I apologize for the lack of a witty title to go along with this post. Maybe it's the built in double entendre of the name, or someone stole my wit. I'm not sure which but nothing is coming to me as I write this.
We were on our way back from Ardmore where we had done a whole lot of work and a little bit of fishing.... or was that a whole lot of fishing and a little bit of work?
Regardless I was considering trying to hit up Bob's Pig Shop in Pauls Valley since my first two attempts were a bust but then my mom said "Isn't there a place in Purcell you wanted to try?"
The Rack Shack had opened up early 2013 in the building where Val's Smokehouse had been located in Purcell, but a fire had temporarily caused them to close shortly after they opened.
I was later told that they wouldn't be re-opening and I had taken them off my list but then I started seeing reviews on Urbanspoon. So I did a little research and found out that they were indeed open for business again.
The menu is simple at The Rack Shack. You can get brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, and turkey along with a handful of sides, some baked potato options, and desserts. You order at the counter and then they bring your food to you.
The girls working the counter were really friendly and enthusiastic about the food and engaged us in conversation and checked up on us several times despite us arriving not long before closing time.
I decided to go with the two meat dinner, ribs & pulled pork, and I added some sliced brisket and chose spicy coleslaw and potato salad for my sides. It also came with two pieces of toast. Was it two sided toast? Well you'll have to keep reading to find out.... Or I guess you could just stop reading and scroll down if the anticipation of a toast rant is to much to deal with.
The brisket was true Okie Brisket with all the fat trimmed off and no moisture in sight. It had good color and good flavor but the longer it sat on the tray the drier it was getting.
The ribs were big and meaty, and like the brisket had good flavor, but when I took my first bite I was left with a huge chunk of overcooked rib meat hanging from my mouth. I didn't try picking them up after that.
The pulled pork passed all of my pulled pork appearance tests with flying colors. Good color, some bark and not chopped, folded, spindled, or mutilated. Unfortunately as with the previous two meats. It had good flavor but was dry.
My blogs are always written about a moment in time. I have to wonder if we were just at The Rack Shack at the wrong time. All the meats had potential flavor wise but the texture was not to my liking on any of them.
The sides were good and appeared to be house made. The spicy coleslaw was a creamy slaw with a nice kick to it but not overbearing. The potato salad was a mustard mashed potato salad and was good.
The toast was indeed two sided. Appeared to have been grilled on a flat top, because it was like grilled cheese without the cheese, and was the highlight of my meal.
The Rack Shack offers two sauces, mild and hot, and they appeared to be house made and were really good. This came in handy because I was using a lot of this tasty sauce to help me get the meat down.
I actually thought the mild was kind of spicy for a mild but was still a really good sauce. Just be prepared for it if you don't tolerate spicy well. The hot was only slightly hotter than the mild.
My mom ordered the sausage and turkey with fries and okra. I tried the sausage and it tasted like the Hillshire Farms Black Oak sausage I had at The Rib Joint in Pond Creek.
The first bite of turkey I took from the edge was dry but then I got a piece from the middle and it had good flavor and was moist and delicious.
The okra looked hand breaded and not the frozen variety found at most Q-raunts but mom said it was greasy and not crispy enough. The fries were also limp and greasy. Mom said she thought both would have been good if they were fried crispy.
All in all I think The Rack Shack has potential. The flavors were there and it appears they put the time and effort into making their sides in house. I have to give them kudos for that but the meats I had were poorly executed texture wise. Perhaps it was the time we were there, as I mentioned earlier, but that's also not a really good excuse.
On the other hand. I know there are a lot of diners in Oklahoma that like this kind of BBQ and if you fall in that category. Well then you are going to love The Rack Shack.
I left disappointed on this visit but I plan on trying to hit them again at a peak time.
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