I'm sure we did miss some amazing places, Howard. There are so many, we would have still missed some if we'd spent a year on the road. Some places we went were closed, or closed down. Others didn't have the right atmosphere (Kenny G music? Please...) or the right smell. With the week we had, I am very pleased with our experiences. Many profuse thanks to so many of you for your recommendations and suggestions.
Special Kudos to Andy Mayfield and Tim Powell (and the guys in the gift shop at Parris Island) for recommending Dreamland. Best. Sauce. EVER. Rick On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 5:49 PM, Howard Richter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ** 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 > __Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" > html___ > _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
