WOULD I BE DERAILED AT OKLAHOMA STATION

It's odd how you can pass by a place for years yet never find the time to try it.

Oklahoma Station BBQ has been like that for me. I've been passing by it since I was a kid and somehow I just never found the time to try it.

Now that I'm a semi-wannabe-successful blogger with over 12k page views and whose Pinterest account is being followed by the Destination America cable channel. I decided it was time to  make time to try Oklahoma Station BBQ.



Ok, the first two parts weren't really relevant to it but it was time to finally give Oklahoma Station BBQ a try.

When you walk across the parking lot to the front door you are greeted by a wonderful smoky aroma that really gets your mouth watering. Once inside you'll find a cafeteria style setup where you first order your meats and then for some reason you serve your sides yourself.

I decided to go with the Round House which is a 3 meat combo that comes with toast and your choice of sides.

I chose ribs, sliced brisket, and pulled pork and then proceeded to scoop up some mac and cheese and potato salad. Some of the other sides I saw were coleslaw, beans, what looked to be homemade potato chips and several other options.

 

I watched hungrily as the man that took my order pulled a big brisket from a holding cabinet and began slicing pieces from the point and then began trimming all the fat from it. I've since been told that if you ask them not to trim the fat they won't but I wasn't asked if I wanted the fat or not.

The brisket looked, and tasted, more like roast beef than BBQ. I couldn't see any sign of any rub and where was the wonderful smoky taste that I had anticipated after my nose had picked up the wonderful smoky smell in the parking lot? It wasn't on this brisket.

The ribs were served St. Louis style and had nice color on the top but once again I could taste no smoky flavor and they were slightly overcooked and a little dry in places.

You can kind of see the pulled pork under the rib in that picture. It was served from a pan on the steam table and had been held in some liquid. I think that was an attempt to keep it moist but it really made it mushy and once again there was no smoke flavor. It was just like eating roast pork.

There were two sauces on the table and I don't know if they were house made or not but they were good. The only real difference I could tell between the two was that one was more peppery than the other. I liked them both which was a good thing because I used a lot of sauce to make the meat palatable.

The mac and cheese was slightly overcooked elbow macaroni coated with what appeared to be a just add water cheese sauce. It wasn't terrible but I probably wouldn't eat it again.

The potato salad was good but tasted like a factory made product.

The toast..... Well the toast as you can see was one sided. I wasn't really as disappointed as I usually would have been because the meat was all pretty much one sided too.

Overall, for as long as Oklahoma Station has been around, I wasn't impressed. With that said. There was a steady stream of customers and a line of people waiting to get their roasted meats. So maybe I was missing something. After all, the day after I tried Oklahoma Station, I saw this review show up on Urbanspoon...

 After many a visit to this local establishment wanted to give you my 'thumbs-up' in writing. It is just a matter of fact that we Okies will debate "BEST BBQ" title as long as we breath. And the time spent driving to that distant 'sanctuary' only enhances the experience....I know. Been there, done that too folks. But after all trips, etc. I have to share: WHERE do I go locally to get some good Q with a nice smokey flavor and tenderness? Oklahoma Station. 'Nough said. Only wish they were open for the Sunday night crowd, because Sunday night is my fav 'eat out' time of the week. No crowds at most places then. But I do want these folks to get some time off....so 4pm close on Sunday is just fine. I can get there with this in mind. It is always *TASTY! 

I guess maybe they saved all the smoky flavor for this customer.