Haven't done this in a few weeks. I got a scattershot for you: Houston, South Texas and Panhandle!
Henk's - Amarillo, TX:My late lunch at Henk's was thoroughly disappointing. The service was lacking, the sides were average but most importantly, the meat was subpar. I expected it after I had to correct the girl 3 times that I wanted sliced brisket, not chopped. Then the man behind the counter doused my meat in unrequested sauce. Sigh... Luckily I stopped him before the sauce hit the ribs.
They packed my meats up to go so I took it to the table and slowly unboxed the inevitable. The brisket was bonded to thick chunks of unrendered fat and swam in the pool of sauce. Biting into the meat, I could find had no discernible flavor of its own. The stingy serving of sausage was just ok. The ribs may have been the high point but they were doused with salt in the same way the other meats were soaked with the cumin flavored sauce. Way too salty for my tastes.
Grade: C-Dyer's - Amarillo, TX:
I will tell you that I was hesitant to visit this place simply because of all the way locals talked it up. I'm often weary of local recommendations as they're often based on tradition and nostalgia. I had 5 people recommend Dyer's (which was previously on my list) and none of them were familiar with Tyler's (which is just around the corner and the standard I use to judge Panhandle BBQ).
Dyer's is a full-service restaurant (another red flag) but honestly after finishing my meal, I had no major complaints, which is huge for this area. The meats were good. Unfortunately the brisket was tough and a bit dry but it featured well rendered fat and just enough smoke to redeem it (actually not evident from the picture below). The Polish Sausage was surprisingly good. The ribs which had a slightly sweet rub were the high point. They had the nice tug and a good flavor you want in a good prok rib (though I'm a bit adverse to sweet rubs). I don't normally give shoutouts to side orders but: The Onion Rings, cole slaw and homemade pickles were evidently crafted with care. There were plenty of employees to be found and service was friendly and excellent. A good option for this area.
Grade: B-- (I wavered between a low B and a high C - I'll confess that after a little time in the BBQ wasteland of the panhandle, C BBQ slowly slides up to a B. It's not a perfect system...)
Pitmaster BBQ - The Woodlands, TXIf you don't know, Corkscrew is my home base for BBQ. Pit Master sits in a much more viable location in the same shopping center as Corkscrew. I've passed by it numerous times, laughing at the "Voted Best BBQ In The Woodlands" marquee without ever stopping to sample it. I knew this type of place and I knew the result without having to sample the meats.
Well I finally convinced myself to perform my due diligence and make a stop at Pit Masters. This place was exactly what I expected and is so typical of many small town joints around Texas. I've eaten at numerous places like exactly like this across the state (especially North/East Texas) so it is completely predictable. The brisket is dry and tasteless, the sausage is storebought and the ribs flavor comes solely from the glaze. I will admit the ribs had a decent tug but in the end, very little flavor. The "Secret" ingredient to the BBQ sauce is Worsteshire Sauce. And if I am reviewing the sauce, you know exactly where I stand. $18 for a plate of dull meat and a sweet tea. I saw it coming and due diligence is the curse I bear...
Grade: C--Smolik's Smokehouse - Mathis, TXA little more autobiography in this entry. There was a time growing up that I was not a BBQ snob. I grew up in the wasteland of BBQ that is South Texas. I actually lived my first 18 years about 20 minutes from this place and even visited it a few times growing up. My recent visit had me saying "WOW! I don't remember it being anything like this!"
I tried a lot of meat on this trip to Smolik's. So much that the woman helping me refused to believe that I'd eat it all and packed my beef rib to go. Everything I had was good. The brisket was excellent, great crust and great smoke dripping with well rendered fat. The brisket had all of the other characteristics it needed that I forgave its slight dryness. The pork ribs were also a bit dry but had a really good flavor (a little too sweet for my liking). The sausage was very good, housemade with a perfectly prepared snap. The beef rib was excellent, really big and really tasty. And no, I didn't finish the rib. It ended up riding shotgun on my way back home Fred Flintstone style.
Grade: B++[This message has been edited by CDub06 (edited 2/28/2014 10:53a).]
