3 Stars
www.viteksbbq.com
Recently on Twitter, a funny guy claimed there were at least four BBQ joints in Waco better than what was listed on the Texas Monthly Top 4 of their Top 50 list published in May. Makes me wonder if he is also related to the culprit who recently decided to steal $35 worth of ribs from a Waco H-E-B (Go Here). I can think of at least four BBQ joints in Dallas I'd rather steal ribs from. Poor choice sir but then again if not for bumbling criminals, we wouldn't be blessed with shows like "Cops" and "America's Dumbest Criminals."
I popped down to Vitek's and fortunately hit it before the lunch crowd. Before stepping into this establishment, I took a peek around the back to the smoke pits. What I saw sadden me. A natural gas assisted smoker by Southern Pride. I'm torn between gas assisted smokers or "cheating" as the purists would claim and being open-minded to other methods. Who am I kidding, wood and work all the way. I encourage you to read a recent blog on the difference by Jess Pryles on her website, www.burgermary.com. I wonder if this "cheating" is what Bill Frank had in mind when he begin smoking meat in 1972 after Vitek's successful history of being a meat market since 1915.
The Texas Trifecta was ordered with burnt ends as sides and the handmade Jalapeno sausage my wiener of choice. Considering their history of making sausages in house, having an Eckrich sausage as one choice out of four was quite baffling. I honestly wonder what customer would order a commercial sausage when handmade were offered and furthermore, why Vitek's would cheapen their line up this way. It's almost insulting to their heritage. Jalapeno sausage took home the blue ribbon on my visit. They did not hold back on the jalapenos and the heat collaborated with the pepper among the coarse ground meat very well. Ribs had a very good pork flavor but lacked seasoning and smoke as well. I found this to be true with the brisket. A good beef flavor with subtle smoke. Unfortunately I wish there had been more salt and pepper to elevate the bark. There were promising bites but nothing consistent. The burnt ends were good but with a bit more love, they could've been great.
From my experiences in Waco, there is nothing higher than middle of the road here. If there was one BBQ joint which delivered top notch product, this could cause others to follow suit and raise their bar. Unfortunately as long as college students continue to order the Gut Pak, Vitek's will continue to miss the mark with a few tweaks here and there to become the best BBQ in Waco. The ball is in their court but the Gut Pak seems to be their lead scorer.
3 Stars
After making the mistake of heading to Louie Mueller without calling ahead to see if they were sold out, which they were, I had to quickly find a backup. Staying in Waco and being short on time, I had to look at what BBQ joints stayed open long enough for my arrival. I knew the obstacles, freshness of meat or again being sold out, and had come to conclusion I'd settle for Rudy's if need be.
This old corner store wasn't far from where I was staying and it had decent reviews. I pulled in about 7 pm and was greeted by three elderly black men inside of this small cafe that appeared to have ceased being decorated in the 1980's. Here's hoping their concentration on meat was the reason for the lack of decorating. Judging a book by it's cover, I was excited. Based on the BBQsnob , Daniel Vaughn's picture, I assumed that the meat would be served with no sauce. This was not the case.
I ordered the standard, which they wrapped in foil and I sat down at one of the checkered cloth covered tables after grabbing a Big Red. I opened the foil to find all meat had been covered in sauce. Uh oh. I started with the sausage with had a deep red hue to the casing and meat. Claimed it was from Elgin...I've had sausage from two different places in Elgin but it was years ago and will need to revisit. The sauce and sausage meshed well. Next I worked on the ribs. They came off the bone very easily. It was hard to gauge the smokiness but there was very, very little salt or pepper on these...definitely no rub. What you had was a just a good pork flavor. The brisket had a small red ring and some bark. It came apart easy, fat rendered well, was very moist but could this had been because the sauce helped? Dunno but from what I could taste, with as much sauce taken off as possible, it had good flavor but more smoke would've be helpful.
The sauce was vinegar based with sweetness to it and I swear...a hint of Big Red. I've grown to love Big Red again after a disastrous spell in high school mixing it with vodka so I did enjoy this Memphis style presentation. All meat soaked. Normally I'd frown upon it but because of it's uniqueness, I will return. I'll definitely ask for the sauce on the side next time because I would like to measure the meat's smokiness. The texture was there...but the smoke? MIA.
When I asked about the sauce...the reply I received with a smile "oh, we just mix a bit of everything in there." I replied "fair enough" and left. Can't wait to return and give this place a higher rating!
1 star
Years ago families would flock around buffets such as Furr's, Luby's and Golden Corral in joyous gatherings. Fast forward to now and they've bad reps for "how long has the food been sitting here, touched by multiple dirty hands and...is that a cockroach swimming with the beans?" This is no different when it comes to one of the worst anomalies known to man-kind. The buffet BBQ.
I've been hitting up Texas BBQ joints since 2006 and have never been to a buffet BBQ until I walked into Michna's (Dickey's doesn't count). I've read of this place for a few years in articles here and there on Texas BBQ and with Waco not being widely known for any great BBQ...I figured why not. The night before I had some unique product at Mama and Pappa B's and had high hopes for Michna's to live up to it's years of experience from Bob Michna in the Texas BBQ scene.
It wasn't awfully crowded inside and the clientele were mostly blue collar type. Some elderly here and there with oxygen tanks as their hip. I walked up to the nice ladies behind the counter and they immediately suggested the buffet because it's "All-you-can-eat". I looked at the buffet with false interest, noticed ribs sadly decaying in a pan and decided my life was more important. As I ordered my standard, the lady started laughing when I asked for fatty brisket with bark. Was this a sign of the outcome?
I got my plate and ordered a side of slaw just in case I needed some saving grace. I chose possibly the worst seat there...right in front of the ladies who worked there and the meat cutter. The sausage was really the only notable product on my plate. Ribs lacked in flavor and seemed a bit dry. Brisket was tough to the point I'm slightly struggling to pull it apart. It all lacked smoke. As their watchful eyes begin to cause an uneasy feeling...I just kept hoping one bite would change the doomed look upon my face. Not even the sauce could save this meat. Highlights were the Big Red and John Wayne life-size cutout.
I found out when I returned home that Bob Michna, who had worked and learned from some of the greats, had passed in early January. I would like to think that may have something to do with the meat quality as they were voted best BBQ in Waco for 2011. Buffet BBQ can sometimes do injustice to your product.
