Showing posts with label
Augies Barbed Wire Smoke House.
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Showing posts with label
Augies Barbed Wire Smoke House.
Show all posts
My office shut down around noon'ish today so it was a perfect opportunity for the whole family to get out and do some errands - you know, buy some replacement underwear for my son at WalMart and stuff like that.
We found ourselves downtown San Antonio and in the Mercado, the little shopping area that is open year round, but really only busy during Fiesta and Cinco de Mayo and such. Oh sure, there is a steady stream of tourists all the time, but how the shops there make it during the off times is beyond me. But what do I know.
The good thing is, since NAFTA, there is no real reason to go to Mexico (unless you just have a hankerin' to get kidnapped or shot, or both), because you can get all of your authentic Hecho in Chino Mexican items for about the same price. Just a thought: Once you have a dozen blankets, ponchos, a tortilla flattener, and that little rock bowl you display to make people think you grind up your own spicy salsa fixin's, what else could you need? Oh yes, large over priced beers and a few t-shirts.
But it is fun and I never get tired of watching the grandfathers and fathers stand outside the stores as their wives look at the same traditional Mexican dress in different colors that they will surely wear once they get back to Wisconsin or Minnesota, just to impress friends. Even my son gets in on the act, practicing I suppose.
This caught my eye. At first, I only saw the top part of the sign, and I though for a minute we had moved into an R-rated section of the place.
And of course, you know it is almost time for a festive Christmas in San Antonio when El Mercado busts out the pink Christmas tree display.
We were all pretty excited about taking the kids to Augie's Barbed Wire BBQ for a late lunch. We pulled into the lot and I thought to myself that this was perfect timing. We had missed the lunch crowd and there were only a few other people in the lot that would be ahead of us in line.
We all got out and started to walk in when I noticed the people parked a few feet from us were getting back in their truck. Then, I noticed a few folks standing in the entry way of Augie's, drinking a cool mug of beer. A lady said, "We're closed." And the guy hoisted his beer and said, "It's beer time." I chuckled and said to myself, "Okay, I'll play your little game." We continued to walk toward the entrance. "No, seriously, we closed at 3 today" the guy said, and we all just turned, totally dejected, just like the people parked a few feet away from us, and left.
Since we were there, my wife said she had wanted to take the kids to Broadway 5050. I've told you about our last lunch there. We liked it, though I know several other readers were not impressed.
Today, my wife and I both ordered the Memphis style pork sandwich with the slaw on. It was good but just not the same as the pulled-pork I planned on getting at Augie's. And I have to put my foot down here and now. People of the food industry: Quit serving those stupid little hay stick/shoestring french-fries. They just do not work for me.
My daughter had the brisket sandwich which she absolutely loved. It is good and for what is really just a bar, they do serve a good brisket. She did not care for the potato salad and upon inspection, I did not either. I'm pretty sure it was better the first time we went.
My son got the same fish & chips platter I got on our first visit and we was pleased with his, just as I was back then.
In the end, it was all good. We had solid service, the price was very reasonable, good food and I still just like the feel of the place inside. Give it a shot if you are in the area.
As we were planning our trip to the Florida Panhandle to visit my son this past weekend, we of course knew that our trip along I-10 would require, no, would offer an opportunity to check out a new place to eat. But where to go?
It was my son who suggested we stop by The Shed, a place he had been to during his travels and in fact had been visited upon by the Food Network guy who does the Diners and Drive-ins show I occasionally watch.
We actually, okay to be honest, I actually planned our trip around hitting The Shed for lunch, just so I could see what it was all about.
The place is co-located with an RV park and looks like it has been pieced together over the years with a little addition here and a little addition there. I love a place with this style.
But what about the food? Everyone has their own style and tastes. The Shed offered up some good choices and we went with the Sampler Platter so we could get a little bit of everything.
We also picked up a brisket sammy to take my son.
Aside from the fact that the place was humid as all get-out, we were pleased with the selection.
In all honesty, we have a hard time not comparing things to two baselines. I submit that Augie's Barbed Wire in San Antonio would easily best The Shed on a blind taste test. Likewise, I'll put my friend Lea's ribs up against these any day. Having said that, this was lunch at a different place in a different state and folks, it was very, very good. I'd recommend The Shed as a place to visit and enjoy to any lover of fine BBQ and good times.
In the interest of time, just watch the video and you'll see a Tasty Treat.
My wife was reading in the San Antonio Express-News Food section and saw the review on a place called Two Bros. BBQ Market that sounded pretty good. As the review reports, this place was opened by some ritzy restaurant guy, Jason Dady who has a few other places around town - Bin 555 and Tre Trattoria. Yea, I'll stick to checking out the BBQ place, someone else can report on the others.
Anyway, we decided to make the drive over and find out what all the fuss was about. I'll tell you up front, we have sort of mixed feelings about the place; some real positives and some real negatives.
When you get there, you find that Two Bros. is hidden behind another restaurant, a Mexican place called El Bosque. Pull in just beyond and you will find Two Bros.
What we found right off the bat was that parking can present a situation. The place was not crowded at all (based on the amount of available seating), but the parking situation was already troublesome. Perhaps they will buy out El Bosque and pave over it for more parking. Part of the issue was that people parked really goofy. The three vehicles you see above right were all parked over two rows of slots each. Maybe they need valet parking.
Anyway, as soon as you pull into the lot, the wonderful aroma of BBQ hits you. It really does smell good. We walked in and the building is very inviting; nothing to make you think you are in a ritzy place, yet everything is clean, well organized and something I especially liked, there was no uncomfortable guessing about what you were supposed to do.
I have mentioned before that I often feel pressured into making a snap decision on my order because I don't fully grasp the way they menu options work or have time to figure out what I want. In this case, they use the line to get you started with drink options (beer & sodas), but with a sign letting you know that iced tea, lemonade and other stuff is available at the register. They made that sign for me. On the wall are well laid out menus showing packages you can get or, as I like, vittles by the pound. The sides are clearly identified as are the desserts and such.
When it is your turn to order, the guy asks for your name, then takes the order and prints out a receipt. From there, you take your receipt to a second register where you pay and pick up any other drinks you need. As you wait to hear your name called for the order, you can be grabbing your plastic ware, pickles, jalapenos, napkins and drink lids etc.
One thing we did note is that they do not have a speaker outside for the folks sitting on the awesome patio to hear their name called. This resulted in hearing an extremely loud guy yell "Bob!" about 10 times before someone else went and popped out the door to the patio and yelled for Bob to come get his food.
Speaking of the outside patio, it really is nice. Lots of picnic tables to sit at and things were not cramped at all. And of course, two things you cannot miss are the smoke house or the huge play area for the kids to climb on while mommy and daddy toss back a few cold ones.
Inside, I noticed a few trees that stayed when construction began. One was behind our order taker, the other here, by the door to the patio had all sorts of wine bottle corks around it. Fancy, yet homey.
About the food. We ordered 1/4 pound of brisket, 1/2 bound of pork ribs, 2 chicken thighs and small portions of sides: Mac & Cheese, beans, potato salad, and creamed corn.
I love yard bird. This texture was fine, I just didn't care for the taste. And even with their sauce, (which I did not care for), it wasn't much better. My wife was okay with the chicken. I thought the pork ribs were pretty good but my wife felt like they had used some sort of chili powder rub or something on them, giving them a uniquely bad taste. Go figure. We both agreed that the brisket was pretty good, but we also agreed that we had had much, much better. Is it possible that they are trying to turn good down home BBQ into something fancy?
A perfect case in point: the beans. They had these barbecued beans that tasted weird. I overheard another customer asking the grill man what was in the beans and he said it was peaches. Okay, but it wasn't the peaches that gave them the over the top too ritzy for their own good taste. Blech.
The potato salad was very good, the cream corn was really good and the mac & cheese was just okay. 
Finally, I recalled from the Express-News review that they simply raved about the
"cream-cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped smoked jalapenos". Puhleez. This is one of the standards that I make whenever we grill outdoors and I promise, mine are bigger, better and served hotter. Unless money grows on trees for you, don't waste the $6.00.
Which reminds me. The prices were not bad at all. I'd say that for the amount of food we got - and yes, we did take a full box of food home - Two Bros. was priced consistent with most other BBQ places we have been to.
Bottomline: If you live on that side of town, or just happen to be in the area, by all means, stop in and give Two Bros a try. But if you just must have some good BBQ, whether it be in the form of chicken, brisket, ribs or whatever, I'd unconditionally recommend Augie's Barbed Wire Smoke House over Two Bros. BBQ Market.
We were in Alamo Heights and in need of some vittles so what better opportunity to mark another restaurant off the list by stopping into Broadway 5050 for an awesome lunch. Oh, do I give it away too soon? Well make no mistake, we were some happy campers.
Parking is on Broadway (hence the name) and it caused me a little nervousness when I pulled in to the spot. I immediately started contemplating how I was supposed to back out of the parking place in busy traffic. The parking places are angled so you can just pull in from the busy street. This is sort of like in the old horse and buggy days where you didn't have to worry about everyone in town owning a vehicle. Now, things on Broadway are busier; even the house staff own cars. But, let me set you at ease; the stop light will accommodate you and when you are done stuffing yourself, you can easily pull out of the slot and mover along.
Had I figured this out sooner, I would have stopped in a year ago. Honestly, we have driven by and marked other places off our list simply because the parking looks like a nightmare. Now I know. And now you know.
I had no idea what to expect on the inside. This place could easily be set-up anywhere in San Antonio; it isn't some ritzy Alamo Heights thing. It has the feel of a 50's diner (sort of like the Pig Stand, only cleaner). If you are so inclined, they have a fully stocked bar and loads of beer on tap as well as a huge collection of bottled brews. Oh, and honestly, the iced tea is out of this world.
Some booths had the same checkerboard pattern seen on the front of the building while the one we sat in had some sort of Quentin Tarantino theme going on with nifty cutouts from Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Dusk till Dawn.
The menu is full of good options including daily specials. My wife finally decided on a pulled-pork sandwich. It is served on toasted bread and comes with baked beans, Cole slaw and shoestring fries. Instead of fries (she gave them up for lent) she substituted onion rings.
Yea, the cook sent her plate out with fries, but then made up a special order of rings for us. And the rings were outstanding. Have I had better? Sure. Were these wonderful? Absolutely.
The beans were good but what really stood out was the barbecue sauce that accompanied the pulled-pork sandwich. Look, I'm not going to sit here and say that the sandwich was better than Augie's, but this is a diner, not a BBQ place. Having said that, if you order it at 5050, you will not be disappointed. The sauce, as we found out, is made on site by the 5050 folks. We told the waitress that they should bottle it and sell it. Dip your onion rings in it and you will be very pleased.
The daily special was fish & chips and so I ordered me some. In spite of the good iced tea, I forced myself to also order a Newcastle Dark Brown, on tap to assist me in getting in the fish & chips mood.
In addition to the expected fish & chips, the plate comes with a tiny salad (about half a cup worth) and some of the aforementioned Cole Slaw. Before I could even think about using the tarter sauce, our waitress asked if I needed some Malt Vinegar. Just fabulous! While she grabbed that, I started on the Cole slaw. I am telling you that we have had Cole slaw at a lot of places. I don't know if this was made at the restaurant or purchased from a supplier, but it stands right up there with among the best, creamiest, most flavorful slaw's I have ever experienced.
The fish was fried with a crispy texture and it was in nuggets, almost like you get with some catfish. Unlike the fillets I had at the Rams Head (which was excellent), these were a little more crispy and could easily be picked up for fast eating. I did try the tarter sauce and it was good, but to be honest, the malt vinegar was hitting the spot for me. I'm not a huge fan of shoestring fries, though they were not bad, but my wife needed help with the onion rings so between the two of us, we left enough fries to feed several families in Ethiopia. Hopefully, they will get them while they are still hot.
We eat at a lot of places. More often than not, we seem to leave thinking that it was going to be better, based on what people told us or what some advertiser claimed. I have no way of knowing if we were simply lucky, hitting the place during a slow time (it was about 2:30 in the afternoon), but we were totally pleased. My wife was doing the Happy Dance over pulled pork, so you know it had to be good.
If you are in or around Alamo Heights and need some vittles, skip Good Time Charlies and the Pig Stand and head directly over to Broadway 5050. Or eat at all three and have a heart attack. Your call.
Either way, Broadway 5050 is a Tasty Treat.
I have this vision in my mind of driving out along a highway many miles from the next big town and happening upon a place just like Texas Pride Barbecue.
Like a scene from a movie, the place is inhabited by a few bikers, the occasional odd looking person and more than a few people enjoying a cold bottle of beer on a hot day. If you are looking for an out of the way spot and your biggest priority is atmosphere like this, go ahead; you have got to make the trip.
But in our case, the thrill of seeing an extremely well put together collection of gas pumps, old signs and the standard obligatory "flair" required in most barbecue places, doesn't make the drive worth it if the food doesn't meet the image of the name. 
I'll tell you about our eating experience in a minute, but first, this is a place worth visiting at least once, especially if you are already within 10 miles of it. We hit shortly after the regular lunch crowd on Saturday and even then, the inside dining area was fairly crowded. 
Of course, I'm a huge fan of the cluttered walls image and this place is loaded with memorabilia, old signs and autographed pictures.
And though the main inside eating area is fairly normal in size, the outer area is huge. It was like revisiting John T. Floore Country Store when we saw the outside with all the picnic tables and such.
They even have sort of a fenced in kids play area. Complete with slide and electric rides.
You can tell that this place attracts many visitors who have read a positive thing or two about it - as we ate, people would leave and stop to pose for pictures out front.
Like many of the places we have hit for barbecue, these folks go with the traditional butcher paper in a plastic Coke crate, and you go down the line for your order. You can look into the case and see some sides and some of the meats. 
The baked potatoes are huge! When we were first standing in line, we had decided that one of our 4 sides would include the pinto beans, but after seeing them in the case, we opted to swap it for the German potato salad.
There was a couple who ordered in front of us and we saw the size of the chop sandwiches they got. These people do not skimp. In all honesty, one of the chop sandwiches would have been sufficient for two people.
Our meal came out to $24.00, these folks some how managed to spend $47.00!
Anyway, we got two combos. The first one was a chicken and brisket combo. The brisket was not nearly as good as you would expect. It didn't look good, and it just didn't even come close to even some of the regular places we go like Bill Miller's or Grady's. And the chicken was fine, but after a few bites, my wife commented that it was just like normal chicken. Somebody notify Luby's. The chicken didn't even come close to McBee's and in all honesty, neither the chicken nor brisket should be mentioned in the same paragraph as Augie's Barbed Wire.
We also got the ribs and pork loin combo. These ribs were really good. With or without the sauce, they pulled right off the bone and the taste was superb. If I were to be in the area again, I'd surely order the full rack of ribs (like the couple in front of us did). The pork was fine, but I would have gladly taken more ribs instead.
Between the two meals, we got to select four sides. We had green beans which were okay, but not even close to Bill Miller's. There was some sort of macaroni with pepper on it and it was actually pretty good and I would definitely recommend it. Then we got two potato salads; the regular and the German. The regular potato salad was a No-Go. We both took two small bites of it and for the first time in the history of eating out, I left potato salad on the table. I think of the poor starving children in China and expect they will thank me for not sending this to them. It was horrible. The German potato salad on the other hand was Outstanding. I nearly licked the Styrofoam cup clean.
The final thing was the little side of peach cobbler. In my mind, it was burnt and the blackened, charred taste took away from it. My wife enjoyed it though.
So, to sum it up... If you are in the area anyway, by all means, give the place a whirl. I suspect it would be mighty fun during a night when a band is playing. If you decide to eat, go with the ribs, the German potato salad and the macaroni.
See more pictures on Flickr.
The good thing is, since NAFTA, there is no real reason to go to Mexico (unless you just have a hankerin' to get kidnapped or shot, or both), because you can get all of your authentic Hecho in Chino Mexican items for about the same price. Just a thought: Once you have a dozen blankets, ponchos, a tortilla flattener, and that little rock bowl you display to make people think you grind up your own spicy salsa fixin's, what else could you need? Oh yes, large over priced beers and a few t-shirts.
But it is fun and I never get tired of watching the grandfathers and fathers stand outside the stores as their wives look at the same traditional Mexican dress in different colors that they will surely wear once they get back to Wisconsin or Minnesota, just to impress friends. Even my son gets in on the act, practicing I suppose.
This caught my eye. At first, I only saw the top part of the sign, and I though for a minute we had moved into an R-rated section of the place.
Since we were there, my wife said she had wanted to take the kids to Broadway 5050. I've told you about our last lunch there. We liked it, though I know several other readers were not impressed.
Today, my wife and I both ordered the Memphis style pork sandwich with the slaw on. It was good but just not the same as the pulled-pork I planned on getting at Augie's. And I have to put my foot down here and now. People of the food industry: Quit serving those stupid little hay stick/shoestring french-fries. They just do not work for me.
My daughter had the brisket sandwich which she absolutely loved. It is good and for what is really just a bar, they do serve a good brisket. She did not care for the potato salad and upon inspection, I did not either. I'm pretty sure it was better the first time we went.
My son got the same fish & chips platter I got on our first visit and we was pleased with his, just as I was back then.
