Bartley's Bar-B-Que...Top 50 worthy?

2 Stars

www.bartleysbbq.com

While reflecting on the three meat plate I just fought through, my phone went off. I picked it up to check what the notification was for and it was my Dictionary application informing me of the "Word of the Day".

Abdicate, verb: to give up or renounce.

What an ironic and fitting choice my app decided to generate as I moved my eyes back to the disappointment before me. Bartley's in Grapevine somehow bested 3 Stacks Smoke and Tap House, Odom's, Off-the-Bone, Railhead and newly opened Slow Bone for a coveted spot on the Texas Monthly Top 50 list. In hindsight, this selection should be abdicated.

Being on the list is a thing of honor. You had better be cooking top notch product because the attention that is about to be bestowed upon you is of the highest pedigree in the oft controversial world of Texas Barbecue. Only in Texas will you find as much passion in a conversation about BBQ as you would sports, politics, and religion. Needless to say...you better have more than your "A game" every stinkin' day.

Texas BBQ Posse and I met at 11:30 am and immediately got to the line before the steady stream of customers hit shortly after. We all requested the three meat combo with me being the only one who got the brisket. I was the guinea pig because after seeing it, no one else wanted it. The less than personable cutter didn't retrieve a complete brisket. Bits and pieces were picked through before he drummed up what appeared to be a piece of the point, cut in half diagonally, then folded over. A few other slices were more traditional to form and displayed for photographic purpose. The hot links were Eckrich and the ribs were their own.

Hickory is their choice of wood although by the taste of the meat...you wouldn't guess any wood was used. A general consensus among the table that the brisket was most likely a day old. Dry, roast beefy, and absent of seasoning. Not even the bark heavy pieces were tolerable. The casing on the Eckrich hot links was snappy but again...commercial sausage. The little bit of hope here were the ribs. Nothing smoky but the flavor had a decent sweetness to them. We had people stagger their visits while we there from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm and nothing fresh was introduced.

We may have found the chink in the chain of the prestigious Texas Monthly list. I feel bad for the stream of travelers who will use the list as a guide for the following years only to be let down. If you want a sub par BBQ experience, head to Big Racks in Grapevine and at least you'll have something worth looking at.