Joes Real BBQ

The DZ – It was like a slow southern Sunday afternoon. I felt like we just missed the after church crowd. Joe’s is the place to go if your hungry. Its a little pricey for a quick lunch but well worth it. WARNING you will get the it is after this meal!

The food is served cafeteria style and you can see the open kitchen. There are several smoked meats but I went with the pulled pork sandwich and a side of cheesy potatoes. Both were scrumptious. The sandwich was large and filled with tender smoked meat. Joe’ offered two BB-Q sauces a little on the runny side but still full of flavor. The Hot BB-Q sauce was indeed spicy but nowhere the the inferno the sign claimed it to be. Mixed together, they were perfect. I was full with just one half of my sandwich but is was so good that I kept eating the other half.  The potatoes were in need of a dash of S&P but I made short work of those as well.

As an added bonus they served Coke and some old fashion colas in a bottle. I had the Boylan Black Cherry that was like bubbly Kool-Aid. Joe’s also carries some old fashion candy, Boston Baked Beans, Lemon Heads, and mini Jawbreakers in small boxes. They also had the candy cigarettes. I would have thought they were out of production with the Surgeon General throwing down the gauntlet in the 80’s on influencing kids to smoke. But I am impervious so such silly advertising ploys so I bought 2 boxes chomped away. The restaurants is large clean and slightly chilly (so ladies bring your jacket).

There was a large outdoor area with picnic style tables setup for warmer days. There was even a large lawn on which to enjoy the feast. All in all I would say check this place out when your hungry and ready to grub. I give it [rating:4.5]

Dj Mgyx – Walking in reminded me of something I would have seen on the Food Network about old town BBQ shacks. It was large and spacious and the aroma of smokers surprisingly didn’t overwhelm the seating area. But what really kicked the senses in was hearing the music, mainly because it kicked in old memories from childhood church cookouts. It was a song that I kind of knew the words to, but couldn’t place them correctly until the chorus came through and I remembered it being a song by friends dad used to sing in the church choir and on Sunday evening when his mom would cook suppers for all of us.

As I looked around I could imagine the church crowds that probably filled the bench style seats come Sunday afternoon. Even the outside had a stable like patio seating area with the same style picnic bench seating area, making it the perfect spot for a Sunday afternoon get together spot or a warm summers evening late dinner, with a large grassy area that I’m sure dozens of kids have played and in and I’m sure many of adults have tossed more than a few horseshoes about.

Finding the ordering counter took a minute as I didn’t realize it was served cafeteria style, until The DZ motioned to the “starting line”. Not wanting to hold up the group that walked in just before us I opted for something that would give my palette a good sampling of their offerings. Aptly enough my eyes zeroed in on the sampler platter evaluated the cost and opted for it with likelihood of left overs for later.

The Platter consisted of:

Pulled Pork * Ribs * Chicken Leg/Breast * Beef Brisket * Bread  * One side

I wasn’t sure exactly what all the other items were but since I only really recognized one I opted to check out their mac n cheese for a side dish.  As soon as the cook turned around I knew this was going to be a filling meal. Though the plate wasn’t piled high with food it was well distributed about the tray to give the impression that it was not a lot of food…it was. The Mac n Cheese was the one item I thought I could fall back on in case something drastically wrong happened but it failed within the 1st bite to be anything remotely close to the mac n cheese I’ve had before.  It seemed to have a sweet potato crumpled crust to as  a topping that I’ve just never tasted before. Don’t get me wrong I like sweet potatoes just as much as the next man who’s mom and grandma made them every other week but with mac n cheese that through me for lil loop, not bad but definitely not ready for that challenge.

A big surprise was the cornbread; which though it may have looked frail and dried out was surprisingly sweet, and with a bit of warmth and maybe a dab of butter would be almost as good as my moms, I said “almost” not “as”.

The chicken portion took up a good portion of the plate and probably could have done the job on it’s own, but I saved it for last since chicken, well chicken is almost always a safe bet.  After tasting the sauces I determined the hot and sweet taste better when mixed together, and proceed to dip the meat in and give them each a whirl.

Granted you really can’t go wrong with any of the meat choices, the pulled pork and beef brisket were at the top of my list with being the most flavorful or the 4. The ribs were good but I really didn’t prefer the cut they provided and through they fell off the bone literally they were a bit dried out on the inside.

Another big surprise was this was one of very few restaurants that served “Coca Cola” in glass bottles, using cane sugar instead of the normal syrup, as well as some other old brand beverages. The DZ and I both tried the Boylons Black Cherry, and I had to almost resist not chugging the whole thing, it was so good.

The last big surprise was as we were leaving we noticed there was a little replica of an old west candy stored sure enough had some of the very old style candy most of use ran down the street trying to catch up with the ice cream man to get. Including the cigarette gum packs and candy sticks. Needless to say I was hooked buying about $5 worth of candy that was priced at about 10 cents apiece, that being said I give Joe’s Real BBQ [rating:5]

[rating:overall]