Barbeque, BBQ, Bar-B-Q [Houston, Texas]

I had never seen that but not long after this discussion I saw a show in which it was briefly featured. Gah! Doesn’t appeal to me, just seeing it anyway. They say it’s to mix up all the different parts of the pig since this is supposed to be whole pig bbq? I think around here it’s mostly made just from rump/shoulder? Hmmmm. To each his own.

This talk of chopped beef got me in the mood so we went to Roegels and yes it’s chopped to order but it goes downhill from there. The meat was chopped too fine and it was dry, I should have asked for moist. The Wifeacita said it tasted like sawdust.

Then she met a new friend, the pulled pork and she savored every bite and vows to return.

We also had two St. Louis ribs which I liked better than she did finding them moist and tender.

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I forgot to ad we had mac n cheese also. The Wifeacita took one bite and I ate about half.

That does it, I’m never ordering sides at a BBQ joint again unless some one can really, really convince me of something special and then I’m going to think long and hard about it.

Anytime someone says they love the sides at a place it means the BBQ is no good. Meat only, por favor.

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I really like the sides at Swinging Door, and the BBQ. The potato salad is my fav and the fresh green beans a close second.

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MMMMM. Those pickles look good !!! (:laughing:)

Just kidding. I’ve been to Swinging Door twice, I think. I thought the sides were good - what I remember of them - including the green beans, which I like with bbq for some reason. I don’t remember the tater salad. At least their sides are not an institutional product.

Looking thru the pics on YELP, the meats look dry, so I’m kinda surprised you like it.

I used to go down to Hinze’s in Wharton occasionally. They did real good pecan smoked Q, I thought. Not as good as Dozier’s in Fulshear but I thought they had gone down hill. I don’t remember the sides at either of those places. Swinging Door came in third for pecan smoked Q for me. I think I went once while Hinze’s was still open and only once after Hinze’s burned.

Hey, if you grew up on it that’s a good reason to like it. I can assure you Swinging Door was better than what I had in my home town.

Mac n cheese - blech! I order it only in desperation, as a last resort. I’ve never gotten why it’s so popular.

As i recall, I was not very impressed with the sides at Roegel’s either, and the pulled pork I think was the best thing I had there. Still think Gatlin’s PP is better.

I think it’s standard practice, in the parts of the country where pulled pork is what is meant by bbq, that it’s always sauced. I prefer it without, if it’s moist enough.

I haven’t been out to Lyndon’s in years, certainly more than a decade.

It was the first place I ever had pulled pork and I was impressed. It was pulled right in front of you,using 2 forks. They had a Carolina style sauce, but you had to ask for it when you went through the line. The sauces on a warming tray on the condiments table were Texas or maybe Tennessee style, w/tomato sauce or ketchup?

Most people go for their beef dishes but I first learned of it on Chowhound I’m sure and it was touted for it’s pulled pork. May have been the only place in town offering it back then.

They’ve moved, have a much bigger place now, it looks like. Things may be different now.

The only time I had Carolina style Q before Lyndon’s it was pork chops smothered in sauce; it was prepared by my boss at the time in the late 70s. He made them in an electric smoker. He was actually from western Kentucky but he said it was Carolina style. It was awesome.

In the 80s and early 90s I was going to VIrginia many times researching my ancestry. Sometimes I flew to Richmond but if I was going to the SW part of the state I flew in to Charlotte and drove north. I looked for BBQ sauce to purchase and bring home, but only at gas station convenience stores. Now, TJ’s Aldi and HEB all have versions of a Carolina style BBQ sauce.

Someone sent me this review recently, Dozier’s has room for improvement.

Ouch!

What I surmised, just based on the Q, not the bacon or jerky or anything else, was that the long-time pit master retired or passed and no one had been in training to take over. There was a time in the 70s when you heard more about Dozier’s than any other Q in the whole area.

Not Texas, just hilarious

“This is how I imagine 3-D printed meat might taste if the printer were running low on toner.”

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:laughing: Thanks for that.

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My former DIL’s family loves Swinging Door & that’s where they go for “occasions.” I went with them for her birthday. There were about 24 of us as I remember. I tried to order my favorite - sliced moist brisket. Waitress didn’t know what I was talking about. Tried several different versions of same order - fatty, wet, deckle, fatcap, off the high side - nothing worked. Finally gave up and just said, ok, I’ll have this brisket dinner, pointing to the menu. Yes, sides were great. Brisket was decidedly not. After I tried a couple of bites of the brisket, I was puzzled as to why her family (or anyone, really) liked the place so much, so I studied everyone else’s plates to see what they had ordered. Every single one of them, without exception, had ordered the smoked turkey.

I went with them quite a few times more after that - until DIL & son got divorced. I ordered the turkey.

My overall impression: good side dishes, great ambience, skip the brisket, get the turkey.

I’m not a big fan of brisket anyway so I don’t usually order it. But I haven’t been here in years actually, so need a trip back. DH prefers ribs and sausage to brisket. I’ll go with sausage and chopped beef over sliced.

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That explains it. Great place, mediocre brisket. I’ll have to try the ribs. :relaxed:


What do you lone Star denizens think of this idea?

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It’s accurate. I’ve met JC several times, he’s the mountain top guru of all things Texas BBQ. I’m partial to Central TX Q. I finally made it to church BBQ in Huntville a couple years ago and found it a tad underwhelming.

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My favorite is City Market in Luling, especially the spare ribs and then the brisket and no trip to San Antonio is complete without a small detour.

I may be a bit biased as we visited my Aunt’s house in Gonzalez every summer and went to her brother’s used car lot on the main drag in Luling while he and my father solved the world’s problems.

Southern Pacific freight trains rumbling through town drew me outside but I retreated back into the office in the cold a/c being Texas, in the summer, and perpetually hot.

He had a small watermelon farm and we’d load up on those Luling melons. I remember them rolling around the backseat floorboards, but never did like them but loved to slice them.

We never did eat any BBQ. [quote=“Lambowner, post:136, topic:8375, full:true”]
It’s accurate. I’ve met JC several times, he’s the mountain top guru of all things Texas BBQ. I’m partial to Central TX Q. I finally made it to church BBQ in Huntville a couple years ago and found it a tad underwhelming.
[/quote]

Something crazy happened with my reply.

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Brenham’s Truth BBQ opens a new Houston location tomorrow morning.
110 Heights Blvd.

TWITTER PAGE

A couple of failed BBQ places before this one let’s hope this one has better BBQ, plenty of hipsters to support it.

J Blacks wasn’t really a bbq spot. We ate there once and I’m pretty sure I had a burger.