Texas in Atlanta?! I Love It!!!

Ok, generally, when I see people say things like "just like Texas" or "authentic Texas Style BBQ or Steaks", I make a rude face and think to myself,  "see ya.  You ain't no Texas joint".  Well, I have to say that today in Atlanta, I was more than pleasantly surprised!

Fox Bros. BBQ is truly authentic Texas BBQ but with a twist.  Texas BBQ with southern style cooking.  You can get collard greens, black-eyed peas and fried okra.  I got mac-n-cheese for my side (sorry doc!)  The menu is definitely unique.  You can get your traditional BBQ items.  Pulled pork, (real) Texas Brisket, and smoked chicken.  No sausage, which was a little weird.  They also have smoked wings and tons of appetizers plus unique sandwiches.

I went a little bit different this time.  I usually do sampler platters but I always ask what they are famous for.  Fox Bros. is famous for something called the Fox Bros. Burger.  I had to bypass my usual sampler and try that.  I kicked off the lunch with smoked wings.  I have to tell you, those may have been the best wings I have ever had.  Sorry Plucker's but wow.  Those were awesome and not heavily fried, so even better. I finished off the wings and out came the burger.  Now understand.  The "burger" was actually chopped brisket covered with melted pimento cheese and peppered bacon with pickles, onion and jalapeno mayo.  The brisket was smoked perfectly and totally reminded me of authentic Texas brisket.  I can never find that outside of Texas so it was so refreshing (little note here.  The owners of Fox Bros. are from Fort Worth Texas so that answers how they know how to do their brisket so well!)  The "burger" was just amazing and it was huge, just like the wings.  Guess I have my dinner already in my hotel room with my leftover "burger"!!

Gotta tell you, if I gave out stars or thumbs up or whatever rating score other people use, I would give Fox Bros. BBQ my highest rating.  When you are in Atlanta, you have to try that place. You will be so happy you did!!!

Enjoy a great "burger" and Keep on Smokin!!!!!

Southern Soul is Southern Taste!

I have to say that I love Savannah and St. Simon.  I had to go there for work this week.  The geography here is just beautiful.  Quick side note, Savannah is a very cool town from the architecture to the history.  Could spend a lot of time in Savannah just studying. Luckily, the food is just as beautiful.  

I went to a well known place called Southern Soul.  It is in St. Simon and has just a cool and funky feel to it.  It has been on several food shows on TV so I of course had to check it out.  I went there this afternoon and tried the sampler platter.  I asked the young lady what they are famous for and she of course said, wait for it, ........the pulled pork!  I got pulled pork, ribs, sausage, fried okra and potato salad.  The food was all very good.  I think the sausage was best.  The pork was excellent.  Tender and juicy.  I will say, as with a lot of pulled pork, you need the sauce to really give it the kick you want.  The sauce was excellent.  They had a spicy mustard based sauce that was really good with just the right amount of kick.

Overall, I would say you can’t go wrong with some Southern Soul!!  Now, they do have some other things besides BBQ, like some very unique sandwiches.  If you find yourself in St. Simon, stop by.  You will be glad you did!!!

Keep on Smokin, ya’ll!!!

Birthday Bash!!!

Time to write up a little something different.  I know I usually write about BBQ places I visit but this evening time to write up a little bit different.  

I was invited to cook for a big birthday party last weekend.  It was a big b-day and they wanted something special to eat, so they called me.  I was quite honored to be asked to do this.  The evening started at midnight.  A good time to start a BBQ.  I got over and fired up the smoker and spent some good time talking to some folks from Iowa about how they did their BBQ.  I've found that when I fire up the VooDoo Child, people love to talk about hey they BBQ or grill and it is definitely fun and a good time to swap war stories.  I always learn something whether it is a seasoned vet or a rookie just starting.  Something my family taught me.  Look at every opportunity as an opportunity to learn.  You never stop learning.

So, eventually, everyone went to bed and it was just me and VooDoo doing our thing.

Now, we did have a couple of visits from some local coyotes and that was fun.  They got about six feet away and just wanted to say hello.

The product turned out pretty good and more importantly, everyone enjoyed the food.

So thanks for having us out!  We really enjoyed the evening and morning and so glad you enjoyed the food.  So Detlef, happy birthday and we at Trinity BBQ hope you have plenty more!!!

Tell us about your best birthday meal.  We would love to hear.  

Keep on Smokin!!!!

More Bama BBQ!!

I travel a lot for work and happily, I travel almost exclusively in the South.  You can't beat the people , the weather, the history and of the food.  Southern cooking is just different.  It puts some meat on your bones and packs such amazing flavor.  I am in the South again today.  I am in Crimson Tide country (which I just tolerate because they have good BBQ!)  I went to a place today called Saw's BBQ.  It was recommended to me by some customers of mine.  I of course had to try it!

The place is small and looks just like an old BBQ joint, even though it is only 4 years old.  The ambience is awesome.  The food is better.  I had smoked chicken with a white sauce.  Amazing. Now if the sauce had not been on there, it wouldn't have been as good but it was on there so it rocked!  The rib I had was perfectly cooked.  Not too long but perfectly moist and tender.  The pulled pork was super tender.  Again, as usual in the deep South, pulled pork has to have a good sauce on it and this did.  It was a sauce that was a blend of Carolina  and Bama Q sauce.  Very tasty.  I of course tried their sausage.  It was just ok.  It tasted too much like breakfast sausage.  It was good but I would have it with breakfast, not lunch.

Overall, I have to say I loved this place.  Some of the better BBQ I have had outside of the Lone Star State in quite a while.  If you are in Birmingham, give it a try.  You won't be sorry!

City Slickers!!!

Normally when I say that, I am making some flippant reference to someone who thinks just because I am from Texas, I am a country bumpkin...ok will stop because I don't want to get off on a tangent but feel free to ask me about that and I will be happy to share!!

City Slickers this time refers to a great event where the Colleyville Chamber of Commerce gets together music, auction, food and good times to raise money for charity.  The event is a lot of fun and good times are always at hand there.  I was fortunate enough to be invited this year and to bring some good ol' BBQ to the fray.  This was my first large event where I got to cook a lot of food for people that don't know me.  So to say I was nervous is an understatement.

Nervous makes sense though.  There were probably 800 people there trying all kinds of different food.  Great local restaurants were in attendance and I tried amazing pork belly sliders from NeXt Wood Fired Bistro and Vino Bar  (thanks for all of the great convo Mr. Martinez) , great crab cakes from Mac's, tasty brats from Red Dog Right and way too many salted caramel cupcakes from LaSera Cupcake Bar.  I was next to seasoned veterans who have been to this type of rodeo more than once and they were all great.  It was great to get to meet people and get advice from them and them eagerly providing and offers of help in the future.  

I had the smoker blowin' and goin' for 12 hours Sunday night and produced over 100 lbs of smoked meat.  Yep, 100 pounds.  Needed about 20.  We are giving meat to friends, family, work and if you want any, call me!  The food was very well received.  People came back 4 or 5 times to sample the brisket, chicken and pork.  People were asking me where they could buy my sauces and where my restaurant was because in the words of several "I would be there every day!"  The event was a huge success and I am so fortunate to have attended and met so many wonderful people. 

A special thank you to everyone who donated to the victims of the West Explosion. We raised $150 that was added to a special fundraiser hosted by Man Up BBQ.   A special shout out to two special ladies for helping me make this happen.  One I have known a lifetime and one I have just gotten to know.  Thank you to both for helping me get this business smoking!!!  Another shout out to my graphic designer Ms. Deborah Faitt-Esker.  She designed some beautiful menus and they were a hit as well.  If you need some graphic artistry done, contact me and I will get you in touch with her.  And of course I have to thank my partner in crime.  She got the table designed, made our signs, made sure everything we needed was packed and most importantly, kept me sane!  Love you honey!

Thanks for reading and I look forward to doing this much more often.

Keep on Smokin!!!  

Birmingham BBQ!!!

Faithful readers, you all know I travel for work, a lot.  The travel does get a bit old for a lot of reasons but there is one good thing about it.  I get to try a lot of BBQ!!  I am in Birmingham, Alabama today.  I spent this evening meeting with a bunch of CIO's and of course I wanted to find out where I should eat.  They definitely provided plenty of options but the leader was a place called Jim -n-Nick's.  So you can just guess where I went tonight.  Yep, McDo....I can't even finish that.  I made a bee line for Jim -n- Nick's.

One thing I love about eating in the "South" is the prominence of pimento cheese.  I love pimento cheese!  I mean really love pimento cheese.  I tried the appetizer plate they had and it was awesome!  I mean who wouldn't love pimento cheese, cheese biscuits and hot links?  The pimento cheese had big chunks of pimento peppers and the perfect mix of mayo and cheese.  The hot links were 2 full sized sausage links.  Biggest appetizer you can imagine.   I asked the bartender Chris what I should get.  He knew I was from Texas (is that really a surprise?) and suggested the brisket and I told him, "thanks but I would like to eat what you are famous for" and he immediately said two types of pig!  Score!  I got the pulled pork and baby back ribs.  The pulled pork was very good.  Very moist.  Very flavorful.  They put the exact right amount of sauce on the pork.  They didn't drown it, which was great.  The ribs were good with a good flavor.  They were a bit dry but the flavor was good.  I did like the way they put a couple of pickles on top of each piece of pork.  

Chris did a great job of selling the desserts and while I am sitting here typing this I really wish I would of got some of that banana pudding to go!

Jim-n- Nick's is a must stop when you are visiting Birmingham.  I really liked it and the service was awesome.  So if you are wanting some BBQ and a good time, stop by.  You will be so glad you did.  

Tell me about your favorite BBQ place on a road trip.  Thanks for listening and Keep On Smokin'!!!!!

A Smoking Gun!

I know in these times mentioning a smoking gun is not politically correct but it is exactly the right thing to say.  I was caught in Houston yesterday and decided to drive home instead of fly.  I decided to take advantage of that and grab some BBQ.  (you are surprised by that, right?)  Right there on the side of I-45 is a gas station called Woody's Smokehouse.  I have been there several times and like it every time.  Woody's being a gas station has a ton of stuff, like jerky, homemade canned goods, and bagged candy and nuts.  They do have a very unique smoker which I have pictured below.  They are famous for their smoker as it is literally, a smoking gun!  The BBQ is good and is always consistent.  I would not say the BBQ is remarkable but it is good. I just had a chopped beef sandwich.  The portion was a good size but they were a little stingy with the sauce.  I would say that Woody's is a great place to go to get a good BBQ sandwich if you are on the move.  It will definitely hit the spot.

Tell me what your favorite roadside BBQ place is.  Let's hear from you and keep on smokin'!!!