My wife and I truly enjoy our annual pilgrimage to the original location of Sonny Bryan's on Inwood near the Harry Hines. In the summertime they set up picnic tables under canvas cover with misters in their parking lot, the perfect ambiance in which to enjoy their fine smoked meats, tasty sides, and ice cold beer.
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Onion Rings
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sliced or chopped brisket
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pulled pork
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pork ribs
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Brisket
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1 out of 1 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
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I've been eating at Sonny Bryan's for at least 40 years and want to clear up a couple of things. First of all, the Inwood location is the only one you should visit. I am not sure what the relation is to the others but I've heard they are not as good and why mess around with a good thing. To complain about the downtown location is like complaining about chicken because you don't like fish.
Second, it's true that the food quality declined briefly during a management change about two years ago but it is definitely back on top as of early 2011 and exactly as Michael Stern's original review describes it. The brisket isn't the smokiest you will find but it is definitely good eating. My personal lunch preference is the "po boy," a generous amount of meat on a soft, long bun with two sides. Both the cole slaw and the potato salad are excellent.
This is not the best BBQ in Texas (you have to go south to Snow's in Lexington for the best I've experienced) but, yes, it's worth a 100 mile trip.
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sliced or chopped brisket
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pulled pork
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pork ribs
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Onion Rings
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4 out of 5 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
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Sorry, Michael. With all due respect, I have to totally disagree with your high opinion of Sonny Bryan's. If indeed, as one reviewer stated, you were at the Sonny Bryan's downtown, then you really gave this horrible BBQ much more than its due. Even the original location on Inwood Road, as much as it's better than their other locations, is still not really a whole lot better than any Dickey's location. When Sonny died, his family sold the restaurant to a group of lawyers who expanded the business purely for profit, not to serve world-class BBQ like they'd have you believe.
My first visit to Sonny Bryan's (at their original Inwood Road location) was in 1963, shortly after I first moved to Dallas. I gave up going for two reasons: 1-Because the food went downhill fast after Sonny died about 10 years ago and the business was sold and expanded. 2-Because after that, I discovered real Texas BBQ in Central Texas. I never went back after that.
Next time you're in Dallas, go to Oak Cliff and try Lockhart Smokehouse. It's arguably the best BBQ in Dallas. It's owned in part by the same family that owns and runs Kreuz Market in Lockhart, outside of Austin.
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1 out of 2 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
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Neither Roadfood (the book) nor the website has ever let me down. Until now, that is. Wow, Sonny Bryan's on Inwood in Dallas was a disappointment. The restaurant has many things to recommend it, but the food here is not one of them.
Sonny's has a great Roadfood sign, a beautiful dark patina of grease and smoke inside, and the prerequisite oddball counter types, one of whom made a rhyme out of whatever anyone said and the other loudly yelling "add that sauce!", "pour it on!", and "what you want? what you want?" repeatedly. The line up to order works, oddly, and is confusing, and even that adds to the whimsy of the place.
But to me, the meat was so laden with sauce, I didn't even recognize it as what I consider BBQ. I guess someone back in the kitchen took counterman, with his "add that sauce" mantra, to heart. The brisket was not sliced brisket, but meat pulled apart a la pulled pork. It was then soaked in sauce and served in a bowl. The pork ribs looked promising, but they were soaked, I mean soaked, in that red sauce. Ugh. Very unappetizing to a guy who likes his Texas BBQ smoked and served. Sauce hides something, folks, and I'm afraid there is much to hide at Sonny Bryan's.
To be fair, the onion rings were darn good, big, not greasy, and delicious. I'd eat them again anytime. But, I'm afraid, they alone are not worth the trip.
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Onion Rings
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8 out of 9 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
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This review applies to the Sonny Bryan's location downtown on Market Street. I don't know how closely connected it is to the original location, but if the food at the original is as good as people say, the downtown outpost must be tenuously connected at best.
First, there was no smoke smell outside or inside, nor did I see a smokestack anywhere. That suggested the food was smoked off-site and brought in, probably not optimal for the best flavor. I ordered the sampler plate, which contains sliced brisket, pulled pork, pork ribs, sausage, and a thigh portion of chicken. None of the meats had much smoke flavor. The brisket and the chicken were tender but dry, almost cottony. My personal preference is for a bit of fat to moisten the meat, and here there was none. The pulled pork was just mushy, and the sausage was more like a hard salami than a well-seasoned link. Only the ribs were accepable -- at least they had some fat and were moist. But still no smoke flavor worth mentioning.
The sauce comes in old beer bottles on the side. I've never been a big fan of pouring cold sauce on unsauced meat. Frankly, if it needs sauce, it's already deficient. Dry as the meat was, I didn't find that the sauce solved the problem.
The sides -- mac and cheese and coleslaw -- were good, and I really liked the very yeasty warm bread. But if this location is a fair representative of the Sonny Bryan's experience, I can't imagine what the fuss is about.
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pork ribs
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sliced or chopped brisket
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pulled pork
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6 out of 7 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?
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