FROLIC TO ROY'S HICKORY PIT BBQ

I've lived in Oklahoma for the majority of my life but I was born in Kansas.

The small town I grew up in always had a fall harvest festival and as a kid that festival was as big a deal to me as all the holidays that it was ushering in.

I got to be in a parade. My friends and I got to ride our bikes unsupervised all over town and there were carnival rides and games to be played. It was the pinnacle of rural Kansas farm town life and about 6 years ago I decided that I wanted to go back and be a part of it again. It's now become a regular October trip for us.

I also recently made a decision that I want to try and eat BBQ in as many states as I can. Obviously I have Oklahoma covered and I've made several trips down to Texas in the last couple of years. I've also eaten Q in Michigan and California before I started the blog and I decided I was going to add Kansas to the list on this trip because oddly I don't remember ever eating BBQ as a kid until we moved to Oklahoma.


I really wanted to try Jet BBQ in Wichita after seeing it featured on BBQ Crawl but their limited hours didn't fit my schedule so I did a little research and found another well publicized Q-raunt in Hutchinson that advertised that it had been included on a Top 100 Best BBQ Joints in America list.

With those kind of credentials it has to be good.... Doesn't it?

Now I have to say that Roy's is my kind of place appearance wise. It's off the beaten path in a more industrial part of town and when you drive up you can smell the smoke wafting across the parking lot.

When you walk in it looks like a Q-raunt and because I still bleed KU Crimson and Royal Blue that Reserved Parking 2008 National Champions sign was all I needed to know..... ROCK CHALK Q-RAUNT!!!!! ........ Ok...Ok..... I got a little carried away there.

Actually when you walk in the first thing you see is a salad bar with all of their sides, a round community table, that counter full of smoked meats in the picture above, and a very friendly woman that will take your order and make you feel like you've been a regular customer your entire life.

If you look closely in the upper left part of that picture you can also see another woman standing at a flat top making toast. I tried to get a picture of her but it came out blurry. I really only mention her because it appeared, from the pile of toast on the flat top in front of her, that about her only job was making toast.

Wonderful, buttery, grilled on a flat top, genuine, two-sided toast!!! ROCK CHALK TWO SIDED TOAST!!!!! ....... Ahem.... Sorry... Got a little carried away there again.

I decided to go with the 4 Choice Dinner which came with the salad/side bar and my choice of meats. I chose ribs, brisket, pork, and hot links.

The meats are served sauced and I have to say that, while I prefer to add sauce by my own choice, the sauce at Roy's was really good and I also need to accept that in some parts of the country it's just how Q is served.

The ribs had a nice smoke flavor and were pretty well cooked. They had a consistent tenderness and moisture from one end of the bone to the other. I enjoyed them quite a bit and the sauce complemented them well.

The pork was well cooked and every bite was moist and tender. The sauce complemented the meat and it had just a hint of smokiness in every bite. I would definitely order it again.

The brisket was medium chopped and had good flavor but was a little dry for my preferences. It was the least sauced of the meats and I added more sauce but it just wasn't as good as the two pork items I had eaten.

The hot link was good but just your ordinary run of the mill hot link. In hindsight I wish I had ordered the ham.

My mom had chosen ham and smoked sausage for her meal. She shared a piece of the ham with me and it was really good. Moist and tender and made a great sandwich on that two-sided toast.

The smoked sausage was also just your standard commercial sausage.

I didn't go to the salad/sides bar myself but my mom brought me back some macaroni salad and it was well made. The pasta was cooked al dente and it had a sweet and tangy creamy sauce on it.

My wife ordered the 1/2 Brisket Sandwich which as you can see is a plate with some sauced brisket and a piece of toast. Not sure why they call it a sandwich.

Overall my trip to Roy's Hickory Pit BBQ was enjoyable and from the line of customers that were out the door shortly after we got there. It's a pretty popular place with the locals. It only seats about 30 people but it appeared that most people got their orders to go because as fast as the line appeared the staff prepared the orders and got them on their way quickly.

So if your in the Hutchinson Kansas area and get the craving for some Q. Hit up Roy's and get some ribs, pork, or ham. I don't think you will be disappointed.