I stopped by a new BBQ place here in Kingwood today and among a few issues I took with the food I was served one really stuck out as odd to me...

I ordered a sliced brisket sandwich and while the meat was cut a little strange and the bun sucked, the meat was good. What stuck out was the condiments that came with it.

A: sauce, which in and of itself isn't my thing but this sauce was major cayenne'd up. Glad I tasted it before deciding to use it. I didn't FYI as I'm not much on sauce.

But B: I got a small container with jalapenos, pickles and onions.

Raw jalapeno slices

Pickled red onions

Sour pickle slices.

What? Like... ummm .... huh?

I decided to cut the sandwich in half and try it their way and dress the other half with my own raw white onion and dill pickle chips as I'm more used to.

I gotta tell you it was effin weird. Not my thing.

I'm just curious, is sour pickle common in bbq, Texas style or not? I'm very much not used to it with bbq. How about pickled red onion? Anywhere outside of hipster joints that "elevate" their bbq? Raw jalapenos isn't -that- strange but still not the norm I'm used to.

Any comments?

I have never figured out why some restaurants refuse to go with what works and instead try to "brand" themselves by doing something strange.

I once ordered a shrimp poorboy at one restaurant that came with a really bizarre sauce that I couldn't figure out instead of the traditional cocktail sauce I expected. I asked the manager and it turned out to be some kind of jalapeno sauce. It didn't work.

And I ordered a chicken fried steak at a restaurant in Houston that I'd eaten at before with no issues and found that they had changed from a traditional cream gravy to a brown gravy. The manager told me that he thought it was stupid but the owner insisted on using a brown gravy. He gave me a coupon for a free chicken fried steak meal and told me to come back in a month because he thought the brown gravy would be a thing of the past by then. It was.

phideaux_2003 said:

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I stopped by a new BBQ place here in Kingwood today and among a few issues I took with the food I was served one really stuck out as odd to me...

I ordered a sliced brisket sandwich and while the meat was cut a little strange and the bun sucked, the meat was good. What stuck out was the condiments that came with it.

A: sauce, which in and of itself isn't my thing but this sauce was major cayenne'd up. Glad I tasted it before deciding to use it. I didn't FYI as I'm not much on sauce.

But B: I got a small container with jalapenos, pickles and onions.

Raw jalapeno slices

Pickled red onions

Sour pickle slices.

What? Like... ummm .... huh?

I decided to cut the sandwich in half and try it their way and dress the other half with my own raw white onion and dill pickle chips as I'm more used to.

I gotta tell you it was effin weird. Not my thing.

I'm just curious, is sour pickle common in bbq, Texas style or not? I'm very much not used to it with bbq. How about pickled red onion? Anywhere outside of hipster joints that "elevate" their bbq? Raw jalapenos isn't -that- strange but still not the norm I'm used to.

Any comments?

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I grew up in a family where my parents did BBQ cook offs.

Pickles were always part of it

Bill Millers has been doing pickled onions for 40+ years...

And yeah, I know the BBQ sucks, but it's what I grew up with. The only thing I get there now are the carne guisada and potato/egg/cheese tacos because they use the hash browns from lunch in the taco.

FYI, the pickled Fresno's at Evie Maes are the bomb!

I have to think if the bbq was on point, the other stuff wouldn't matter all that much. I don't mind folks trying to do something a little different. If everybody did it all the same, that would be boring.

Also, I love pickled red onions.

I grew up thinking brisket came with tortillas, pico and escabeche. I still offer those when I cook my own. I also offer white bread cheese onions and pickles for the non valley rats.

Cheese with Q? Not knocking it, but I've legit never seen it before.

eric76 said:

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And I ordered a chicken fried steak at a restaurant in Houston that I'd eaten at before with no issues and found that they had changed from a traditional cream gravy to a brown gravy. The manager told me that he thought it was stupid but the owner insisted on using a brown gravy. He gave me a coupon for a free chicken fried steak meal and told me to come back in a month because he thought the brown gravy would be a thing of the past by then. It was.

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The owner must have been a yankee or else they would have known better and used cream gravy.

The only places I've ever seen cheese with BBQ were Tom's and Rudy's... that should tell you enough.

Some bbq restaurants seem to be bare bones after the meat. Sides and condiments are just an after thought. Kinda like an old fashioned steakhouse that has steak, baked potato and a salad bar. Seems to be a good way to lose some customers.

Assuming it's a sandwich...meat + bun...maybe sauce.

Thats it.

Yes, but I never got cheese. And TBH, although they are long standing... not a fan.

Now sour is different than dill... I'm talking like a Jewish deli sour pickle.

I'm well aware pickles (dill), raw onion and pickled jalapenos are very common. Bread, cheese slices and sauces, all common. Totally expected. But not sour pickles, pickled red onion and raw jalapenos.

Brisket House in Houston does a damn fine job and they serve a big ole slab of cheddar with their main plate.

phideaux_2003 said:

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Now sour is different than dill... I'm talking like a Jewish deli sour pickle.

I'm well aware pickles (dill), raw onion and pickled jalapenos are very common. Bread, cheese slices and sauces, all common. Totally expected. But not sour pickles, pickled red onion and raw jalapenos.

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I, for one, would be shocked to encounter sour pickles with barbecue.

phideaux_2003 said:

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Now sour is different than dill... I'm talking like a Jewish deli sour pickle.

I'm well aware pickles (dill), raw onion and pickled jalapenos are very common. Bread, cheese slices and sauces, all common. Totally expected. But not sour pickles, pickled red onion and raw jalapenos.

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I agree with you here.

Now, as a fellow Kingwood resident - can you please tell me what joint this was?

I've been living in the Texas Panhandle for nearly 20 years. Still can't get past the apricot preserves. I grew up in SE Texas and I'll never forget the first time I had BBQ sat in front of me with "jelly" on the plate.

I don't understand the raw jalapeno unless it is just laziness. I figure the pickled onion might be their attempt to brand themselves, if they're pickling it? I know some bars in Uptown Dallas are making their own pickle brine to serve as pickle backs, but they never pickle anything with it.

wadd96 said:

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Its acceptable now in Austin (Valentina's) and Houston (JQ's Tex Mex BBQ).

There is a great purveyor of tortillas out of Whitney. The tortillas are made with rendered and smoked beef tallow instead of pork lard...

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That sounds pretty awesome

Fattening, but awesom

I only eat them one at a time! And they are awesome!

Ezra Brooks said:

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phideaux_2003 said:

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Now sour is different than dill... I'm talking like a Jewish deli sour pickle.

I'm well aware pickles (dill), raw onion and pickled jalapenos are very common. Bread, cheese slices and sauces, all common. Totally expected. But not sour pickles, pickled red onion and raw jalapenos.

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I agree with you here.

Now, as a fellow Kingwood resident - can you please tell me what joint this was?

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Texas Q operating out of the little food truck in the parking lot of a CrossFit place near Northpark and Russell Palmer.

Like I said the brisket was good, if cut a little oddly.

It did not hold a candle to Firecraft BBQ that sets up at town center.

I'm around Waco but raised in South East Texas.

I'm still bummed their BBQ venture moved to FW. I don't blame them for giving it a run, but it was a sad day in my house when they announced the move.

Do you know if he is just doing tortillas until a non-compete or something runs out?

Michael is full in on the tortilla business. Goal is 1000 dozen a week.

I'm working to get him a couple of distribution points in Round Rock and Pflugerville.

He still does whole briskets on select weekends. Not sure if we'll ever see Flores BBQ back the way it was...