Rick, You missed I think is one of the best. The Charles Vergos' Rendezvous Memphis, TN.
hbr On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 6:29 PM, Rick Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ** Well, it was a great week. Spent lots of quality time with my son, > drove a nice rental Mustang, had a few surprise stops, and ate lots of BBQ. > > Trivia question after reading this - how much weight did Rick gain over the > week? > > We started in Dallas, drove North to Kansas City, then down to Memphis, > through Tennessee and North Carolina, down the Atlantic coast to Charleston, > SC, then through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana before > returning to Dallas for the trip home. We went to some famous places, some > that you and others recommended, some the Garmin GPS told us about, and a > few we just happened to drive past. Almost without exception, we had at > least good, and in a few cases, great, food. > > Here's where we ate: > > - Dallas, TX: Baby Back Shak, Sonny Bryan's, and Dan's Smokehouse. > - McAlester, OK: Ball's Hickory BBQ > - Kansas City, Mo: Arthur Bryant's > - St. Louis, Mo: Smokin' Al's BBQ > - Memphis, TN: Interstate BBQ > - Asheville, NC: 12 Bones > - Greensboro, NC: Stamey's > - Charleston, SC: Melvin's > - Beaufort, SC: Sgt. White's > - West Point, GA: Roger's Pit Cooked BBQ > - Tuscaloosa, AL: Dreamland BBQ > - Shreveport, LA: Grady's Smokehouse > > Here is the "Best Of" list. After the "Worst Of", which will be a short > one. Stamey's in Greensboro, NC was the only place that gave us no reason > to come back. Marginal food, poor service, no atmosphere. It alone scored > a 4 (1 to 10 scale), the only score lower than a 6 on the trip. > > Now the "Best Of", which I am happier to recall. > > Best Pork Ribs: 3 way tie. *Arthur Bryant's* in KC, *Melvin's* in > Charleston, and *Sonny Bryan's* in Dallas. All scored a 9 for tenderness > and flavor. > Best Beef Ribs: *Baby Back Shak*, Dallas. Dry rub made them amazing. > Tender meat and good flavor helped, too. They alone scored a 10. > Best Brisket: *Dan's Smokehouse*, Dallas. Most briskets were kinda > tough, though lean, and not very flavorful. This one had amazing flavor, > was tender enough to cut with a plastic fork, and worked just as well with > and without their sauce. It also rated the only 10. > Best Pork: *Melvin's*, Charleston, SC. They use a Mustard-based sauce > that they mixed into their pork (not on top), and it totally worked. I > wanted to be able to rate the pork without the sauce, but that was > impossible. We couldn't get enough of this sweet stuff. The only 10 in > this category. Runnerup was Arthur Bryant's, with an 8. > Best Chicken: Melvin's deserved consideration, but no one beat *Dreamland > * in Tuscaloosa, AL. Was so good it didn't even need their amazing sauce > - just the light rub on it made it perfect. > Best Specialty Meat: The Burnt Ends at *Arthur Bryant's*. Absolutely > amazing. Worth making a trip there for. Interstate BBQ (Memphis) had a BBQ > Spaghetti that I thought was awesome, too. > Best Sauce: *Dreamland*. Arthur Bryant's and Sonny Bryan's were very, > very good, none could top the sauce that we felt guilty NOT licking off our > fingers. It felt like a sin to use a napkin (seriously!). It worked on all > of their meats equally well - even made plain white bread taste great! The > easiest 10 we gave the whole trip. > Best Side Dish: *Dreamland's* BBQ beans. Amazing mix of sweet, smoky, > and spicy, with some meat and onions in there, too. > Best Dessert: *Dreamland*. Both their signature banana pudding and the > Apple cobbler were an awesome end to an awesome meal. > Best Service: Tied, both with 10s. *Dreamland, and Smokin' Al's*, in St. > Louis. > Best Atmosphere: *Sonny Bryan's,* Dallas. The only 10 in the group, but > several others scored very high, too. 12 Bones actually had a new/old mix > that was very different - RC cola and microbrews, Old South dishes with > stickers on the walls like an all-night diner. It is as if a diner in a > trendy big city neighborhood decided to do BBQ. > > And now, for the Best of show: A tie between Dreamland and Melvin's. Both > scored 9. I'll give the nod to *Dreamland* for winning more individual > categories. > > Thanks so much for all of your recommendations. We could only hit a few of > them in a week. > > Answer to the trivia question: I actually LOST 1 lb. > > Rick > __Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" > html___ -- Howard Richter Red Hat Certified Technician CompTIA Linux+ Certified ITIL Foundation Certified E-Mail = [EMAIL PROTECTED] LinkedIn Profile = http://www.linkedin.com/in/hbr4270 _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
