Piedmont said:
Hey Thirdeye,
I'm in South Carolina. I do have two brothers that live in Dallas. I'm going to visit them for the first time within the year, on the way I hope to side track to Houston to eat at Thelma's Q joint....
Man, I saw the brisket essay and the LBJ marinade on your site and just assumed Texas. Can't wait to see some Carolina pig pickin' posts. It is my favorite style of barbecue.
Thanks for the offer on the links. My page is still in the works.
Before you go to Dallas, you may want to check out This Site. It is 15 chapters of reviews of mostly barbecue joints in DFW area. A regular barbecue crawl.The food pictures are excellent and the reviews are really down to earth. I grew up eating in joints like these and it brings back good memories. Here is a brief sample of the content to see if something like this would interest you:
Daniel’s Barbecue, on Beckley, just south of Illinois.
Daniel’s was empty when I arrived, which usually isn’t a good sign. But I could smell smoke from the parking lot, which usually
is a good sign. The restaurant has a small dine-in section with an odd assembly of decorations, ranging from a portrait of Miles Davis to
Tahitian Noni posters. I placed my order and waited for the meat to arrive.
The brisket was low to mid-sandwich-grade. Smokiness was moderate and the meat was a bit dry in places. Okay with a couple slices of bread and a drizzle of sauce, but not for straight eating.
Daniel’s sausage was a bit unexpected. Listed on the bilingual menu as “chorizo polaco” (i.e., Polish sausage), they weren’t the hot links I’m accustomed to seeing in South Dallas. But, at the same time, it wasn’t the generic supermarket-style sausage I find in most joints farther north. It was a bit loosely packed, but had pretty good texture, a lot of juiciness (but without the clumsy saltiness of most), and decent flavor. Not quite up to Rudolph’s quality (which remains the most visible standard-bearer for quality Polish sausages in DFW barbecue joints), but a step in that direction.
The ribs showed some signs of promise, but didn’t fully deliver. They had an acceptable degree of smokiness and firm texture, just shy of toughness. Bark was looking good, but proved to be thick and chewy in many places. I’m not sure if the problem was that they’d been stored a while or just slightly overcooked. They were still decent ribs. But perhaps with better timing they could have been quite good.
Daniel’s is a fairly average South Dallas barbecue joint, which is to say it would be somewhat above average north of I-30. It’s a respectable option for those in the area; but if one is making a trip to South Dallas for barbecue, it wouldn’t top my list of destinations.
