B&L Quality Meats, Fresno

B&L Quality Meats serves their tri-tip on a hoagie style roll of below average quality with no real density. The bread roll was real wet, soggy at the seam. The thinly sliced meat, a.k.a tri-tip, could have been served at any catered wedding or as a day old left-over at my house (the pink in the pic below is BBQ smoke on the meat).

The only advantage this sandwich has IS the thinly sliced meat and lots of it. The meat tastes as though it were pre-sliced, left in the warming tray with broth prior to placing on sandwiches, hence the wet bread. There is some flavor from the grill, but not much. Their barbecue sauce was good (which is why it's all over the sandwich) and served on the side. If I’m on this side of town, I might think about getting a sandwich as long as I can get two or three BBQ sauces to go with it, but I'd probably check in at a Pho place instead. One thing I do know, B&L's sandwich is better than the Meat Market.

Another note, I cannot speak to the quality or selection of the actual butcher shop itself. I'm strictly speaking about their take-out tri-tip sandwich. The market itself could be quite good. I just want to be fair in seperating the tri tip sandwich review from the actual meat market.

The Meat Market, Fresno

The Meat Market should be ashamed of itself for serving Heinz BBQ sauce in a tear open packet. In order to be called “the best tri-tip” in Fresno, I don’t want to eat a commercial BBQ sauce. And if I am eating commercial sauce, I don’t want to know about it.

Absolutely Shameful.

The bread was of average quality and served naked, no sauce, no butter, no grilling. The meat was dry and basically un-seasoned, save for the flavor of the wood in the BBQ.

 

Fresno has a tradition of sticking with restaurants that have a tendency to be mediocre, simply because the restaurant has been around the longest, not because they’re the best. The Meat Market is the default Fresno choice for tri-tip because it was here before the others. Fresno deserves better.

I see no reason to ever return to the Meat Market for a tri-tip sandwich. Go to Mike's Grill on Herndon and Chestnut or Dog House Grill for a tri-tip sandwich.

Jasper's BBQ, Waco Texas

As I traveled from Houston to Dallas on a very quick trip through Texas, I was pleased to stop for BBQ in Waco. Jasper’s in Waco, was a choice simply made because it wasn’t the number one choice in town on Urbanspoon, but rather the number 3 choice and I often let The Force guide me in such matters.

 

A BBQ dive from the outside, with parking in the vacant lot and dirt area surrounding the place, Jasper’s has been in Waco since 1915. It’s had multiple owners, but the most recent owner Rodney, hails from the famous Rusty Star across town. Rodney has taken it upon himself to make a series of improvements in the last 9 months, both inside and out, so I can image what it looked like before he bought it.

 

You may remember the Rusty Star BBQ from No Reservations on the Travel Channel with Tony Bourdain and guest star Ted Nuggent. Well, Rodney of Jasper’s knows “Uncle Teddy” and was the reason why Tony visited Rusty Star. Well, if No Reservations heads back to Waco, they should come to Jasper’s, now that the pit master from Rusty Star is running the historic Jasper’s BBQ joint. Evidently, my Jedi powers and knowledge of The Force led me to the right spot.

I went in for ribs and no other meat. One full pound of St. Louis style pork ribs cooked just around 5 hours and lightly glazed with sauce. According to Rodney, no one else does “sauce” in town. Rodney also says that the 5 hour cooking time is a rule of thumb and that the only way to know if the ribs are done is to pick them up and “feel when it’s right”. Additionally, there is “gravy”.

 

The gravy is legendary at Jasper’s. It’s a loose sauce from the Brisket that’s left to sit in the smoker. Rodney tells me that the recipe was adapted over time, but he successfully recreated the original based upon the 70 and 80 year old patrons who have sampled every variation of the sauce over the years and have proclaimed that Rodney’s tastes just like the original. These Jasper’s Veterans have been coming back more often since the word is out that “The Original Gravy” is back. While I used the gravy a couple times, I found the ribs needed no additional sauce or gravy.

Wonderfully tender ribs, still attached to the bone and with a little pressure are easily pulled apart. A rich smoky flavor as well. It reminded me of the flavor I get from my own ribs and pork and there was a reason, oak. Oak is the primary wood used at Jasper’s and is my primary fuel source for my homemade BBQ. Rodney and I talked about oak smoke at length. I mentioned that I’ve used plum, peach, pear, almond, and walnut woods for my bbq over the years. Rodney too is a fan of fruit and nut woods, but says it’s neither as abundant nor economical as he would like. Additionally, the smoke that oak imparts is something veteran customers have enjoyed about Jasper’s over the years. I couldn’t agree more.

 

Rodney is at Jasper’s every morning at 3:45am. He’s usually sold out by 2pm each day. I asked if he ever re-warms his bbq for sale. “Never” was the answer. “It’s got a different flavor and I’d rather sell out every day anyway.” Obviously, Rodney is a good business man, not to mention a dedicated one.

If Rodney continues to make BBQ at Jasper’s this well, he’ll have no trouble selling out every day. This was real good BBQ.

Mike's BBQ, Fresno

I’ve heard more buzz about this place for the last year than I have about most restaurants in Fresno. “You’ve got to get the tri-tip sandwich!” Ok, I’ve been eating tri-tip since before it was cool, like back in the 80’s when my dad barbequed it at home. Mike’s tri-tip sandwich is good, real good. The bread is seasoned and toasted and the tri tip is sliced thinly and has a good ratio of fat to meat. I can see how he built a reputation off this sandwich alone.

What people either forgot to tell me or failed to eat were the pork ribs at Mike’s; they’re damn good. Honestly, these are some of the better ribs I’ve had in the entire United States. Tender, but not completely falling off the bone (which they shouldn’t be), solid pork flavor, good, even smokiness but not acrid or bitter, and meaty. Mike puts a BBQ sauce on his ribs as a matter of practice, rather than a dry style BBQ.

I spoke with Mike for a little bit and he said people are driving across town for the sandwich, but for my dollar, I’d drive across town for the ribs, they’re worth every bite. Nice job Mike, keep knocking out great sandwiches and ribs brother.

As a brief follow-up to my initial visit, I purchased take-away ribs, beans, pilaf, and macaroni salad about two weeks later. I’m certainly going to reinforce what I already knew, Mike’s ribs are delicious. I got a side of BBQ sauce along with the ribs to pour on all sorts of stuff, including the macaroni salad and I loved it. Don’t change a thing Mike, don’t change a thing.

Update on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 1:38PM by The Cured Ham

Another great lunch at Mike's last week. And here's another messy picture.

Dick's Smoke Wagon, Big Pine, CA

 

Dick’s Smoke Wagon, Big Pine. While I didn’t get a chance to head to the East Side of California over the summer, I was lucky enough to break away during the winter. However, that means going “around the horn” through Mojave. There are benefits to this route, one being the Indian Wells Brewery in Inyokern the second includes driving through the towns of Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine and Bishop.

Big Pine, gateway to the Palisades Mountain Range and the Ancient Bristlecone Forest is home to one more local treasure, Dick’s Smoke Wagon. Driving North, on the East Side of Main Street in Big Pine is a large mobile trailer parked on a concrete slab. The trailer is familiar to me, but it’s out of place. This trailer has been parked in Bishop for as long as I can remember. So why is it parked here in Big Pine and why is it parked next to what appears to be a renovated commercial kitchen?

 

I approach the trailer, walk up the ramp and talk with the sole occupant. After a ‘hello’ the man in the trailer rolls right into telling me the finishing times of each of the things he’s smoking, ribs, ribs, ribs; all several hours away from tender completion. Not good for my time schedule. “But if you’re here for lunch, I’ve got all my sandwiches ready, along with beans, coleslaw, and home-made jalapeno poppers.” Oh yes, I’m ready for lunch.

 

I proceed to order the bbq pulled pork sandwich with bbq baked beans and a vinegar based coleslaw. But is this a sandwich? The bottom of a small white dinner roll is placed in the middle of the center island of the take-away container and covered with a heaping portion of pork, bbq sauce, and topped with simple slivered cabbage. The top of the bun is laid to rest on the mass of pork. It is as though Dali has influenced the construction and inspiration for the surreal pork sandwich. The perfect unblemished little bun riding on top of pork carnage, underneath, the bun’s other half, immersed in a sea of bbq sauce and pork. Technically a sandwich, meat sandwiched in between two pieces of bread, yet unworkable as a sandwich eaten with your hands. Adding to the total experience and scene, a converted mobile trailer with smoke billowing from the front, parked on an industrial concrete slab, with a view of the snowcapped Sierra Nevada range. A surreal masterpiece!

Normally, people get lazy when they pull pork and allow large hunks of fat to mix in with pure meat. Not at Dick’s Smoke Wagon. Pure meat in my sandwich. The sauce is tangy, not too sweet, with nice spice notes. It’s a balance moment, all the aspects of great sauce. The beans and slaw were very tasty. The coleslaw had more vinegar than mayo, crispy, well integrated and offered a bit of cutting acid to the sweet bbq sauce and the richness of the pork.

 

I chatted with the pit master a bit after eating my sandwich. We discussed who made the Smoke Wagon, the development of the commercial kitchen, and the upcoming trout season. Before I continued my drive, I figured I’d ask if I could take a bottle of his BBQ sauce.

“Excuse me. Do you bottle your sauce?”

“No, just make it fresh each day depending on what I think I need. If I bottle it, it wouldn’t be fresh would it?”

Now how can I disagree with that?! I hope my readers can make it to Big Pine and try Dick’s Smoke Wagon. They are also on FACEBOOK.

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