Commercial Q

Yep, we are spoiled.

I have tried FAmous Daves in West Des Moines and wasnt impressed at all with their food. I have heard about a place called Big Daddy's that has the worlds HOTTEST sandwich but havent been there yet. I guess if you can eat 1 whole sandwich, he will donate money to a local charity. Here is a link to his contests and his web site.

http://www.bigdaddysbbq.net/contests.html

Bob

Good morning, Smoke Crazy,

I think your assessment has some merit, although I have eaten at several joints I would consider excellent. Recently, however, I ate at a rib joint rated in the top five in the Twin Cities. It was ordinary at best. I have also eaten at a Famous Daves near where we live. The ribs were pretty good, but the pork was too salty and the brisket tougher than boot leather. We have reached a decision to only eat what we fix ourselves, even if that seems closed minded. Ribs from a CS just can't be beaten. It's a good thing you can't see me just now, because I am like Pavlov's dog. Simply talking about good ribs has me salivating.

Cadillac, you might try Big Daddy's. My son raves about it.

Hey Cadillac, I live in West Des Moines. Are you from the Des Moines area? I agree that Famous Dave's is mediocre. I believe that Big Daddy who passed away about a year ago closed his restaurant down to focus on the catering end of his business. I did eat there about 6 years ago. His sauces were what made him famous. They were a Caribbean recipe and they were way too spicy, almost a novelty type of thing. The hottest I had was "Emergency Room" and it was pretty bad. He had some that were not that spicy though. I think they sell his sauces at the local grocery stores...

I have a friend here in OKC, rated the best BBQ in town several years running. He was dating my daughter for a while and came to the house for some of my ribs.

His quote "best damn BBQ I ever tasted, and I own a BBQ Restaurant".

The difference? I take a lot of time and energy to work mine just cooking a couple of slabs. He's turning out several hundered slabs and little seasoning.

It comes down to time and energy to turn out a good product. If they take the time and the energy, sometimes you'll get a good and occassionally a great product.

The smoker they use makes a huge difference. There are a lot of Southern Prides out there and others that aren't 100% wood burners.

My opinion. If they can make money at it and be successful, my hats off to them as it's a hard business. But it won't be better than mine.

Russ

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who lives in Des Moines. Big Daddys is closed but the building is still there. Big Daddy died 6-7 months ago.

Bob

The best places I know of in central Iowa would be the Smokehouse on main street in Dallas Center and Battle's BBQ in Ames and Nevada. New owners took over the one in Dallas Center in Jan. & I haven't been back recently. Both are better than Famous Dave's although I had a good meal at one in Minneapolis a while back. I've heard that Kin Folks in Altoona is ok also but haven't been there yet. Hickory Park in Ames is pretty good but is not as hardcore BBQ as Battles. They got ribs, chicken, etc.

I don't get out as much anymore now that I've got my Smokette.

I was thinking along these lines last night myself. Here in NC we are supposed to be blessed with great BBQ. If you've seen the show on PBS about NC BBQ joints you'll know what I mean. Well, as a native NC'er, and a lover of all food, I can tell you honestly that some of those places serve the WORST food I've ever had put in front of me. I've been to virtually all the classic/historic BBQ restaurants on the show/in the book, waited in line with high expectations, and then had a plate full of some of the worst stuff ever to be called BBQ set down in front of me. I don't get it at all. Best guess I have is that at one time some of these places were so far back in the woods that they had little competition and a captive audience, so eventually people got used to their idea of food. I'm being gracious, because even that scenario leaves me confused.

I've withheld the names to protect the offenders. If anyone is traveling to NC in the near future and would like a list of places to avoid, I'll be happy to provide one.

It's getting to a point that I refuse to eat out at all. I don't trust the person(s) behind the kitchen counter handling my food. I can grill a better steak than Ruth's Chris Steak House and better than on any Cruise ship line. I make better smoked BBQ beans than the local BBQ joint, and better tasting brisket.

So, I keep telling my wife, why go out, when I can make a better dinner right here with no additives.

When my wife and I travel, we look up BBQ joints on the internet and in the local phone book. A great place was Smitty's BBQ in Panama City, Florida but he sold it. My wife and I immediately could tell by the beans and the number of customers that something was up. When we asked, the owner's son told us they took over the place. A great joint took a nose dive. A good chain is Sonny's BBQ but they are all in the Southeast. Like most people, after you own a Cookshack, all of the famous places are over rated and average at best. We recently purchased some Corky's BBQ pork and thought it was average. This is supossed to be the best joint in Memphis. I'll take my CS any day. Good luck finding a great que joint.

well since i work part time in a bbq joint while we get our bbq operation going i guess i can weigh in with my opinon.
1- southern prides
these are great commercial smokers if you know how to use them. i have 2 at work. the large one is my main smoker and the small one is our service working smoker. the key to using them is to make sure ya got wood in the darned thing!!!! make sure ya got water in the water jacket!!! sounds simple enuff but since most owners are paying a buck or two above minimum wage (and then wondering why people show up late or not at all) the opererator in many cases just doesn't care.
but with out a doubt a southern pride is an extremely fine unit.
2-smoke flavor
personally i think the meat i serve at work is oversmoked but hey the owner has 3 resturants so i will cook it how ever he wants not just because he is my boss but he is very supportive of my wife and me getting our business up and running and he has even hung the article that was in the last cookshack newsletter up right where the customers can see it. he really loves to q and it shows!!!!
3- bad q
bad q ever time equals an owner who doesn't care!!!
well thanks for letting me add my 2 cents in there
but please never blame the smoker unit. ole south southern pride holstien just to name a few make excellent smokers so it aint there fault.
for my money tho we got both an fec and an sm and i will fight anyone who tries to take them away lol
jack

Try finding good BBQ in northern NJ! Hunt's BBQ sauce on some ground beef is about the best you are going to get --- unless you stop in at my house. I am still on my first cooks of some of the product and what I make is still better than anything I have found commercially.