SirPorkaLot
somebody shut me the fark up.
Had to spend the night in San Jose last night for work.
Nearby was a highly rated (on yelp) bbq joint called:
Smoking Pig BBQ (aka Joint 1)
1144 N 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112
Yelp has 2,600 reviews with an average of 4 stars!
Today I ended up being in San Francisco about lunch time and stopped at:
CatHead’s BBQ (aka Joint 2)
1665 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Yelp has 844 reviews with an average of 4 stars
The Food & Experience
Joint 1 - Smoking Pigs:
Two J&R smokers are out back when I arrive for dinner around 6pm. They appear well used, but are cold at the moment
Inside the place (that held probably 75) was almost full to capacity on a Tuesday night..
So far so good.
I was seated and ordered a 3 meat combo.
Brisket, Hot Links and (per menu- their famous) Burnt Ends
Sides were Mac & Cheese abs cornbread
This is what was delivered to my table ($29.99 not counting my beer)
Yea.......
Brisket: Too salty, a bit dry and overcooked
Burnt Ends: Tough and chewy - undercooked
Hot Links: Ok
Mac & Cheese: Ok
Cornbread: One tiny muffin and 6 packs of butter? WTF!!?
Overall score: Dismal - 2 out of 10
Joint 2 - CatHead’s:
Small place that probably only holds 30
2 built-in custom wood smokers behind the counter. Smells like BBQ, smoke rising out of chimney.
It’s lunch time, but only about 6 people inside.
I ordered their smoked sloppy joe.
A brisket sloppy joe with pimento cheese!
This was delicious!
They also have cathead biscuits and sweet tea (real sweet tea!)
I also ordered a pound of brisket to go. (Juicy and cooked well with good beefy flavor)
Overall score: Remarkable! 8 out of 10
Takeaways:
1. The most popular place is not always the best place
2. Follow the smoke, if you don’t smell a active smoker, proceed with caution
3. Don’t get too jaded and refuse to eat bbq out. There are still a few gems out there waiting to be discovered
4. CatHead’s BBQ > Smoking Pig by a wide margin
(note: if either of these joints are owned by a Brethren , I’d be happy to share more of my thoughts privately)
Nearby was a highly rated (on yelp) bbq joint called:
Smoking Pig BBQ (aka Joint 1)
1144 N 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112
Yelp has 2,600 reviews with an average of 4 stars!
Today I ended up being in San Francisco about lunch time and stopped at:
CatHead’s BBQ (aka Joint 2)
1665 Folsom St, San Francisco, CA 94103
Yelp has 844 reviews with an average of 4 stars
The Food & Experience
Joint 1 - Smoking Pigs:
Two J&R smokers are out back when I arrive for dinner around 6pm. They appear well used, but are cold at the moment
Inside the place (that held probably 75) was almost full to capacity on a Tuesday night..
So far so good.
I was seated and ordered a 3 meat combo.
Brisket, Hot Links and (per menu- their famous) Burnt Ends
Sides were Mac & Cheese abs cornbread
This is what was delivered to my table ($29.99 not counting my beer)
Yea.......
Brisket: Too salty, a bit dry and overcooked
Burnt Ends: Tough and chewy - undercooked
Hot Links: Ok
Mac & Cheese: Ok
Cornbread: One tiny muffin and 6 packs of butter? WTF!!?
Overall score: Dismal - 2 out of 10
Joint 2 - CatHead’s:
Small place that probably only holds 30
2 built-in custom wood smokers behind the counter. Smells like BBQ, smoke rising out of chimney.
It’s lunch time, but only about 6 people inside.
I ordered their smoked sloppy joe.
A brisket sloppy joe with pimento cheese!
This was delicious!
They also have cathead biscuits and sweet tea (real sweet tea!)
I also ordered a pound of brisket to go. (Juicy and cooked well with good beefy flavor)
Overall score: Remarkable! 8 out of 10
Takeaways:
1. The most popular place is not always the best place
2. Follow the smoke, if you don’t smell a active smoker, proceed with caution
3. Don’t get too jaded and refuse to eat bbq out. There are still a few gems out there waiting to be discovered
4. CatHead’s BBQ > Smoking Pig by a wide margin
(note: if either of these joints are owned by a Brethren , I’d be happy to share more of my thoughts privately)
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