BBQ BECOMES BUB-BA-Q AT BUBBA'S

I had met the owner of Bubba's while gorging myself on hot wieners at Mutt's Amazing Hot Dogs back in May. Yes, I do eat other types of healthy foods other than BBQ.

I was sitting at the end of one of the community tables and the two gentlemen sitting near me struck up a conversation about what I had ordered. Somehow the topic of BBQ came up and next thing I know I'm talking to the owner of Bubba's.


I was pretty excited to hear they would be opening in June and he would be using wood fired smokers rather than commercial electric units.

June comes and goes followed by July, August, September, October, and I'm starting to think Bubba's is not going to happen. Then finally some activity and mid November Bubba's finally opened for business. I wasted no time getting over there to try it.

Now I can't go to a new place and not try as much as I possibly can. Bubba's makes that easy with a four meat option. So four meats it was for me!

I chose ribs, chopped beef, pulled pork, and my beloved bologna. For sides I chose mac & cheese and beans.

Now maybe some kind of alarm should have triggered when I looked at the list of appetizers and saw hummus and ribs. Hummus in a Q-Raunt? Well ok... I like hummus but..... In a Q-Raunt???

Ok, I'm going to be blunt here. I want to stay as objective as I can about Bubba's but this isn't your typical Q-Raunt. This is Bub-Ba-Q. Not BBQ. So if you walk in here expecting your typical Q-Raunt. Well then you'll be as shocked as I was. Especially considering how I first learned about Bubba's. By talking to the owner himself.

The ribs, while not very meaty and being unlike any other rib I have ever eaten in a Q-Raunt, were actually pretty good.

They were served with some kind of a sauce on them that covered up any smoke flavor they may have had.

`I really can't describe the flavor. My taste buds were still saying "WTF DUDE!" and my brain was saying "You taste buds quit fooling around down there! BBQ doesn't taste like that!"

It kind of went downhill for me from there. The chopped beef was served naked which made me happy. Unfortunately it had been chopped, folded, spindled and mutilated beyond being chopped beef. The pulled pork, while possibly having been pulled at one point, was also chopped, folded, spindled, and mutilated.


Ok, I think the chopped beef is in the top portion of this picture and the "pulled pork" is near the bottom. I don't make these assumptions based on the taste or texture because I couldn't find any difference between the two. They tasted similar and had similar texture.

What I did find is an arrowhead shaped piece of bone in the meat near the bottom of the picture. I've never seen a bone in brisket but I've seen plenty in pork shoulder. So much like Sherlock Holmes I deduced that the meat nearest to me was the pork.

I was also damn glad I didn't bite into that sharp piece of bone!

The bologna was good and was lightly covered in the same sauce as the ribs but if you've read any of my other Q-Raunt adventures. You've heard me say that bologna is almost impossible to screw up.

The sides were pretty darn good. The mac & cheese was more like a casserole and my taste buds kind of settled down upon tasting it followed by my stomach saying "Send some more of that stuff on down the esophagus please!".

The beans were pleasant and had quite a bit of some kind of chopped, folded, spindled, and mutilated meat in it. The meat worked in the beans. On it's own.... Well I don't remember the last time I didn't eat all of the meat on my plate but as much as I hate to say it. The two chopped, folded, spindled, mutilated meats finished their careers in the trash and not in my stomach. On the plus side they might have made a good sammich. I'll give them that.

Speaking of sammiches.... Have I ever mentioned how much one sided toast annoys me? Well it does. Enough said about the toast.

Bubba's offers two sauces... Sweet and hot. Once again they are not your typical Oklahoma sauces. A little thicker consistency. I think I tasted more chili powder in them. I liked them but I did think they were different.

I can't say I'll be going back to Bubba's but I don't want to dissuade you from going and trying Bub-Ba-Q. It wasn't all bad and I think after seeing the hummus on the menu that it's BBQ with some kind of a Mediterranean twist.

I also think that after seeing the typical customer at Bubba's that they are going to be successful at what they are doing and I hope they are. They just aren't what an anonymous BBQ eater like me is looking for.

Oh, and I didn't get a pic of the smoker building out back because there were employees back there and I didn't want to blow my cover. But there was a big stack of wood back there and a beautiful plume of smoke coming from the building. So I do believe they are indeed using wood fired smokers.