Dickey's BBQ: Albuquerque, NM

M.E. and myself dropped into Dickey's BBQ in ABQ on our way back home after dropping family off at the airport last Sunday. Though we have been to Dickey's before, we have not reviewed. Dickey's is usually not one of our choice BBQ in NM spots but we decided to try it again since it is something different.

We split the three meat plate (two helpings of brisket and one of smoked sausage) with no sauce on it. Our sides were mashed potatoes, tater salad, and hot rolls.

This meal was a pleasant surprise. M.E. enjoyed the brisket very much and I enjoyed the sausage and hot rolls. I enjoyed them so much that I may just stop in every now and then just for those two choices for a meal.

The brisket was moist and tender with a very mild flavor. I liked it but would prefer a stronger smoked flavor. Boy, the sausage is definitely not "store bought" and has a very nice flavor. Unfortunately it has a lardy after taste that is easy to overlook. The hot rolls are homemade and have a generous helping of butter.

The tater salad is a mustard salad and was chilled. It has a nice flavor though a tad sweet. I enjoyed it. M.E. had the mash potatoes and said they were like mashed potatoes which is her way of saying they were a thumbs up.

Overall, for the very selective choices we made, it was worth our money and time. Definitely I will return for sausage and hot rolls every so often.

NOTE: This Dickey's appears to have closed!

---

Rating:
Brisket 3.25 (tender, moist, with very mild flavor)
Sausage 3.7 ( good but lardy after taste)
Tater salad 3.75 (mustardy but sweet)
Mash taters 3.0
Hot Rolls 4.0 (homemade and buttery)

Cousin's BBQ at DFW (near Gate D30)

Steve Nolen and I stopped at this Cousin's BBQ in the DFW airport on our way to England. The food was good. It is a small place near Gate D30. Perfect for a quick meal since they serve cafeteria style. The sausage was good and definitely not store bought. We enjoyed it.

Will definitely need to try one of the larger restaurants one day.

Not much more to say other than the rating which I recorded at the time back on June 6th.

---

Rating:
Brisket 3.75 (tender, with a nice flavor)
Sausage 3.5 ( okay but definitely not store bought with a nice flavor)
Tater salad 3.0 (paprika, needs more mustard, needs small chopped taters.)
Green Beans 4.0 (had onions)
Sweet Tea 4.5

Would return. Sausage is good enough. A great last meal before heading to Europe. ;)

The Back Forty BBQ: San Ramon

Well finally after waiting a couple of years I got up to one of The Back Forty's in California. It is based on Texas-style BBQ. There are two close to Oakland and two up by Sacramento. Since the San Ramon Valley location was ten miles closer to our Santa Clara hotel than the original up in Pleasant Hill then we stop there. It did take a GPS to help us (Steve, Joann, and DB) locate the place.

The San Ramon is located in a shopping center off of I680 up on a hill. The place is not real big and it is all sit down service. The folks were real nice and the atmosphere was contrived but yet western. How is that for a mouthful.

I was really stoked since I had read they served fried sweet taters. Not bad. Cut a tad thick but still nice fries. I really should learn to fry my own sometime. They were yum.

It helps to order by the plate or combo. I ordered Brisket (juicy not lean), Sausage ("Hot Links), and Beef ribs along with sides of tater-salad and fried sweet taters. The second bite, after the taters, was the tater salad. It was a mustard tater salad, chilled, that was very good...it may have been the highlight of the night for me. I recommend as a must.

The brisket was moist and tender but lack much flavor. I am unsure what was missing...a rub or the right wood to smoke it. But the BBQ sauce served with it help make up for that. The sauce was the second highlight. It was very nice and good on just about anything. Not spicy sauce but delicious.

Next came the beef ribs. Since I am not much of a ribs fan then I may not be a fair judge. My ribs were moist and tender but just lacked much flavor. I hate to say it given my motto about meat that needs sauce but if they had basted the ribs with that BBQ sauce they may have been mighty tasty.

Well when I saw the sausage was called "hot links"I was not holding my breath for anything good. As far as sausage goes they looked like a bratwurst but had a better flavor. Not a hot link flavor but a sausage flavor. Not what I am used to or like but it was ok. Better than all the meats I had on my plate.

The ice tea was good but not sweetened. The cornbread was good...it was a bit sweet which is ok with me. It went well with the beans. The beans, though meant to be like camp-style, were actually pretty good. I put some onions and cornbread into the bowl Steve gave me. Again this side may have rounded out the sides as being the best part of the meal.

Next was a sample of Steve's pork ribs. Turns out they were pretty good. They had basted them with something...most likely the sauce. I would have to say that the sausage and ribs are for me next time.

Joann ordered some banana bread (or nanner bread) which turned out to be pretty good. A nice option to have along with other breads. Joann order the BBQ chicken which she says was nice. I will take her word for it since BBQ and chicken just seems wrong to me. But to each their own. Joann seemed to like the chicken so that is a strong vote of confidence for that meat.

All in all we enjoyed the visit and the food. We may have to stop in there again while in the area.
We left full and content...well at least I did.

---

Rating:
Brisket 2.5 (tender, moist, not much flavor...sauce saved it)
Sausage 3.5 ( not store bought but more like a bratwurst..good for what it is and so the rating)
Beef Ribs 2.0 (tender, moist, but not much flavor, sauce could save it if basted)
Pork Ribs 4.0 (top of the meats, nice flavor and moist)
Tater salad 4.0 (just plain good. Would be nicer warm)
Beans 4.0 (nice)
Cornbread 4.0 (nice with a bit of sweet)
Nanner bread 4.0 (not bad at all)
Tea 3.5
Sauce 4.5 (good)

Duke BBQ (Utopia, Texas)

June 7th, 2008

Duke Ranch near Utopia, Texas. Utopia Shoot-Out





The Duke family served up BBQ for the lunch time meal to accompany the Utopia Shoot-Out. Since it has been almost six months since the meal then I will not rate each item.

They served up (to name a few):

Sausage
Brisket
Tater Salad
Beans
Ice Tea Sweet
Peach Cobbler
Naner Pudding

It was all good. The sausage was definitely not store bought. Yum.

The Brisket was outstanding and had all due care in its making. The taste said it all.

The Pudding and Cobbler was great. I think I got several helpings of cobbler which I had not had in a long time.

They definitely served up an outstanding meal and BBQ. It was good to be home and get a home cooked meal. The Duke's are great hosts who are proud of their BBQ and well they should be.

Overall I would rate the BBQ: 4.5

This leaves them room to improve, I am not sure how, and grow.

Josh's Barbecue in Santa Fe (* * 1/2)

Note this is an older review from September 2007. I have heard that Josh's has gotten better and we need to go try it.

---

Location: Santa Fe down Cerrillos Road in the San Isidro Plaza across from a Lowe's Home Center and adjacent to the new Regal Cinema 14.

Style BBQ: Southwest (Oklahoma and Texas) with a bit of New Mexican flavor.

Meats: Polish Sausage, Hot Links, Brisket, Turkey, Ribs, Pulled Pork

Sides: Tater salad, Green Chile Corn Bread, Cowboy beans, cole slaw, corn on the cob, baked tater

Today a friend at work, knowing that I love good BBQ especially Texas style, told me about Josh's. He said he thought the brisket was as good as it gets in New Mexico. So I could not stand it and called Gwen and arranged for us to have dinner down in Santa Fe.

The place smelled of a wood fire BBQ pit. You can order the meat by the half pound or they have one meat and two meat plates or family style. Between the four of us we got the brisket, polish sausage, and hot links. Sides were tater salad, green chile cornbread, corn on the cob, baked potato, and cowboy beans. And I got ice tea. :)

Of all this the most notable was the brisket and cornbread. Both were good. The brisket was definitely moist and had a good yet weak flavor. I think they did not have a good rub on it if at all. Gwen enjoyed it too. I think Rudy's is better ... not as moist but stronger flavor.

The cornbread was very good. It was a sweet cornbread but with green chiles in it but not overwhelming. Actually a nice combo but why does everything in NM have to have chiles in it? Chiles are not THAT good. Good for variety but terrible when overwhelming everything else.

The most disappointing was the iced tea, polish sausage, and tater salad. The iced tea was a flavored one like a cross between a weak Earl Grey and prickly-pear flavor. It was NOT sweet and it was NOT plain ole iced tea. I switched to pop after I finished that glass.

The polish sausage was a huge disappointment. Gwen and I both were not impressed. Gwen said it tasted like a grilled hot dog. That should sum it up. Even "store bought" is better.

For my personal tastes the tater salad was a disappointment. But with that said I have to say that for its type of tater salad it was good. It was a mayonnaise based salad with taters and celery. I forget what else was in it. It was good for what it was but I just have a strong preference to a yellow mustard based salad. Gwen on the other hand liked it a lot saying it reminded her of her mom' s tater salad.

This all does not mention the BBQ sauces. They had three on the table.... seasonal, traditional mild, and traditional hot. The seasonal was nice but it was not really a BBQ sauce...it had a strong taste of bourbon or something. The other two were not what I think of for BBQ sauce.
So be warned.

All in all I would say this is a place to visit every now and then. NM is not strong on BBQ food in the first place. It cannot replace Rudy's right now as my NM BBQ place to head for. But I can give it 2-1/2 stars. It is a order at the window and sit down to be served kind of place. Not as much atmosphere as Rudy's at all.

We still have not visited the Whole Hog BBQ which is a Arkansas BBQ style. But then again I am not a big fan of pulled pork.

Here is a review I found on the web at Gil's Thrilling Web Site.

---

Rating:
Brisket 3.0 (tender, moist, very mild flavor)
Sausage 0.5 ("hot dogs" are not sausage)
Tater salad 2.0/4.0 (not mustard salad/Gwen liked it.)
Tea 0.5 (needs standard ice tea)

Bob's Bodacious BBQ - Los Alamos, NM

Fortunately in recent years Los Alamos has a nice BBQ place called Bob's Bodacious BBQ. The place is influenced by Texas in part. The family developed their style from the south, Texas, and Kansas City primarily Kansas City Style.

Bob's is comfortable place to visit with a southwest style decor. The people are very friendly and helpful and have a great little restaurant that makes Los Alamos proud. They serve a good product.

With all of this said this review may fall short since we are looking for Texas-style BBQ and Bob's specialty is pulled pork which is not a traditional Texas-Style BBQ. So we will offer ratings from two Carolina boys on the pulled pork.

Bob's offers up a variety of meats. Pulled pork, brisket, sausage, and ribs. Along with BBQ they offer standard fare for NM and TX like chili con carne, Frito pie, and chili dogs.

---

Rating:
Brisket 3.25 (tender, moist, very mild flavor)
Sausage 2.5 (more like store bought but good for that type)
Pulled Pork 4.0 & 3.5 (two Carolina boys say so) ****
Tater salad 3.0 (needs more mustard)
Beans 2.5 (ranch style like baked beans)
Tea 3.0 (Caroline boy says need sweet tea, he is right.)
Frito Pie 3.75

Albuquerque Rudy's (On Carlisle)

In New Mexico it can be hard to find good Texas Style BBQ so when you find a place then you visit it alot. Rudy's is one of those places that fills the Texas BBQ niche.




The Carlisle Rudy's is one of our (DB) favorite Rudy's. We usually make at least one stop here when we visit ABQ or if we are closer we stop at the other Rudy's over on Coors which is not much different than the Carlisle location.

This Rudy's uses Live Oak for its cooking as the website claims, "Our pits are 100% wood fired with oak, a slower burning wood as opposed to mesquite." We were doubtful that Live Oak could be had in NM but upon one of our visits they had the back gate open while wood was being delivered and sure enough it was Live Oak.

As a family we all enjoy Rudy's. Our usual order is sausage, brisket, tater salad, beans, and taters. We cannot remember a time at the Carlisle Rudy's that the food was not good. Though our usual order is our favorite there are several other meats available. They serve ribs, chicken, and pork.

This Rudy's serves one our favorite smoked sausages which is hard to beat unless you head to Texas where there is so much more selections. It is definitely NOT a "store bought" style sausage. The brisket is very good with a nice flavor, moist, and tender. Rudy's uses a rub on their brisket and no sauce. Our rule of thumb is that if you need sauce on your brisket then you may be in trouble already. This Rudy's brisket definitely stands on its own without sauce.

Also it hard to say you have a BBQ shack unless you have good ice tea especially sweet tea and this Rudys definitely has that which comes in Rudy's trade mark large plastic cups.

Rudy's tater salad is just how we like it. It is a mustard salad in the traditional style from Texas. One of us (DB) has to add just a tad more mustard since he is used to a bit more mustard. Their beans are different but very good. Pinto beans boiled with some meat for seasoning and a touch of spice like jalapeno to give it a nice flavor.

If you like boiled taters (as E.M. does) then you are in luck. Rudy's uses red new potatoes that are very nice and covers them in melted butter if you ask for it.

Here is the general Rudy's Menu.

---

Rating:
Brisket 3.75 (tender, a little dry, nice smoked/rub flavor)
Sausage 4.00 (yum, definitely not store bought) ****
Tater Salad 3.5 (good, needs a tad more mustard)
Beans 4.0 (nice, good with fresh onion and bread)****
Taters 4.0 (delicious even without extra butter)****
Sweet Tea 4.5 (Hits the spot, nice large plastic cups)****

Lubbock Rudy's

Well, this has been a longtime coming since I (DB) setup and started this blog a couple years ago but never posted anything to it even after eating at many BBQ places. So it is appropriate I start with a Rudy's since they are the prime source of Texas style BBQ in NM for me. Though this one is in Lubbock.

It is part of my tradition to stop at BBQ while going to and from Texas. In Lubbock I almost always stop at Rudy's too. This trip to the Utopia Shoot down in Utopia, Texas was no different.

I pulled into Rudy's parking lot here near the corner of Slide and the south Loop. As always there is a tempting Free Birds right next to Rudy's but so far it has not pulled me away from Rudy's. The Lubbock Rudy's is of the same style of most of the Rudy's I have visited, especially the ABQ ones, with a large dining area that is long tables with folding chairs with the look of the inside of a nice shed or barn. There some wooden picnic like benches along the outside with large windows that can be raised during the appropriate time of the year. The usual long bin of iced down drinks and the usual butcher/meat market like style of serving you the meat.

Though the brisket is pretty good at Rudy's I am watching my girlish figure and went with a half link of sausage, two slices of bread, a little cup of mustard tater salad, a cup of beans, and a sweet cup of ice tea.

This Rudy's has been a hit and miss for me over the years with their sausage changing brands or style and I am less pleased at times with some of the sausage. But this time the sausage was up to snuff and I really enjoyed it. Eating it plain is good in itself but I like to eat it between a halved piece of bread with mustard and a dab of the Rudy's Sause. It is down right delicious.

The tater salad is good but I always feel it needs a tad more mustard so I squirt some into it and mix it all us. The beans are very good and I like to cut up some onions and put it into it. The sweet tea is always good and I love the big Rudy's cups they sell it to you in.

All and this Rudy's visit in Lubbock was better than I expected. More like the ones in ABQ that I favor.

---

Rating:
Sausage 3.75 (definitely not store bought, sometimes hit and miss)
Tater Salad 3.5 (nice, might need a tad more mustard)
Beans 4.0 (good, nice with onions and bread)****
Sweet Tea 4.0 (hits the spot, though they experiment with different brands of tea)****