellent.  A pork link that was a cross between East Texas and Mexico.  An East Texas spicy sausage seasoned with chile powder.  One minute I thought I was eating Chorizo the next I think I am eating an East Texas link.  Marlon said they purchase these links from Frenchys.  Very bold spice flavor and long lasting aftertaste.  A little orange grease on the plate made me wish for a tortilla.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Good.  A purchased product with a private label.  Since nothing here needs sauce who cares.  A sweet thick red sauce with a little spice that lingers after the tangy fades away.  It does complement all the salty flavors.  It does the job.

                                 

 

 



Old Smokehouse

                                        

6/22/14 11:31am - Thirty years in the same location is a testimony of mesquite smokey greatness.  One of the two spin offs from local legend Bob's Smokehouse, it eventually changed hands and renamed Old Smokehouse.  This 'que was so good, I did not snap a foodie pic until halfway through lunch.

I scored Old Smokehouse 89 out of 100.  This is Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ.

                                                                                          

Smoke:  Mesquite.  A long brick pit built along the side wall of a strip center with outside firebox on one end and cinder block chimney at the other end.  For their sake I hope they own the property. Even though mesquite is not my favorite, it does remind me of home back in West Texas.  It requires a bit more skill to use than oak or hickory, but when done right its flavor is phenomenal.  Old Smokehouse does mesquite right.

                                            

Brisket:  Excellent.  A 1/4 in smoke ring beneath a thick black crunchy smokey bark.  First in line, i got the burnt end.  I nearly swooned with first bite.  I got slices from the flat and watch them crumble a little under the pressure of the knife.  The slices pulled apart with ease and were moist at first but did dry out little towards the end.  They pulled this brisket off the pit at the nick-of-time.   No knife needed tenderness.  Dominate flavor was the mesquite smoke.  Full intense smoke flavor throughout meat and well rendered fat.  No sauce needed for this masterpiece.

Ribs:  Very Good.  A meaty spare rib.  They cut the tips off separate which I like.  It was fall off the bone past tender.  No matter, with smoke and rub seasoning I inhaled them.  They were voted best rib in 2008 by San Antonio Express.  No sauce needed for this local favorite.

Sausage:  Good.  My hopes of 5 star Grand Champion were dashed with first bite of sausage.  It was course ground pork link with too bold salt flavor masking the traditional spice.  Aftertaste was OK along with mild smoke.  Use the sauce.

Sauce:  Very Good.  A thick tangy sweet sauce with a bit of spiciness.  It worked well with ribs and sausage.

PS: Try the pork shoulder.  Mesquite smokey goodness!

                                                                             

 

 



Hungry Farmer Bar-B-Q

5/24/14 11:39am - I am a big fan of Hungry Farmer.  I love their Crosstimbers location so naturally I wanted to sample their S Postoak restaurant. I like the whole vibe of Hungry Farmer.  Lets start with the clever name that is a play on the idiom "Eat like a farmer".  The name has a cartoon sound to it and fun to say out loud.  It makes me smile. The decor is late 1970's urban cowboy/truck stop/hunting lodge. The biggest kick are the horrible pictures of the food and plate dinners.  These drab yellowish pictures look like something out of a 1970's cookbook your grandmother owns.  The pictures are as appetizing as a school lunch.  They are wretched.  How Hungry Farmer has escaped becoming a Houston landmark baffles me.  They have been around since 1973 serving great BBQ in some of the worst locations.  So much better than the other Houston BBQ grandpas.

I scored the S. Postoak Hungry Farmer an 84 out 100.  Reserve Grand Champion BBQ.  Not as good as the Crosstimbers location.  See my earlier post.

Smoke:  Hickory.  There is a large smoke stack in the back and a large stack of wood.  They use wood fired Olyers at the original, I assume they have the same here.

Brisket:  Good.  A sad slice compared to Crosstimbers.  A 1/8in smoke ring beneath a thin bark.  They got the tenderness nearly perfect.  Flavor was just beef and mild smoke.  Use the sauce.

Ribs:  Very Good.  A big meaty Memphis style spare rib.  Smoked slow and then thrown on a hot grill. A nice red smoke ring beneath a bronze bark with grill marks.  The smokey porky rib meat was moist and tender.  No sauce needed for these babies.

Sausage:  Excellent.  A medium ground pork link with bold traditional spice and nice peppery aftertaste. It was moist and a little greasy and had a mild smoke flavor.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Fair.  Wow this was bad.  A dark brown stew thick tangy spicy sauce.  It was bitter and the sauce developed a skin, eweh!  It made everything taste worse.  Skip all together.

(see the skin below?)

Beef Rib:  Good.  The best thing about this beef rib was the price.  $4.50!!  I think they messed up but I wont't tell (just did).  It was knife tough and dry.  You get what you pay for.  Use the sauce.

The school lunch pictures on along the counter.

There is a truck stop missing all its booths.



Prause Meat Market

4/18/14 10:30am – A real treasure for La Grange and the great state of Texas.  Prause is a living operating relic of times past.  After emigrating from Eastern Europe to Texas, Arnold Prause put his butcher skills to use and started up a meat market in Fayetteville, Tx.  Like so many others he began to smoke unsold cuts of beef before they spoiled and made lot of sausage.  In the 1902 they moved the family business to La Grange.  In the 1930’s Prause was the first meat market with a refrigerated counter. In 1952 they relocated to their present building.  After 5 generations the Prause family is still running a meat market and a sideline barbecue business.  By some miracle winds of change never shook this family business.  The day I went, there were more customers at the meat counter than eating the great barbecue.  Texas should put up a historical marker.  It has only made Texas Monthly top 50 one time back in 1997.

I scored Prause Meat Market an 88 out of 100.  Reserve Grand Champion Tx BBQ for over a hundred years.

Smoke:  Post oak.  The brick pit came with the building and was built around 1910.  I guess that meat market has been lost to the dustbins of history.  It looks like an earthquake hit this pit with its large and wide cracks.  They like it like that and seem to have no intent of repairing it.  This pit might as well be part of the family.

Brisket:  Very Good.  Large slices with 1/4in smoke ring beneath a thin brown bark.  Pull apart tender but a little dry.  Mild but deep smoke flavor in the fat and meat. No noticeable rub.  No sauce needed.

Pork Chop:  Excellent.  They did not have ribs today so I went with the pork chop.  They sliced it right off the loin.  It had a deep thick crunchy smokey crust.  Very moist and juicy. There was a nice subtle salty rub flavor.  Could not put it down until it was all gone.  No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Very Good.  A course ground pork and beef handmade link.  It was fresh and juicy with a mild traditional spice with an even milder peppery aftertaste. Good smoke flavor with snappy casing.  I wonder if old Arnold used to make the same link.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Good.  A syrupy orange sauce with little sweetness and a little tang. Nothing special and it not needed at all.  Goes good with the crackers.

                                                            

Hill Country BBQ

4/10/14 11:24am - Well you cannot get more authentic Texas BBQ than this joint.  The owner Dan Hill (the Hill in "Hill Country")  is a former rodeo bull rider back in the day before whoosy vests and helmets.  Pictures of rodeo, bulls and cowboys cover the walls.  But it gets better, this rodeo bull rider is also a guitar playing troubadour.  He leads gospel every Saturday night and they're closed on Sunday.  And if that weren't enough he is a formidable pitmaster.  His clientele includes none other than George & Barbara Bush.  I would say Dan Hill is livin' the Texas dream.

I scored Hill Country BBQ an 87 out 100.  This Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ to the max.

Smoke:  Today was hickory.  Dan says wood is wood.  He is not married to any particle smoke.  In his pile was post oak, hickory, pecan, water oak(?), and cedar?!?!.  Dan explained he can smoke with any wood and often does.  He claims he has used sycamore and wee-sash! (maybe he should have worn a helmet).  The key is the wood must be bone dry.   He split a hickory stump and I thought the splitter was going bust apart the wood was so dry.  He uses a ancient rusted steel barrel pit that has been smoking none stop for 7 years!  He has another steel fire pit where he reduces the everything to coals.  Texas primal!

Brisket:  Very Good.  An impressive 5/16in smoke ring beneath a beautiful black bark.  I got both the lean and moist cuts.  The lean was tough of tender and required a knife, but the moist was pull apart perfect and fat rendered well.  Surprisingly the smoke was mild.  Could not detect a noticeable rub but these slices were not lacking in flavor.  No sauce needed.

Ribs:  Very Good.  A cake soft perfect tender rib.  Clean bite and clean bone.  Once again the smoke was mild and I was wishing for some more flavor from a rub.  Dominant flavors was pork and smoke.  No sauce needed.

Sausage:  Very Good.  I really enjoyed this link. A medium ground pork sausage with traditional spice and a little extra special yummyness I could not detect.  Maybe it was its freshness, their facebook page has a picture of "homemade" sausage.  Maybe it was little extra salt or garlic but its flavor was different enough that it was unique.  Mild smoke.  No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Very Good.  A thick tangy sweet sauce of the Kansas City style variety.  Nothing here needs sauce but this stuff enhances the flavor so don't skip it.

A must stop for all meatheads.    

Post Oak Ranch BBQ

2/20/14 11:57 - What a find, an authentic Texas BBQ joint! Don't know how long this place has been smoking 'que, but carbon dating suggests since the 1970's. Its doubtful they have ever spent one dollar in renovations. This only adds to the charm, when you park and walk through the door you fell like you are in an Urban Cowboy movie. An awful rock masonry facade with window AC units, tin roof, faded overhead sign, and busted up parking lot. There is an ancient long forgotten dusty beer can collection inside. For Pete's Sake, they have a velvet painting of Clint Eastwood from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Vintage! Love this place.

I scored Post Oak Ranch an 83 out of 100. This is Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ.  It restored my hope in Houston, Tx barbecue.

Smoke: Hickory. Wood fired BBQ in an ancient Black Olyer. I love how the smoke stack in the back is rusted and leaning to point its looks like it will fall over. The staff described the smoker as "one of those old style pits with the racks that turn around".

Brisket: Good. A 1/4in smoke ring beneath a beautiful thick black bark. I got the lean cut and it tested dry of tender.  It had good smoke flavor and could not detect any rub seasoning. It started dry and finished dryer. Use the sauce.

While I was waiting on a picture of the pit, the manager cut me a slice of fatty brisket. Oh Mah Gah, that was so good but it was too late to score. If you go you must request the fatty slices. No sauce needed.  I will have to come back for an updated score based on that slice.

Ribs: Very Good. Near perfect tender big meaty spare rib. Nice rosy pink smoke ring beneath a thick bark. They are glazed with the BBQ sauce so they are slightly wet which makes for good finger licking. Smokey and delicious. No sauce needed.

Sausage: Very Good. A course ground beef link with bold traditional spice and strong peppery after taste. Casing was smokey and snappy. After eating truck loads of grocery store quality links, this was a nice treat. No sauce needed.

Sauce:  Very Good.  A simple thin super tangy red tomato vinegar sauce with great flavor.  This sauce works well to add flavor to the meat but not mask the smokey goodness.  Don't forget to get it on the side, but if you forget so what!

They offer a beef rib, but I'll have to come back that also.  Maybe one of my fellow meatheads can review.

 

 

Rudy's Country Store & BBQ

I12/08/13 12:08pm - This is where the "worst bar-b-q in Texas" empire began. This is the original Rudy's. Now there are over 30 restaurants across 5 states. Yep, adding BBQ to the grocery store and gas station business back in 1989 worked out pretty good. So how does the original compare to the franchise?

I scored the original Rudy's an 86 out of 100. This is Reserve Grand Champion Texas BBQ.

Smoke: Oak. Stacks and stacks of post oak used in real brick pits. The franchise locations use wood fired Olyers.

Brisket: Very Good. A 5/16 impressive smoke ring beneath a thick substantial bark. Tested tough of tender just like the franchise. Same rub and oak smoke flavor as the franchise. Overall this brisket tastes better than the franchise, hands down. The difference is the full intense smoke flavor from the brick pits. If you love Rudy's BBQ, don't miss an opportunity to eat at the original.

Ribs: Fair. Must have caught them on a bad day. I have had better ribs here in the past. Tested tough of tender with much tearing and dirty bone. Overall flavor was dull. Full smoke but little else.

Sausage: Good. This is a different link than what is served in the franchise. My first thought is this a big smokey yummy hot dog! Fine ground pork and maybe beef with salt, mild spice and no aftertaste. Great smoke flavor. I envisioned putting this big link on a bun covered in Chile and cheese.

Sauce: Excellent. What can I say? This is the best sauce in the state. My own recipe is an attempt to duplicate this sauce. Before the franchise exploded, the wife always sent instructions to buy a bottle when coming back from the deer camp.

Overall I am impressed how well the franchise compares to the original. There are other big name Texas BBQ joints that have expanded their business, but none have done it better than Rudy's.