A NEW BEGINNING AND A GRAND OPENING

I had first heard of the Double D's Smoke & Soul BBQ truck about a year ago but had been unable to find it. Then one day while I was out trying a new hotdog place, yes I eat food other than BBQ, I noticed it parked near 17th and Portland in an old gas station parking lot. I also noticed people there working on a new building out back and on the gas station.

After posting about the trailer on my Facebook Page I was notified by a fellow Q-aholic that they would be serving from that location on the weekends.

So I headed over there on a Friday for lunch to see if they were open and they were. So I ordered the Double D's Sampler which is a sample of everything they have available at the time for $18.00.

 On this day the meats were sliced brisket, chopped brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage, and hot links with potato salad, baked beans, and mac and cheese. It also came with a slice of white bread.

While I was waiting on my order I confirmed what I thought looked to be a smoke shack under construction, when I first spotted the trailer at this location, was indeed a smoke shack. I'm assuming they are working on turning the old gas station into a full service restaurant.

All of the meats from Double D's had good flavor but I had texture issues with all the meats but the sausages. My only issue with the sausages was that they weren't very warm.

If I had to take a guess, and I do because I don't know for sure. I would guess that most of what I was served had not been cooked that day and was re-heated. I could be wrong but all of the non-sausage meats were dry or mushy. Which was a shame because the flavors were good.

I'm not going to write Double D's Smoke & Soul BBQ off yet because I can see a lot of potential here if they can get established and overcome the texture issues. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on their progress.

The potato salad and the mac and cheese appeared to be home made and the beans kicked up and not just straight from a can.

The potatos in the potato salad were cooked just the way I like them. They were firm without being crunchy and perfectly creamy.

The macaroni in the mac and cheese was a little overcooked but it was still an enjoyable side.

The beans had a nice sweet flavor with an oniony, if oniony isn't a word it is now, flavor. I like onions and I liked these beans and as I've said before I'm not a fan of beans so if I like them they have to be good.

I think once Double D's gets this location up and running they have the potential to be good but right now they have some texture issues..... Or at least they did on this Friday for lunch.

 

Swadley's finally opened their new location on South Western in Oklahoma City so we hit them up opening night.

Swadley's is one of my wife's favorite places to eat Q other than our home. I've never kept it a secret that I'm not a fan of chain Q-raunts. Even so I have to say I have had Q at Swadley's that runs the gamut from really good to mediocre to really bad. Which is one reason I don't like chains..... Inconsistency.

I went with a 2 Meat Dinner and chose ribs and pulled pork with mac and cheese and campfire taters.

Now I'm not going to expect any Q-raunt to hit it out of the park on the first night they are open, chain or not. Service on opening night was overwhelming at times and inconsistent at others, I asked for Diet Dr. Pepper to drink and was served Diet Coke twice  but overall I was happy with the service and wouldn't have expected it to be perfect on an opening night.

I think by the time we left we had also met all of the Swadley's who came around and cheerily greeted us and made sure we were being taken care of.... And for the most part we were with the exception of drink orders.

Unfortunately the close up picture of the pulled pork that I took came out blurry. So this is the best look you're going to get.

Also, unfortunately, the pulled pork was kind of dry and mushy this evening but fortunately Swadley's makes some of the better Q-sauce in Oklahoma City and it saved the pulled pork for me. Sure I prefer my Q unsauced but  I can totally forgive texture issues on an opening night.

I've always liked the flavor profile of Swadley's ribs and when they get them cooked right I'll put them right up there with some of the best ribs I've ever eaten and that's coming from someone that admittedly does not like chains.

Tonights ribs weren't quite perfect but they were close. They were a little tough but not so tough I was at risk of losing any teeth trying to eat them. Just tough enough that they need a little sauce to help me with a few bites.

 I very rarely get desserts but they were offering fried pies and since it was opening night I decided to treat myself to one. They have you let your server know when you are ready for the pie and they serve it to you warm. Which I thought was a nice touch.

The crust on this pie was different from most fried pies I have had and I absolutely loved it and loved that it was served warm.

Overall I was happy with my opening night experience at the newest Swadley's and I've been doing this long enough to know not to go in to a new Q-raunt with my expectations set too high and I think Swadley's exceded my expectations on this visit.