I SNUCK IN THE BACK DOOR BBQ (Part 2)

This is the second part of a two part blog. Click here to read Part 1.

 Well my initial trip to Back Door BBQ wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. It was however their opening day and I might have set the bar a little to high in my expectations of their Q. So I wanted to make a follow up visit at a different time of day from my first visit..

Six days later the lure of burnt ends, as their Daily Beast offering, drew myself and a bunch of those people you see in the line in the pic to give them a lunch time try.


The line was actually shorter when I arrived but you can see that by 11:45 the place was really starting to fill up fast. When I sat down all the tables along the walls were full but I was alone at the community table. By the time my food arrived the community table was full also.

I heard a lot of people around me raving about the food but I was trying to keep my expectations on the down low after my initial visit. So I tuned them out as much as I could and focused on being the most objective, two-bit, wanna-be, hack blogger I could possible be.

The order of the day was once again the 3 Meat Combo but I chose pulled pork, pork belly, and burnt ends. I decided on fried onions and jalapenos, and potato salad for sides.

The pulled pork was close to pulled pork but was right on the verge of being folded, spindled, and mutilated. It was however close enough to what I consider to be pulled pork that I let it slide. The flavor was pretty good with just a slight hint of smokiness. The texture of the pulled pork wasn't bad but was just starting to get a little mushy.

Overall I liked it and would eat it again. I also tried a little of the Mustard sauce I had enjoyed on the ribs during my first visit on the pulled pork but I didn't like it with the pulled pork. The pork was good enough on it's own it really didn't need any help in the flavor department. So I thought the Mustard sauce just became a distraction.

I can't say I was really a fan of the burnt ends. I prefer them a little less saucy and mine was more like chopped beef than burnt ends. I had a few cubed pieces but even they were mushy and overcooked but oddly had no bark which is what makes a burnt end a burnt end.

On the plus side it made for a tasty sandwich on the white bread they provided with my meal. I think the bread helped tone down the sauce and improved the texture of the beef.

I was really looking forward to trying the pork belly and had heard good reviews on it. Unfortunately I have to say that what had been done to the pork belly I was served was a great disservice to the hog that died to provide that pork belly.

I don't know.... Someone correct me if I'm wrong but....... Pork belly should..... never.... ever.... shred like it has in that picture above..... I mean come on.... That belly is on the verge of being pork jerky! They might as well have tossed it in the deep frier and made a chicharon de lonja out of it!

At least then I might have enjoyed it because I can't drive by a Mexican market without stopping in to get me a nice big piece of fried until crispy, tasty, pork belly....... But I digress.... This was not good pork belly. So please forgive me for a moment while I shed a tear for this hog.

<moments pass>

Ok, I'm back and have regained my composure.

I thought the sides I went with were pretty good. The potato salad is a chunky, mayo based, type salad and went a long way in helping me choke down the bites of <sniffle> ...... pork jerky. It wasn't overly sauced. Which is how I prefer it.

The fried onions and jalapenos were really tasty and if you can handle the heat of a jalapeno I recommend them.

Overall I still think Back Door BBQ has some potential to turn out some solid Q-raunt style Q and even despite what they did to that poor poor pork belly. The Q is not terrible. It's also, in my opinion, nothing exceptional either.

I'll eat there again because it's close to where I work but at this point in time it's not going to be a regular stop for me.