Now I'm not a smoker of meat. I leave that to people who know how. I do however know what it's suppose to taste like being from Alabama and all.
I've been searching for good que in this area of Louisiana for quite some time. I am ever hopeful, but think I still need to do some searching.
We went to Bad To The Bone BBQ in Slidell, LA.
http://badtothebonebarbq.com/ We both ordered a pork plate. The taste was okay...kinda bland. The bark was soft and the meat was greasy. They say it's wood smoked but I doubt it was done on ground. No smoke smell first of all, in a strip mall second of all.
The dude had no clue what I meant when I asked for inside meat, chopped, with some bark thrown in. He said he'd never heard the term bark before.
The potato salad was deli bought, the beans were okay, nothing to jump up and down about. There was some mystery dish that no one filled us in on and no sign to tell us either. Bread was texas toast with butter, very lightly toasted...soggy really. The tea was good. The sauce was horrible!
They give you a tray and a plate and you serve yourself cafeteria style. Except for the meat. They put that on your plate before they hand it to you.
Someone had either slopped food out over the edge and onto the floor when they were adding it to the buffet, or it was done while someone was trying to serve themselves. Huge mess and it wasn't cleaned by the time we sat down. I refused to look back over there so I don't know if it got cleaned by the time we left either. No excuse for it either. It was in full view of the register on the far end and the folks were walking around. How do you not see a ton of food on the floor right where your customers have to walk?
It took forever for us to even get a plate. He then forgot what we'd ordered and started sandwiches. We ordered plates. He fiddled with the meat for a heck of a long time. Then scared half the people in there by chopping it loudly, right there next to the cash register and in the front door, with a large knife. The girl standing beside him just stood there looking lost and never uttered a word past a hello.
Price: $10.00 a plate
Positives:
They give a lot of food if that's your thing.
Free refills on drinks.
They serve sauce on the side.
I won't be going back.
Folks, I'm in a desperate need for some good que. I could drive the extra hour somewhere into Mississippi but really don't have the hankering to do that every time I need a fix.
Short of hiring my own pit master and opening my own joint I have no clue what to do. Any hints where to go? I'm on the Northshore side of Lake Pontchartrain. I despise cajun que btw. Not a fan of hot means better. I also don't do brisket. BBQ to me means pork. I like chicken too but pork is what I go for.
Quick question, would cooking meat off site and holding it cause the bark to become so soft? Can a business do that...smoke meat off site I mean?
