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!
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