All this writing and BBQ cooking of Part I got me to thinking of my favorite BBQ Restaurants, so I decided to list my favs in ascending order:
Starting with Fourth place: Cattlemen's Real Pit Bar-B-Q
I have been driving past this place for almost 12 months on nearly a daily basis as I travel east and west on Beach Blvd here in Jacksonville. I only recently took the time to check out Cattlemen's they have very good, friendly service, a plain yet clean atmosphere. Probably not the place for a date night, then again that goes for most BBQ restaurants or depends on the gal you intend to take. Prices are more than fair for the portion sizes. The meat literally just fell or slid off the bone as I grabbed a rib.
Tied for third place: Bandit's Barbecue & Riscky's Barbecue
I stumbled across Bandit's Barbecue while on a college Spring Break Ski Trip to Utah back in March of 1988. After a hard day of skiing the waist deep champagne powder of Alta Ski resort (second oldest in the U.S.) we headed to picturesque Park City for dinner. While strolling down old Main Street trying to find a decent place to grab a bite to eat we found Bandit's. One glance through the window at the old west and antiques deco with long rustic wood tables covered with red and white checkered tablecloths the place just looked really inviting. The doors opened and the great smells sealed the deal. I actually had to google "BBQ Park City" and when I saw the street view image I knew that this was the place I remembered. The fact that they are still around speaks volumes to the quality.
I found Riscky's Barbecue while on a business trip to Dallas in the summer of 1995. I had heard one of the things to check out while in Dallas was the old Stockyards in Ft. Worth. After walking around and soaking of the old western and general "Everything is Bigger in Texas" atmosphere my stomach started growling. I followed my nose & ears and landed in front of a noisy crowd at Riscky's which felt more like an outdoor picnic than an indoor establishment. Just a fun and laid back experience! Since this went back a couple of years I again googled "BBQ" and location to confirm name of the establishment and like above they are still going strong.
Second place goes to: Little Richards BBQ
On a trip this past fall to Washington D.C. & Roanoke Virginia my friends and I decided on the return trip to head back to Florida via the Blue Ridge Parkway. We only managed the first half of the Parkway due to the need to make it back home on time. Anybody who has never driven the scenic route is really missing out especially when the leaves are turning colors. While driving through North Carolina we kept a look out for a traditional BBQ joint and finally resorted to the Garmin Navigation system to point out some places near Mount Airy. The navi listed 3 potential places and we did a drive by on all three. As we drove along I kept thinking where have I heard this towns name before and then it hit me Mt. Airy was a town often mentioned in the old Andy Griffith Show. Unfortunately we did not have any time to sightsee but we did settle on Little Richards BBQ. My recommendation, that I split with my friend as a late lunch, for this rustic and quaint BBQ joint: Lemonade or Sweet Tea and the BBQ Chicken & Rib Plate with Cole Slaw and some of the best Hushpuppies I have ever had! I know, stick to the meat forget the filling sides!
Tied for first place: Dale's Bar-B-Q South & Harry & Larry's Bar-B-Que
While shopping for a used car this past May my friend and I accidentally saw my future Benz E-Class wagon sitting on the left side of Highway A1A headed north at a small used car dealership in the town of Fort Pierce, Florida. I quickly pulled a u-turn and pulled in to the dealership to get a close up look at this potential new used set of wheels. When we got out of the car we almost forgot about the Benz as our noses filled with the wonderful smell of Hickory smoke that emanated from chimney of Dale's right across the street. One glance at each other and we knew after the test drive Dale's was going to be our lunch solution. Dale's is definitely nothing fancy but the food especially the Ribs were awesome and there were like four different bottles of BBQ sauce to choose from at each table, Ice tea refills came fast and often. While we ate it was decided to sleep one night before making a decision to buy the E-Class although in my gut the decision to buy had been made by the time I had hit 55 mph on the first test drive. We went back the next day with a second set of eyes and for a second test drive before closing the deal on the car and a second round of meals at Dale's to celebrate the end of nearly a month long search for a decent ride.
I was introduced to Harry & Larry's Bar-B-Que by my friends when they invited me to tag along on a trip to Disney in Orlando. The entire trip down to Orlando the praises were sung and Harry & Larry's definitely lived up to the hype. Located on the main street of historic and very scenic Winter Garden just north of Orlando. The night we decided to go we were running late and so we phoned in our order while enroute to insure that we would still be served before the place closed. I let my friends decide on what to order since they had been there a couple of times and the house specialty, BBQ Beef Brisket did not fail to impress. The meat just melted in my mouth and we enjoyed our meals immensely as we watched the sunset while we sat at one of the sidewalk table. If you plan to visit Harry & Larry's make sure to check out the opening times on their web site as they are not open 7 days a week.
Finally for a different take on BBQ and thus deserving a special mention as it doesn't fit into the same category as the wonderful restaurants above is the Texas de Brazil Churrascaria. They have several locations through out the U.S. and the one in Ft. Lauderdale is definitely the kind of place to take a date or celebrate a special occasion. In my case it was my birthday and I had been dying to go to an authentic Brazilian Churrascaria for quite some time as I had been fascinated by the concept after having seen these places highlighted in short TV reports surrounding coverage of the annual Grand Prix of Brazil for many years. The biggest mistake I made that day though was having lunch and then allowing myself to get carried away with all the sides and appetizers at the large buffet. The basic concept at a Churrascaria is the waiters walk around all the time with these big spits with different kind of grilled meats, each guest has a little card on his table that you flip over, one side says: "Yes" the other "No". If you have it flipped over to show "Yes" you'll be interrupted every five seconds with a new treat, so you have to remember to turn the card over to "No" every once in a while. I cannot remember how many different meats I sampled, the stand-outs were the spicy sausages, lamb chops and filet mignon. My friends had never had the traditional Brazilian "Caipirinha" and these were some of the best I have ever had. This will go down as definitely one of the best meals I have ever had atmosphere, service, quality quantity and variety of food were all top notch. really the only problem was that the AC was a couple of notches to high, bring a sweater ladies!
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