Blue Moon BBQ: Hendersonville, TN

It's been a fairly regular tradition to to go to Hendersonville on Sunday after church to get some "All you can eat" fried chicken at Uncle Bud's Catfish, Chicken, and Such restaurant for $6.99, so I was really disappointed to hear that they closed it down. A few weeks later, I drove past it and saw a new sign up for a new BBQ place. That is about the only thing I can think of to replace Uncle Bud's. Needless to say, this place has been on my list to visit since the day it opened.


I finally got a good excuse to get up that way and decided to check it out. The store manager was extremely friendly and gave a mini-tour of the smokers they use. Check them out:




Blue moon has a great BBQ atmosphere. They changed the fishing motif for Uncle Bud's and I think they really stepped it up a notch with the memorabilia:



We stepped up to order. Since we always like to get a platter with a little of everything to sample as much as possible, we got the "Jay Boy" which has everything except chicken - for $20. Great price. We added a 1/2 chicken as well. I figured that would keep me from starving for at least an hour.

They do not use MSG in any of their seasoning. They cannot control the MSG in the sausage, but everything else is MSG-free, and this was a real relief. It was also refreshing that they understood what it was and why it's not a good thing.


The picture directly below is where you go to get your drinks after ordering. They have a variety of hot sauces, including the very hot El Yucatero - which goes very well with BBQ. They plan to have an even wider selection in the new future I am told. The sweet tea was excellent, and a good first sign that there is good stuff on the way. I have said it before, but it bears repeating. If the BBQ place pays attention to the tea and the "little" things, the food will usually be good.

With our plate, we got the beans and slaw as usual. The slaw was sort of a half way between mayo and vinegar based. It was OK, but I think it needs to go one way or the other. The beans were a little pasty, but you could tell they had been cooked (they were not directly poured out of a can and re-heated). They had meat cooked into them, which gave them a good flavor.

The meat was excellent. Their brisket is the best I have had in the Nashville area lately. Blue Moon is very comparable to Martin's BBQ Joint in Nolensville in presentation and the food served when it comes to the platters. However, I can say that overall Blue Moon has Martin's beat. The portions are a little bigger, and the meat is a little tastier. In fact, we enjoyed eating the meat without any sauce at first. At Martins, the chicken seems more like rotisserie, and at Blue Moon you can tell it has been in a smoker. The pulled pork has more smoke as well. I think this is because they use only hickory at Blue Moon and it makes a difference.

The ribs are also comparable to Martin's, but I think Blue Moon has them beat on taste. Although the pulled pork and chicken were also good, I think the brisket and ribs are the stars of the show. I plan to come back for a brisket sandwich soon.


The sauces at Blue Moon are a regular tomato based, a sweet and spicy, and a mustard based sauce. We did not care for the mustard at all. All of the sauces are a bit too sweet for my taste. This tends to overtake the taste of the meat if you use too much, especially when the ribs have such a great flavor on their own. My favorite was to combine the sweet and spicy with some El Yucatero and Louisiana hot sauces and it tasted awesome. I would highly recommend that they keep playing around with the sauce recipe's and tweaking them a little bit more. Perhaps check out the sauces at Jim -N- Nicks. To get back to a comparison of Martin's BBQ Joint - Martin's has more variety, but none of their sauces were really as good (even mixed). Martin's tends to be very "spice heavy" where you get the sense that the spice hasn't fully blended with the sauce. Not the case here.

Unfortunately we were unable to try desert. I am told their Banana Pudding is a great experience. That's on my list for next time.

After we finished eating, the manager wanted our honest opinion on the food and experience and we gave him the same feedback that we are giving here. I would rate Blue Moon a 7.75, and I only ding them a .25 point because the sides and sauces need to come up a notch or so. That's one of my higher ratings. Blue Moon is definitely a strong contender to Jim -N- Nicks and one of the better places in the Nashville area. The prices are good, and the service is excellent. Real smoked BBQ and a great atmosphere to eat it in. Check them out at:

www.tomsbluemoonbbq.com

104 Sanders Ferry
Hendersonville, TN. 37075
615-826-3663

Tell them BBQ Quest sent you!

-Big Daddy

Martins BBQ Joint - Nolensville, TN

Today I have a chance to stop into Martin's BBQ Joint in Nolensville. I had heard from a friend that "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" from the Food Network was there yesterday and I figured if it was good enough for them, I should give it a whirl. I am glad I did.

I looked them up on Google Maps before I went and noticed there were some mixed reviews, so I went a bit skeptical. I called ahead of time to check on MSG, and fortunately the owner was there to let me know they don't use it. This meant my wife could come to. The place has a real BBQ joint atmosphere. I enjoyed the "Dukes of Hazzard" and Willie Nelson motif they had going on. Nothing like staring at Daisy Duke and an album cover of Jerry Clower's greatest hits while chowing down. :)


We decided to go for the "Big Momma" platter which says "Feeds 2" and has a sampling of everything except chicken. So we ordered chicken to go with it so we could sample everything. Our sides were beans and slaw.


They have a variety of sauces, including a clear vinegar, extra hot, sweet, and regular. They were all OK, but we found ourselves tweaking them a bit (mixing them) to get the flavor we liked. Turns out we like the sweet and regular mixed for most things. They also had a white sauce, but we did not like this one at all. I know that is popular in Alabama, but it's pretty much useless everywhere else.

I usually never like the clear vinegar on pulled pork, but theirs was an exception. It was a little sweet, and went well to flavor the pork. The chicken was more of a rotisserie than BBQ, but it was moist. I am not a fan of putting rub on chicken as the skin never let's it really penetrate and you end up with a soggy crust on the outside. But it wasn't bad and still had good flavor. The brisket was very tender, but did not have as much smoke to I thought it would. It looked from the smoke ring like it would be extremely smoky, but it was mild. However, I think the brisket was better than most BBQ places in the Nashville area.


The ribs we good. We sampled both the baby backs and the spare. I generally like baby backs better, but I have to give them credit on doing the spare's correctly. They were not tough on the outside and pulled off the bone perfectly. I think next time, I will just go with a slab of those and my special sauce tweaking mixture. As for the sides, the baked beans actually tasted like baked beans and not from a can. They had a spice in them I cannot put my finger on, but they were good. The slaw was good as well (mayo based) and had the right amount of sweetness to it.

Overall, it's not the absolute best BBQ out there, but this was a good find to the Nashville scene, and I would rate this a solid 7, and would come back again. The staff was friendly from the taking of our order, to the delivery of the food. I also notice that singer Bo Bice (from American Idol) was in line and ended up sitting at the table next to us and apparently he thought the food was pretty good to. Just another day in Nashville.

I would recommend you give Martin's a try. It definitely represents Tennessee BBQ well.

Road Trip

Last August I took a road trip to combine some business and vacation. We started off in Memphis and headed through Little Rock. Stopped at a fantastic pie shop; home of the “Mile High Pies”. But I digress since this is a BBQ blog. Rules must be followed. This is the second time I have run across some damn fine pie in Arkansas. Something must be done.

Our vacation stop was Hot Springs, AR, the home of winter mobsters and a former president. The Chicago mafia would hide out there when the heat increased up north. Bill Clinton was raised in the small town. I’m sure there’s a joke to be had regarding any connection. Again, I digress. Not a politico blog. Rules, rules.

There are some fantastic old resorts there along the hot springs and the bath houses, but the big draw for me was the BBQ at McClard’s. As most BBQ places should be, it is in the outskirts of town in an area that has seen better days. The other sure sign of success was the crowded parking lot and the standing room only area in the restaurant. People hawked over tables and looked like they’d kill you for eye-balling theirs.

After a modest wait we got some cool sweet tea and duly considered a starter before giving zen-like contemplation to the location of my navel and thinking better of pushing it out further. Instead I got the tamale spread which is not to say I was calorie counting. This was a well varied spread of several foods that would be enough food in their own right: tamales smothered with beans, Fritos, smoky chopped pork, something resembling french fried potaters (MMMMmmm Hmmm), topped with several days’ recommended daily allowance of shredded cheddar. I’m sure there’s an art to the order they’re laid down, but I failed to recall or notice beyond my carnivorous frenzy.

My wife got the rib and fry plate. I’m sure they were good, but when I moved to try some I got the same aforementioned eye that was less of a glance and more of threat. We’ve not been married near 15 years by accident. I retreated to my remaining BBQ sauce soaked Fritos.

We did leave with leftovers for the ensuing road trip to Dallas. It was less a defeat and more of a survival mechanism. I did ultimately get some of the ribs. They were quite good but don’t miss the tamale spread if you only have one shot here.

The trip to Dallas was a several hours more from there. Mary tries to act maligned as if my BBQ ventures are putting her out so. But we all know she likes it too. We opted for the road less traveled and veered right into Oklahoma to run parallel to the Red River where Tioga, Texas was our stopping point prior to staying the night in Denton, just a bit north of Dallas.

Tioga is home to Gene Autry, oldschool cowboy. I’m sure there’s some fun history there but I was set on getting to Clark’s Outpost before the sun went down. I’ve been burned too many times by Mom-n-Pop places that close because said Mom or Pop aren’t up to coming in that day. Some of these places don’t even have phones to check, but they do have good food. Anyway, if you ask Mary about our little jaunt around the Grand Canyon to Page, Arizona she’ll still grumble about that and look put out.

Ultimately, there was no risk as Clark’s was open for a few more hours. The place is apparently a Harley hotspot on the weekends. Today there weren’t more than a few other folks, us, and a few well-armed cops from nearby -- always a good sign.



I got the brisket. It’s Texas. Brisket is the law or something. It was nice. Crispy outside, then some smoke and juicy delicious throughout. I’m a fiend for sauce too. They treat theirs with reverence. It is nicely contained in these capped bottles like where you would see an old beer or soda. Oh, the fried cheese we had for a starter was awesome. It reminded me of some fried curds I had in Minnesota. I’m quite convinced that frying is magic. If I was ever on a Fear Factor or Survivor show I’m sure I’d gladly choke down the rancid sea cucumber anus if it was heavily fried. How else to you explain chitterlings – really? They had an unusual take on corn on the cob too. They fried that, and then stuck some hard core, horseshoe nails or something in the sides so you can hold it. That was yum. Mary’s ribeye was grilled with onion and jalepeño peppers. The onions were enough to keep me away. I will eat pretty much anything but onion.

I never got to try any other BBQ places in Big D. I did get to an AWESOME burger joint in Ft. Worth, but again: rules. Oh well, that just gives me reason to go back. Dallas metro area is bigger than some Jovian moons so there are plenty places I haven’t seen yet.

My job doesn’t require me to travel as much any more. This is a very good thing for, well, having a life and being married. But it means I won’t be seeing as many places. Hopefully this means I get more quality and less quantity. Barring that, I get to eat more in Memphis. Maybe I’ll get some enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli. I hear that is like the best diet ever.

Erik Pena Officially Joins BBQ Quest!

Erik's been so good at his guest reviews, we decided to make him a standard contributor of the site. He'll be posting his own reviews. We look forward to seeing all new reviews.

Big Daddy

Interstate BBQ – Memphis, TN

Guest Review by Erik Pena:

Here’s a hometown gem in my backyard that I had not visited yet. I swear that Memphis has more high quality BBQ joints in one square mile than most cities can claim in their entire metro area.

I had made the requisite trip to Rendezvous (overrated), Corky’s (great but a bit commercial now), Commissary (sometimes hit-or-miss), and some other smaller shops, but this beats ALL! For anyone touring Memphis it is worth a short ride south on 3rd Street.

My wife and I got the sampler platter which is more than enough for two with pork and beef ribs, beef link, pork shoulder, slaw, BBQ spaghetti, and beans. I really wanted to try the pork ribs but I looked down for a minute to eat some of the excellent link and they were gone. She says she doesn’t know what happened. There is some photographic evidence.

The parts that I had were awesome. I’ve been back a few times with friends and family which is saying something given all the great places in Memphis. I’ll be back again.

Craig’s BBQ – De Vall’s Bluff, AR

Guest Review by Erik Pena:

I was driving back from vacation in the Ozarks and decided to hit this place. It is on the old Highway 70 between Memphis and Little Rock. It’s right across the street from The Pie Shop which got some major press from the USA Today food writer about 2 years ago. But this isn’t a pie blog so that’s all there will be about that.

I had rained hard for about two days here. Things inside were a bit soggy. But potential health code violations have never kept me from good BBQ. I got the dinner plate hot. You can get mild, medium, or hot. Apparently you can get extra hot too but I didn’t know that until after I ate. I like a spicy BBQ as long as it isn’t so hot to interfere with actually enjoying the food. The hot sauce is a thick, spicy, orange sauce that would hold up well on most any meat. I got the pork. It was tender, and thick sliced but still soft enough to chew through on a sandwich without stopping to cut it up.

The coleslaw is mayo based. I’m not a fan of that in general so I pushed it off to the side. Most of the carry-out orders were for BBQ only so I figure I wasn’t missing much. There were a lot of drive-up customers from out of town. One guy was returning from Oklahoma where he had moved after growing up. The place has been around since the ‘40s. It’s nice to see such longevity when it is earned from the consumers.

Chances are I’ll be back here and I’ll be having some pie too.

Old South BBQ - Smyrna, GA

Guest Review By Erik Pena

Atlanta has its share of good places to eat. Parts of it remain true to its Deep South roots. BBQ is no exception.

I met some friends from Marietta at the Old South BBQ in Smyrna, GA. Things started a little dodgy when they told me there was no sweet tea. This is not good. It turns out there was a little bit left in a pitcher but it was promised to another customer. They left so I got it.

I decided to get the BBQ house salad. It is super finely chopped pork on a pretty ordinary salad. I got it with the sweet and hot sauce. My friend got brisket with the hot sauce. "Sauce" is a bit of a misnomer since it was more like paste -- it was thick.

The salad was good, not great. But I got it with some garlic toast that was excellent. So that made up for it. This made for a very full meal so I skipped the sides and the dessert. Mistake? Maybe, but I'll never know. There are just too many other places on my list in the extended Atlanta metro area.

I think the ramp out front is so you can be wheeled out on a dolly when you are done.

Last time I forgot the photo of the food. This time I made it halfway. I need a better camera phone.

Jenkins Barbecue - Jacksonville, FL

Guest Review by Erik Pena

Jacksonville is a town that rolls up the sidewalks at night. Finding things to do downtown is not easy. There's The Landing and ... well are we heading to Southside or the beach now?

This place is by a big Baptist church with a lighthouse in a part of town that looks conducive to certain felonies. The whole block smells smoky from the place which is good unless it caught fire recently.

Travelling a lot let's me sample BBQ from all over the south. I didn't expect Jacksonville to use a mustard base. That is more of a South Carolina thing. But that's how they do it here.

I got the Rib "Sandwich". This is a misnomer unless you call the space shuttle an airplane. As you can see from the picture it's a slab of ribs plopped down on four slices of white bread -- two on the bottom, two on the top. I got the sweet mustard and spicy mustard on the side since I wanted to try both. These were very good ribs not too heavily seasoned.

Sweet tea is very good. I told the lady behind the counter that it tasted like it had some honey in it. She immediately said "I ain't tellinya" with a smile. Gotta protect those secret recipes. Whatever, I wanted a refill.
Normally I don't go to many places more than once. I came back here later in the week. The first time I got red velvet cake for dessert. The second time I got sweet potato pie. It was good but I should have gotten the red velvet again. It was worth the trip.

Kojak's House of Ribs

Guest Review by Erik Pena:

Kojak's House of Ribs in Tampa, FL.

This place is an oasis of old Florida in the midst of 1980's strip malls and sprawl. The environment itself is great which is a nice to have when looking for good BBQ. It's an old rambling shack with lots of rooms and a fantastic wrap around porch. There are live oak trees shading the property so the porch is the place I ate.

The ribs came right up with a side of snappy hot links. I also got the parsley potatoes. These are drenched in butter and quite good. But the ribs -- these are nice -- have not a lot of rub or smoke to them. They were super moist and unbelievably tender with a crispy outside. They have some sauce on the side, but I barely used it. Wash it down with a not-too-sweet tea.

There are no pictures here because I started tearing in to the food and thought of pictures after polishing off my last rib. Oops. Half-eaten food is none too appealing in photos.

I was adventurous (and hungry) so I also got the key lime pie. The crust on it was homemade, granular graham cracker. I could have eaten that on its own.

Good stuff. I'm ready for more!

To check them out online, go to the following URL:

http://www.kojaksbbq.com/

Williamson Bros Bar-B-Q: Marietta, GA

This guest review is from Erik Pena. This place is huge. This was just one of the rooms. There was a moose over my table.

I was cajoled into getting AUCE but really it was only $1.50 or so more than the single plate. So I overate and liked it. I got: mac-n-cheese (very cheesy but ordinary, the bottle of sauce (nice tomato, sweet, zesty, peppery, soupy consistency. very good), toast (used it to soak up some stew, Brunswick stew (very good, but a little runnier than I like) and ... pulled pork and riblets. pulled pork was great crisp with tender, not dry great with the sauce. Riblets were even better.

You can find them on the web at http://realpagessites.com/williamsonbros/

Henry's Memphis BBQ - Roanoke, VA

It has been a while since my last review, but I am going to try and use some business trips to catch up on my blogging. On the way to Philadelphia, I decided to stop in Roanoke, VA for BBQ. I got a lead to try Henry's Memphis BBQ there. Typically, when a BBQ has the name of another city or state, and you are not in that state, it is not a good sign. "Authentic Texas BBQ" in Chicago, for example. However, since I trust my source, I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did.

The nice ladies at the front of the place (where you order) said their brisket would be their recommendation. This took me back, because that is more of a Texas thing, and I would have thought ribs would have been their specialty. I ordered a combo plate with their brisket and pork, and BBQ beans and collards on the side with a roll.

The meat already came with Hennry's regular red sauce. I should have ordered it with no sauce. I was able to pull aside some of both meats and taste it without sauce and they both had a lot of flavor. There was not a lot of smoke in either (in fact I could not get any hickory or oak smell at all), but the flavor was very good, so I am not complaining. Next it was time to try all of the sauces.

I included Louisana Hot Sauce as a sauce here just because I sometimes like only that with pulled pork. It was very tasty with that. The South Carolina sauce was a mustard based sauce, but very sweet. It went well with the pork. I don't usually like that style, but this was very good.

The North Carolina style was more of a thinner, vinegar based. It had some spices in it, including celery seed. This is another sauce I am not typically fond of, but I liked Henry's version of this type of sauce better than others I have tasted. Henry's regular sauce is a red, sweet, Memphis style sauce. There is a hot verison of this sauce, called Henry's Habenero. I really dug that sauce because it had the right amount of heat. I wanted to purchase some of their sauces but they are not bottling it right now. They may start in the near future. If they do, I would get some and use it at home. All of these sauces work well with the pork. Their brisket came with sauce, but it really does not need any, and could have stood alone on its own flavor.

The BBQ beans were not baked, but they were not stock out of a can. It was doctored up with some onions and BBQ meat and other spices. The beans were tangy and sweet, a little more than normal baked beans, but I like them. The collards were cooked right. It came with hot vinegar already mixed into it. I would not recommend that they do this. I would recommend a little more fatback or ham hock, and a touch of sugar and those greens would have been perfect. I would generally like to add the hot vinegar myself to adjust to my taste. But they were not canned greens and were good.

I enjoyed the vibe of the place, and loved the big picture of Elvis on the wall (after all, it is Memphis style). It had a run-down BBQ place feel, but it was very clean.

There is a good meny selection and take out orders are welcome. You can find them on the web at http://www.henrysmemphisbbq.com/.

Overall, I would give Henry's a 7.5 out of 10. A few simple changes would put it to an 7.75, which as you all know is an extremely high number based on my completely subjective rating system. If you are traveling on I-81 or are near Roanoke, take a detour down 581 and find Henry's just past the downtown area. I will be back to try the ribs, probably on my way home on Friday. Henry - please bottle that habanero sauce. It's good.

-Big Daddy

Like Son, Like Father

Over the weekend, my dad FINALLY decided to use the smoker I got him for Father's day LAST YEAR!!! He had to season the smoker, and then used it to do some Boston Butts and a chicken. From what I hear it was good. Here are some photo's for you to enjoy. My dad may become part of the brotherhood yet....

Lenny Mac's BBQ - Duluth, GA

I had to make an unplanned trip to Atlanta today. What better way to celebrate an unscheduled trip than to try something new. I stayed near the Gwinnet Center Arena and right across the street from the parking lot was Lenny Mac's BBQ. So I had to succomb to temptation and do some market research.

Lenny Mac's has only been open since January of 2007 so everything is still new. I ordered take out so I cannot really say much about the service, but everyone at the front and the manager (Blaine) was very nice. Seems like a nice clean place.

Lenny's smokes the meat onsite. They use a combination of hickory, white oak, and cherry to smoke the meat. They offer brisket and smoke it for at least 12 hours. That peaked my interest. They have the Mac's Big Combo which would probably feed 2 or 3, and I simply asked if I could get it cut in half. Blaine, the owners son was happy to oblige.

The tea was good, and a little stronger than I usually get at most places. I consider this a plus. The sides I got were beans and slaw. The beans were a little thinner than what I am used to so they did not appear to be "baked" but they did have a good flavor and did not taste right out of the can. I might suggest putting some of the pulled pork in there to soak up a little of the juice. But not bad. The slaw was mayo based. It was simple and not too many ingredients. But it was not too thick or thin. It needs something to make the flavor pop, but again it was not bad.



I started on the pulled pork. You can definitely smell smoke - and for most normal people it has a good balance and is not over powering. It was not too salty and tasted good on its own without the sauce. A good amount of bark was in there too which spruced up the flavor. The ribs were a bit overcooked. The meat fell off the bones, but it was a little on the dry side. However they did have a good flavor and the rub had a good balance with the sauce. I would have liked to have tried some fresh off the smoker as I imagine it would have been much juicer. I had a chicken thigh but I was told that the chicken will not be on the menu in about a month, so I am not going to review it here. This is their least popular dish anyway. The brisket was tender and had flavor. It was a little on the greasy side and starting to dry, but I loved the outer smoke ring and bark. It could use just a touch more flavor internally, but I was happy with the tenderness of the meat.



I chose the spicy sauce, which I would characterize as somewhere between a standard red/sweet and the Dreamland sauce. It goes very well with the pork, especially the ribs. I finished it off with a little garlic bread, which was a nice touch.

Summary: While I would not put this as competition level Q, it definitely ain't bad, and I would eat here again. I would rate them about a 6.5 on the Q scale. They beat out most of the Florida based BBQ places I have eaten at (save Fat Boys in Ocala). Lenny Mac's comes across as very authentic, down home, southern BBQ for the locals and does a good job. Definitely worth checking out.

Big Daddy

Jim ' N Nick's Bar-B-Q - Murfreesboro, TN

It's been a while since we have eaten at a new place and I have been trying to cut back a bit. However, we recently tried Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q in Murfreesboro, TN and I had to tell you about my experience there.

Many times while traveling home to Nashville going north on I-24. I would see a huge billboard for this place. I always say to myself "remember to go back down there and try them" and for some reason I never do. A couple of days ago my wife and I had to go down to the "boro" and while we were there, it was the perfect chance to justify a trip over. We looked it up on a map while we were down there and found we were about a mile away. Yeehaw!





Jim 'N Nicks is located just around the bend from the mall at Murfreesboro off of North Thompson lane. It is a newer looking place in an area that has been building up around the mall for the past couple of years. There is a good deal of traffic. There were lots of cars there. Surely a good sign. This is a "chain", but it is still small and fiesty. There are approximately 22 locations in the Southeast region, and they are home based in Alabama. There are 4 of these in Tennessee, including one in Nashville on Charlotte. It does not feel like a BBQ shack on the side of the road about to be comdemned, but I am OK with that. It's actually clean and neatly organized. For a Q-joint, it might be a little too "high class" for some of you from the boonies. Just wear a shirt and shoes and you should be able to get served... hehe

We walked in and I immediately smelled Hickory wood smoke - that alone is enough to get a Q-seeker excited. The place still looks new. It has a nice setting with brick walls and nice, light-wood booths. Very comfortable. The first thing I noticed was the sauces:




They have a regular red sauce, and hot and spicy sauce, and some Habanero pepper ground up to sprinkle on your food in case you like it REALLY hot. The sauces are made FRESH every day. They are based on a memphis style tomato based red/sweet but they are not a clone of any sauce I have had in the past. The original has a flavor in it that I can't describe, but it goes well will most things. The Hot and Spicy is my favorite. It is a bit darker (maybe some molasses in there?) and has a lot of spices in it. It is not super thick, but just right. It has just enough heat without scaring away the normal palette. The Habanero dust will take care of the serious hot heads should they wish to add more. The spicy sauce reminded me a little bit of the kind at the now out-of-business Mothership BBQ (RIP - Jim, we hardly knew ye). I liked the hot and spicy sauce so much I bought a bottle to take home. The sauces are better than Famous Daves BBQ - another chain with places in the Nashville area.

I ordered the ribs/brisket combo with beans and collard greens (YES!) - and my wife ordered the chicken with mac-n-cheese and brandied apples. I explained to our waiter Bruce that I wanted to try a very small sample of a couple of other things, and he was very helpful. He brought out a small container of pulled pork, slaw, and potato salad for me to try.




Let's get right down to it. This is some good stuff! The ribs were not over cooked like in a lot of places. It came off the bone easy and I noticed that the flavor goes deeper than just the surface. When you bite into them you taste the flavor in the meat all the way to the bone. I believe this is because they are slow cooked on a moving rotisserie style cooker/smoker and then moved over to a grill with hickory wood used to smoke and finish them off. They aren't quick cooked or quick boiled and then moved to the grill. When I was there for lunch st about 12:30 - 1 p.m., they were loading the racks up for the dinner meal indicating about a 4 to 6 hour cooking time on the ribs which is great. They do coat them with a rub but THERE IS NO MSG!!! We originally call another location who told us there was MSG in the rub but nothing else. However we were told later this is not the case. They use all natural ingredients and there is NO MSG in their food. This is a MAJOR plus in my opinion. Good Q needs no flavor enhancements.

The pulled pork had a good smoke ring and was not dry. Since I only had a sample I may need to go back and just try the pork plate - but it seemed fine to me. I would definitely like to have it memphis style on a sandwich and compare to Famous Daves BBQ - which I believe Jim 'N Nick's would win that battle. The brisket was tender, but the smoke ring was not a thick. It had some flavor but it came with sauce already over the top. This was the only negative thing I saw. According to the Texas law books and the Texas gospel, good brisket does not get sauce (even though I dip mine in it anyway). It should be cooked so long that it is almost falling apart and has flavor running through it. I think they need to cook it a little longer and a little slower. If they could use a little mesquite to give it a smokier flavor, that would be great. It should come with sauce on it only by request. I liked the chicken, and so did my wife, but she did mention there is a celery salt or something on the seasoning/rub that they use on the chicken that is just a tad strong. I did not think this was the case, but I was using quite a bit of the sauce on mine

The sweet tea was for real. Coming from Alabama, they -better- know how to make it. Some places in Nashville it's either like sugar water, wayyy too sweet, or non-existant. Here, they know how to make good sweet tea, and that is a plus.

The sides were great. This is the first BBQ place in Tennesee that not only knows it is proper to serve collard greens at a Q joint - they actually know how to cook and season them properly! This wasn't chopped up bits of saw dust from a can that taste like a school cafeteria, this was the real thing. I could have just ordered two or three bowls of that and a rack or ribs and just went into an artery clogging feeding frenzy! The mac-n-cheese was as close to home made as I have had recently. The slaw is interesting because it is a combination of vinegar and mayo based. Some places do one or the other and most only consider the slaw an afterthought so they do it badly (both kinds). This was a well balanced slaw that tasted fresh and went very well with the rest of the meal. The beans did not taste like they were out of a can - they tasted like real baked beans you might have at your own back yard BBQ cook out. Very authentic. I felt the same way about the potato salad, which reminded me a lot of my mothers. I did not taste the apples but my wife gave me the thumbs up and that is usually good enough for me. Overall, the sides were not considered an afterthought but a critical part of the meal and general experience of the meal.

I guess word had gotten out that a "Blogger" was checking out the place. Bruce brought out the head Q-meister - Christoper Zaferis (who everyone calls "Zeke") to greet us. Zeke is a very nice guy who invited me back to see how they prepare the food. He takes a lot of pride in the attention to detail and the passion of cooking good food for customers. As you can see, he showed me the place where the mojo happens - where they cook the ribs on the grill over hickory wood.

I was impressed by the great service of Bruce (our waiter) and Zeke's willingness to spend some time with us explaining how they do things there. And that's when he mentioned PIE!!!! Zeke had a couple of slices sent out to us, one chocolate and one coconut. Zeke said he was pretty proud of the deserts and after tasting them I can see why. Most of you who know me know that by the end of the main course, I am done. But I decided to box up more Q than I normally do so I would have room for desert. I gotta tell you it was a great surprise. At several BBQ places, you might come across some decent banana pudding or something, but this was different. The pies at Jim 'N Nick's are more like the deserts you might find on a Disney cruise ship prepared by top chefs (and yes, I have had those before). The crust was flaky and awesome. The chocolate cake had a fudge flavor that was so good, but it was not too rich - you could eat more than one or two bites (which I did). My wife does not even like coconut, but ended up liking that one the best. It is not as sweet, but it is sooooo good. We saved half of them and ate the rest the following day. Most of the time I never talk about deserts because the meat is the central focus. For sure, the ribs are the star here, but the pies take a back seat to NOBODY. Make sure you try a slice when you go.

In summary, Jim 'N Nick's has what we have been looking for in a place in middle Tennessee: Good tasting Q, good sauces, good sides, sweet tea, awesome deserts, and good service. I know I must sound as giddy as a school girl, but you know by my past entries that I don't pull any punches. I would give these guys a 9 out of 10 because they have it all together in one package and that is hard to find. The only thing I would recommend is to figure out how to treat the brisket like an authentic Texas BBQ place would. Judge Beans in Nashville would be an example of how it should be prepared and served, but he has MSG injected all in it and that ruins the experience for me and several members of my family. If Jim 'N Nick's ever gets the upper hand on the brisket, they will have a knock out punch to any place that dares stand in their way. Famous Dave's would be the nearest competition style-wise in a resturaunt and the menu items, but I think they have them beat by a long shot.

Jim 'n Nicks is a GREAT place to experience a good southern BBQ meal, and I highly recommend it to my Q-brothren. Tell Zeke that Big Daddy at BBQQuest.com sent you over.

To check out their menu and find out more information, here is their web site:

http://www.jimnnicks.com/

BFD

City Barbeque - West Chester, OH

Sorry it has been so long since my last review. Since Dec 30 I have tried to stay on my Providia diet and I have been doing very well. I have not weighed yet, but I have dropped one pants size. So that's a cause for celebration. Why not take one day off for a crazy day and do a BBQ review? I plan on sticking to the diet as long as I can, but there will be times where I just need a little pork fat to balance out all the veggies!!!

So we are up in Cincinnati and just north of town in West Chester is a place one of my buddies has been bragging about. The only other place is Burbanks, which we have already done, and there is a Dickey's, which is a chain that we reviewed in Dallas last spring. So I wanted to do something new this time and City Barbecue was selected.


First off, this is in a mall area location and is in a pretty nice section of town. It sits right next to a Bonefish - which is one of my new favorite places to eat right now. But it doesn't help the authenticity. I mean, you guys already know I am looking for almost condemned buildings to eat Q in and this is just the opposite. But there is rule book that says good Q can't be found in a clean building. So if you like things like good hygiene, this is definitely the place for you. City BBQ has several locations around the Cincy area, but I was told this was one of the better ones.


The staff was friendly. When you walk in, you order at the register and then they bring out your order on the other side of the register. You then take your food to the table. Sort of the style of a subway resturant. You get your own drinks and you get free refills. One positive note: they have sweet tea and its not that bad - especially for a region where its hard to find it natively. So I'll give them that.


As I said, the staff is friendly and actually encouraged pictures. We decided to get the Deluxe sampler platter, which had the best selection. We got 1/2 lb of brisket, 1/2 lb pulled pork, 1/4 of a chicken and 1/2 slab of ribs. It came with two sides and two loaves of cornbread. We ordered baked beans and slaw, with an extra side of their corn pudding. This was for two very hungry people who have been deprived of real food for a month.....

And the food looked really good... See below...



The star of the show is the brisket, which surprised me. It was very tender and did not need any sauce. There was a lot of flavor to it. But it was missing a key ingredient - hickory or mesquite smoke. The pulled pork was the same way. It was good, but light on the smoke. The chicken and ribs were already coated with their sauce, which was a shame as I like to experiment with different sauces. They were both slathered with it. The good news is that it was a very nice and flavorful Kansas City style sweet red sauce, and I liked it. The ribs were not cooked long enough or else they were cooked too fast. Again, no real smokey flavor on them, and they were not as tender as I would like them. Because of this, the ribs had more fat on them, and I just don't like my ribs like that. The chicken was very moist, which I did enjoy (we got white meat). I believe the lack of smoke is probably due to health codes or zoning regulations dealing with smoke and how it can be used within a resturant in this area. It tasted like they are cooking the meat over coals at a closer distance, very similar to what we experiened in north carolina.

On to the sides. The slaw was crisp, but the cabbage was a little bitter and overpowered the creamy sauce. The corn pudding had a good flavor, but it was a little too oily. The beans were the best side and had pieces of brisket in it. I did not care for the corn bread. It was more like a cake. Definitely a yankee style cornbread. Some of you may like that style, but it was not to my tastes.

City offers several sauces; a regular red, a hot red, a sweet mustard sauce that taste like it has relish in it, and a clear vinegar with spices for the north carolina tourists who need that swill to make their life complete.... They also offer Texas Pete hot sauce, which is probably the best choice for the pulled pork. Of course, no sauce is needed for the brisket - which is a good sign. Since the ribs and chicken are glazed to high heaven with sauce, you really don't have another option. This is something I think needs to be addressed. Why would you offer two kinds of red if you plan on pouring it on before the customer gets it. Let me decide which sauce I want. If you are like me, then order it naked and see if they can oblige you.



All in all I would equate City Barbecue with a good chain like Famous Dave's. It is still chain Q and regulated. Smoke added to the cooking - I would suggest hickory for the ribs and brisket, and a mix of 50% pecan wood and 50% hickory for the pulled pork. This would kick this Q into high gear. I would also suggest cooking the ribs slower and on a lower heat for longer. If you don't have the time to do it longer, then move to baby back ribs.

I would give City Barbeque a 6.5 and consider it along the same lines as Famous Daves. For the casual Q eater, who might just as well hit Bonefish on Friday night - this stuff is fine and will definitely satisfy the hungry jack in you. For the die hards out there, I would probably still choose Burbanks simply because of the collard greens and the constant blues music. City - do yourself a favor and get some hickory wood burning in that place and kick it up a notch. If I can just see a bunch of smoke in the room I might be happier...

Until I break my diet again - send me some more suggestions to try out. I will be traveling more this year and I need some pointers on where to go when I am out and about.

Big Daddy

I like big butts and I cannot lie

Just a lazy Saturday. I was freezing my butt off trying to heat some butts up.

They turned out GREAT! 12 hours of love. The trick is to get the meat internally to 190 degrees. We cooked it on the smoker for 8 hours, wrapped it in foil and cooked it in the oven for about 3 hours. Then let it cool down. The bones came out by giving the slighest pull. This is how it should be.

Proof yankees don't need to be cooking BBQ

See here:

www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=87913

well, daggum!

Big Daddy

David tries to cook a brisket...

A friend of mine from Atlanta sent me this email:

Scott -

Here are some shots of me and my rig with a nice Brisket. I cooked it last Sunday. It came out OK. I think the temp was a bit high and casued it to cook to fast.

The meat has a nice smoked look. I use regualr coal and hickory. My best meal by far is still the turkey breast!

-David




---------------------------

Yeah - brisket is a hard one. You gotta do a lot of research and have a whole weekend to baby that thing. Most briskets take about 15 to 20 hours to cook over very slow heat. At some point they are wrapped in tin foil and there are all kinds of tricks and tips you can use to make it tender. I am still working on my own way of doing it, but the three main areas are smokiness, tenderness, and flavor.

Hey - if you want to send me your pictures and BBQ story I will be happy to post it.

Big Daddy

Judge Beans BBQ: Nashville, TN

After getting back to Nashville for a length of time and getting off the road, I decided to head down to Judge Beans. I had heard about them from a friend and we decided to check them out. I wanted to give these folks a fair shake because I intend on being pretty picky about a place that claims to have authentic Texas brisket, especially in Nashville. You can read the whole story on their web site which I have a link to for this story.

I actually went there three times before I did this official review.


The first time I went I had a combination platter and the brisket was a little tough. I was told that this was very unusual and I should give it another try. The ribs to me were OK, but they were not a match for an authentic Memphis rib place. The second time I came back I decided to have just the brisket and it was tender and it had more flavor and I liked it a lot. I also noticed that I spent the rest of the day and into the evening with about the worst case of indegestion I can remember. You know the kind where it seems like there is something just at the back of your throat and you try to burp to get it out but it never really goes away? That kind.

I suspected that perhaps I ate to much or it was something else that caused it so I went back the third time. This time I had the brisket plate again. It was not as good as the second time but better than the first. So that tells me that you can't really judge this place on one particular day.


I also ordered the "Texas Sushi" which is basically a jalapeno popper wrapped in their brisket. For $3.50 (it could have been more, I can't remember), I thought this one piece was a little over priced. I would have thought at least two would have been on the plate.


Here is a picture of my buddy's plate:


Now after the third time I noticed the indigestion was back for the rest of the afternoon. I had a conversation with one of the cooks there and they told me that they cook their brisket for 24 hours using Mequite wood that they have brought in by the truck load every few day, and they put an injection in it. I figure its the injection that gives me the indigestion. Another buddy of mine had the same problem. I suspect it may be packed with MSG or some other concoction that messes me up. So if this happens to you, they you'll know why. I don't think it affects everyone that eats it though. That's why I don't like to eat at places that use MSG in their cooking. My wife is allergic and so is my father. And I can tell if I have eaten a lot of it I just feel crummy and bloated for several hours. Why people cook with it I will never understand. If you need that much help with flavor you ain't a good enough cook. Get out of the freakin kitchen. Bu sometimes (and I think it might be the case with Judge Beans) that it is one ingredient in something that they use and isn't labeled and they probably don't even know it.

The Q here does have flavor and it is one of the front runners for Nashville BBQ you will find. It also stands alone (as far as I am aware) as the closest to authentic Texas Q that you can find in Nashville so it stands out. The sauces are OK, but most people who know Texas brisket won't use a sauce on it. Its mainly for the ribs. The sides are OK. They seems authentic. Nothing to slap your grandma over, but decent. Overall it is a well put together meal. It gets a 6.5 (would have been a 7 if I did not get indigestion every time I eat it). I would love to come back and try it again but I am afraid to eat any more of it. But if you don't think you are allergic to any of those injections and you like Texas BBQ, you should head over there and give it a try.

Here are the smokers in the back that they cook on:


Here's a look at the mequite wood they get brought in for the cookin of the brisket:


I will have to give them the points for the 24 hour smoking and using real smokers and the right kind of wood. You can't get brisket that slow cooked anywhere else around here, that is for dang sure! I wish their ribs was as good as the brisket because I think they could be one of the best places in Nashville if they could change just a couple of things. The waitresses are very friendly and sometimes you will see the owner hanging out and talking to folks. I did like this place. I think I just have a strange reaction to the meat. Perhaps I could just take some Pepcid with me when I go next time and just get it over with....