Two swings, two misses

In my never-ending search for excellence in pigsicles, i.e. pork ribs, I've tried two relatively new places lately. Both were highly reviewed online, but both were sad disappointments.

First was Brickhouse BBQ in north Minneapolis. I had high hopes for the place after reading Jeremy Iggers' review. It was a bad sign when I walked into their large dining room at 8:30 on a Saturday night and there was only one table occupied. I should have taken the hint. At least the green salad was fresh. The ribs are served dry-rub style as Iggers described, sauce on the side, which is how I prefer them. It lets you see the pitmaster's work without distraction. In this case, the rub was mild, there was no distinguishable touch of smoke. Not bad as pork goes, but not what I'm looking for in ribs.

The sauce was downright awful. Thin, translucent, no texture at all, and no complexity at all. The sort of thing you'd use to decorate a plate out of a squeeze tube, spiked with some kind of pepper oil. About all it was good for was dipping the fries in. And the fries were generic crinkle-cuts. They had chili cheese fries on the menu, which are one of my favorite guilty pleasures when done well, but I can't imagine they would be very exciting built on those fries. And get this - they're open for breakfast. Who ever heard of an authentic BBQ joint open for breakfast?

Then tonight I let Coolleen talk me into driving all the way up to Champlin to check out Q-fanatic while she tried a place I told her about. At least I got good mileage driving up there from the office in downtown St. Paul. 46.1 MPG according to the onboard computer. Cause I would hate to think I wasted too much fossil fuel driving that far for those ribs.

Q-fanatic had a while bunch of highly positive reviews on UrbanSpoon, so I was hopeful when I first heard about it. But then I looked at their menu, and I was immediately skeptical. First off, the ribs seem almost an afterthought. OK, that's fine in some serious BBQ country. Like Kentucky or North Carolina, where pulled pork and mutton are king. But served with grilled foccacia slices? Everyone knows the only appropriate bread for BBQ is either cheap Wonder Bread or Texas toast. And sides of gratineed Parmesan potatoes, grilled seasonal veggies, or Asian cole slaw, among others? This place has pretensions in the wrong place.

I should have listened to my gut feelings. The ribs can be ordered dry (sauce on the side) or wet (sauced). As above, I went for dry. They were dry in that sense only. These ribs have been exposed to serious moisture in cooking. Steamed off the bones, practically. Basically, it resembled do-it-yourself pulled pork with some bones to discard. Pull shreds off, dip them in sauce. They serve them by weight - one pound or two - not as a rack or half rack or number of bones. Only place I've ever seen do so.

They have quite a variety of sauces here, served in little plastic cups. I tried the chipotle and vinegar varieties. The one high spot was that chipotle BBQ sauce. Quite yummy. The vinegar variety is not really a rib sauce, but I wanted to try it in case it was worth coming back for a pork sandwich. I might do that if I'm in the neighborhood and hungry. But I won't bother with the ribs again. The baked beans on the side were nothing to write home about it either. Seemed like canned beans spiked up with some chopped meat and liquid smoke. As a final blow, there seemed to be some serious microwaving going on here to prepare the items for service.

On my way out the door, I noticed their sign encouraging people to plug them on UrbanSpoon. Now I know where all those raves came from. This might be Hennepin County, just barely, but everything about this place says Anoka County to me. Anoka is literally right across the bridge...

Sigh. My favorite local ribs remain Baker's Ribs with Big Daddy's in second place. There's another new BBQ joint in Eden Prairie I want to check out, located in a car wash of all places. But it's right down the road from Baker's so it will take some serious self-discipline to skip Baker's and try the new place. Some day...

Comments

[CVelo]

Thanks for taking one for the team. :-)

At least the severe disappointment will help me appreciate either Baker's Ribs or Big Daddy's even more. :-D
(at least that is what I am telling myself currently ;-) ).

By the way, my review is also (finally) up.

[Charlie]

I appreciate you making the trek to Champlin to try out my restaurant. I guess I have a couple of things to bring up here. I wish you would ask to talk to the chef (me in this case) to understand what he or she is trying to do. It's harder than ever to start an independent restaurant and even harder to succeed. Read my bio on our web site. The diversity on the menu helps us survive and develop personality. I have to think outside the box alittle to be successful. Appreciate the fact that we are not just another chain! We don't have deep pockets for equipment and advertising. As for visiting with me, out side of the main meal rushes or when I am taking the precious few hours a week I get off, I really enjoy talking to folks just like you to find out what they think and how I can evolve to make things the best. Unfortunately I have limitations and have to focus on the masses which are what pays the bills and not so much on the purists. Not everyone especially in blaa Scandinavian Minnesota likes jerky ribs so I've seen from so many posts. I am working towards a heavier/dryer wood smoked option for the near future. I have to get the equipment which is very expensive under the current codes. This isn't the old south and we can’t grandfather in a homemade pit. Next, the microwaves, until we are busy enough to keep our food hot in warmers we have to use microwaves. Not my preference either. We cannot have a consistent product otherwise and would throw piles of food away. That would be our rent payment, not profits. Please appreciate our effort and my attempt to create a unique version of this classic cuisine. Last, we ask people to go urbanspoon to post there comments, we don’t ever tell them what to say, these are there opinions, good or bad. We are grateful for the good ones. I’m glad you didn’t post yours there but it’s important to me to know what you think. I just wish I didn't have to dig for your opinion. Thanks again for giving us a chance!
Charlie

PS what's the matter with Anoka?