The band of intrepid BBQ adventurers has now dwindled to one—just Steve. For some unfathomable reason, Kim has gotten it into her head that her office won’t keep giving her money if she doesn’t come to work, so off she goes to her conference. Steve vows to soldier on, though, and arrives at Angelo’s for yet another BBQ dinner. It’s an old, slightly tumble-down structure that has clearly been here for years. Sitting in a lonely industrial area that may have some life during business hours, but as evening draws on, it certainly feels lonely and a bit ominous. Inside, though, the place comes to life. It’s a new kind of experience for this trip; an authentic ‘roadhouse’ filled with regulars. In fact, it seems to be as much a beer joint as a BBQ joint.
The owner is walking around saying hello to regulars, touching tables and hanging at the bar. Thankfully, there’s a real pit BBQ with smokers billowing smoke and cordwood stacked out back. Inexplicably, the TVs are tuned to an ice hockey game, the second time Steve has seen this in a BBQ joint on this trip. Disconcerting, but no more jarring than the CNN that was playing on the TV instead of the beautiful old Wurlitzer jukebox in Louie Mueller’s, he supposes.
Once ordered, the food arrives not on the hoped for butcher paper, but at least it’s not on plates. Everything comes in those little paper hot dog boats. Not quite as authentic, but an acceptable middle ground.
Steve begins to form a thesis that possibly the most interesting element on any Texas BBQ menu is the sausage. It’s certainly where the most individuality plays out. Here, there is yet another interesting variation – Polish style sausage. Its filling is a fully processed paste, mousse-like, very light & almost airy. The regular link has good depth of flavor, and is a pleasingly bit piquant. The spicy variation actually has some kick to it. All in all, a real pleasure. With its baloney-looking filling, Steve had anticipated a bland product, but was well rewarded in the opposite direction.
The brisket has very good flavor, with a real mopped crust, but was served chopped – definitely not Steve's preference. It was moist and tender on first bite, but somehow managed to dry out very quickly. And, in an almost unforgiveable breach of etiquette, the pitmaster trimmed off the fat without asking. He actually had to ask him to put it back in. Because it dried out so quickly, had it not been added back to the lean meat, it would have been like eating dust.
Unfortunately, the ribs were nothing special. Pork only– no beef ribs here. They arrived pretty dried out, and were served tepid, making them a bit greasy. Fortunately, Steve was able to look through the faults, and realized that they still had good flavor, though.
The potato salad was pretty good, with a good balance between egginess & mustard. Not a top tier contender, but a solid middleweight. The sauce was most like an ‘out of bottle’ style thus far, very heavy and sweet. But that said, it did pack a bit of a vinegar kick, and was a much needed complement to the dry meat.
There was a strange lack of traditional sides. Good crispy jalapenos, but no onion slices. When Steve asked for onions, they looked at him strangely, and offered him the chopped onion they put on their sandwiches. No pickles, either dill or sweet, either. Strange.
The bread was the traditional wonder, but because they take it out of the wrapper & hold it in a bowl, it was slightly stale. It was probably a good thing Kim wasn’t here, because stale Wonder bread is not something she suffers lightly. It would’ve surely devolved into a good old fashioned ass-whupping, and Steve didn’t feel like dragging her out of yet another dive, fists swinging wildly.
The Rating: Angelo’s BBQ is a good, solid joint, with that interesting ‘roadhouse’ twist, and one that would certainly merit a return visit if you were in Ft. Worth, but nothing to drive out of your way for.
No comments:
Post a Comment