Dallas BBQ Reviews

NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 19:52:19 PDT
Organization: Excite@Home - The Leader in Broadband http://home.com/faster Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu alt.food.barbecue:39734

I agree with your comments about Sonny Bryans whole-heartedly.

My opinion of the BBQ restaurants in DFW is based on 20 years of eating BBQ three times a week from anywhere that even hinted at having BBQ on the menu. I am a 'Q junkie big-time. I eat it, I smoke it and I love it. Twice a year myself and a couple of friends take a trip to check out BBQ from other parts of the country.

I have eaten St. Louis, North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City varieties and all are good in their own way. Texas style is by far my favorite.

For the absolute best BBq in DFW, there are only two worth trying

Longhorn BBQ in Cedar Hill - Beltline at 67

Soulman's in Garland or Royse City

Sonny Bryans has gone to hell over the last few years, Dickie's..well they are ALMOST as bad as Colters, Andersens on Harry Hines by Parkland Hospital has REALLY disintegrated to little more than over-priced, poorly cooked BBQ wannabe. Spring Creek BBQ has great rolls, but otherwise tastes like it has been microwaved at best and the sauce tastes more like tomato paste with way too much sugar than anything else.

Years ago, there used to be a place on Harry Hines called Moore Bros...very good indeed, but gone due to new construction in the area a few years ago.

Angelo's in Ft. Worth is certainly a great place for BBQ, if you can stand the attitude. Their portions have shrinked smaller and smaller over the years while the price has continued to regularly rise. I don't mind a price increase at all, but at least don't shrink the portions and act like it is a privilege just to walk in the place.

Bakers has pretty good stuff, not the greatest, but far more acceptable than many of the old time favorites deliver nowadays. Dickeys used to be outstanding when they were on Inwood before the tollway was built, Sonny Bryans used to be the best you could ever hope for, Andersens used to be consistently some of the best BBQ available.

Looks like those days are gone....

Try Longhorn and Soulman's before they franchise and screw the food up too or get the bighead and forget that a BBQ restaurant's reputation is built one plate at a time.

Good luck with it

Trey

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I think both you guys need to take a little trip out to Outlaws in Wylie for a sammich the size Q oughta be.  I stumbled across this place several years ago and have been eating there at least 3 times a week ever since.  Beats the pants off anything I've had in the Dallas area...or just about any place in the country I've been to.  Give it a try and tell'em Pork Lizard sent ya...that's the nickname they gave me after eating a pork shoulder plate there every day they were open for the first year.

JW

NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 18:48:16 EDT
Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 22:48:16 GMT Xref: usenet.INS.cwru.edu alt.food.barbecue:38834

booksite2000 wrote:
>
> 'Just back from a quick trip to Dallas, during which I tried a few BBQ
> joints.
>
> 1) Risckys in FW. Beef ribs were VERY good. Pork ribs, so-so, and the
> "smoked sausage" was a disaster...taste and texture of a hot dog. The
> side dishes were VERY good, so if you had a meal of only beef ribs and
> a few sides you'd leave a very happy camper.

I agree with you on the beef ribs.  Very few places in the DFW area still do beef ribs. One of the Dickey's (at Forest and 75) does them on Thursdays - and very well.

Risckys used to do, and may still, and damn fine bbq catfish.  Lake fish, not farm raised.

>
> 2) Sonny Bryans in the West End of Dallas. What a F*$%ing joke. The
> pork ribs tasted like they been stuck in an oven at home for about 30
> minutes. No character, no taste...nothing. And of course since they
> had hardly been cooked you really had to chew to get the meat off the
> bone.The sides were, at best, ok. This was, without a doubt, the WORST
> bbq I've ever eaten. I'm serious. It was that bad. An absolute,
> unmitigated disgrace.

I'm not sure Sonny's even used to serve pork ribs till the owner died and some regulars got together and invested in the name and expanded to several locations.  Their beef ribs leave a lot to be desired.  However, the original location on Inwood near Harry Hines has VERY good brisket.

>
> 3) As I was leaving Dallas, I still hadn't had my bbq fill (I had to
> leave the dogfood I was given at Sonny Bryans on the plate) so I tried
> the bbq at, of all places, the DFW airport. SURPRISE. This was a
> branch of a small chain (I THINK it was called "Harlon's") and it was
> by FAR the best of the three. The ribs were done properly....slow
> roasted until they fell off the bone. And they had that chewy crust on
> the outside that takes many hours in the smoker to develop. The sides
> were JUST like I remember from my days in Oakland. This was the real
> deal, definitely not "White Boy" bbq, like at Sonny's. It was nice to
> get bbq THIS good without having to risk my Honky behind as I used to
> by driving over to Flints in Oakland:)  Find a branch of this place (I
> was told that there was one in Austin, and a couple of other cities as
> well), it's worth the trip.
>

I believe that Harlons is an Austin based outfit.  They've got a location at Bergstrom Airport there. Excellent sliced brisket.

Depending on your hankering, I'd get my baby backs at any of the Baker's Ribs.  There are a handful scattered around.  Peggy Sue's in Snider Plaza near SMU has very good pork spare ribs - and fried pies and squash casserole, and other good sides.

Solly's in Addison has pretty darn good brisket and damn fine sausage. I get the Beltliner - brisket and sausage on a hogie roll.

I reckon there's more places that I haven't even ventured to try yet, but there're a few for your next visit.

Tink