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Tuesday, August 07, 2007

You Like Bar-B-Que, Right?

Then you'll probably like this place.

They deliver all over San Francisco, but their online ordering system is unreliable. It worked, but not without three phone calls. If I wanted to use the phone, I would have called in the order in the first place. The good news is that they deliver to our place. Goat Hill is the only other decent place that'll do that for us.

Let me back up. I guess most people reading this probably already know that Chris and I have been back on the meat train since Thanksgiving. Some of you might not've known that I ever was a vegetarian. (I find that hard to believe.) Those of you who don't know me and magically stumbled onto my site probably think I'm a hypocrite for promoting the slicing and chopping and marinating of animal flesh on the same page with a link to Brooklyn Vegan. (It's not like it's PETA. Just click on it.)

However, those of you who've known me for a while (most likely those of you related to me) have met my inner carnivore. Shredded pork, beef brisket, and baby back ribs, oh, how I missed you. I feel our time together is short, so let's make the most of it. I sense veganism is in my future. I was on my way there when I was waylaid by the buffet at the Bellagio. I swear. I don't know what happened, but I'll quit soon. I promise.

In the meantime, let's savor a list of bar-b-que restaurants I've enjoyed over the years:

Woody's - The beef brisket covered with both flavors of sauce (the yellow and the red) was my favorite dish here until Jeff Foxworthy decided to buy this chain and close it forever with empty promises to reopen it as a Foxworthy Smoke House Grill. I don't know if that ever happened. I was heartbroken. Since this place is dead and buried, no other bbq will ever be able to hold a candle to it...

Sam's - ..except maybe this place. I'm reserving some judgement, but this place in San Jose is surprisingly good. I've only had the ribs, but I will be going back for brisket, or perhaps some sort of two meat combo.

Hog 'n' Grog - This place knew shredded pork. They also had an especially fine assortment of sides, my favorite of which was the sweet potato casserole. As good as, if not better than (gasp) Mom's. (It's not that hard, really. This is one of the three things I can actually make without trying too hard.) This place was another sad victim of the harsh reality of restauranteurism. It was located in the bottom of the Battery Park Hotel where, at the time, no tourists walked. Alas, they were ahead of their time.

12 Bones - Ribs and sides, fantastic. They've got, like, four different choices of bbq sauces. And it appears to be popular - packed, dare I say. This was the first real instance of me witnessing the 'revitalization' of the riverside in Asheville. I know it's been going on for years, but I haven't been around. There was an abandonned building in that spot for as long as I can remember. I just hope it's not taking too much business from the Silver Dollar.

Armadillo Willy's - Consistent. I've learned to appreciate this. It's a chain, but it's also near my office.

Big Nate's - Well, the pork wasn't quite shredded, but the sauce was tasty and the meat was tender. No complaints. I had a giant pile of greens, red beans on the side, and a corn muffin. It was a lot of food, which is good, because it's not the cheapest. I'll have to try the brisket next.

Memphis Minnie's - I include this on the list because there was a time when I did enjoy this restaurant. What the hell happened in the last five years? Maybe they just had a bad batch of brisket the day Chris and I decided to try it out again. It was awful. We had to cut little bits of meat off the nasty strings of fat. That incident should have turned me off to meat immediately, but I got over it when I was reminded of Nate's. My faith has been renewed.