Q Fanatic - Champlin, Minnesota

This whole BBQ thing got started about two years ago in June of 2011. The Dining Companion and I decided to spend the summer searching out and trying as many Minnesota BBQ joints as we could. We were, if memory serves, inspired by an article in MSP Magazine that listed their choices for top 10 BBQ in the area. Some we had heard of and some were new to us. Our goal was to try as many as we could over the summer. For me that included writing up my thoughts on these places and maybe doing some online blogging/reviews. Well as life has a tendency to do we were thrown an unexpected curve ball and the Summer of BBQ (as it came to be known) was cut short. We had gotten through a small part of our list when we left Minnesota for points south.

Over the last couple of years, most of it covered here on this blog, our travels have taken us to many of the country's top BBQ locations, Texas, Kansas and Missouri, The Carolina's and Georgia to name a few. (We've been to Tennessee as well but haven't yet had the Memphis BBQ experience. That's still an open item on our list) It's been a fun and eye opening experience for me and the Dining Companion (he wrote a bit about it here) I've come to realize that I like my brisket moist, my ribs dry rubbed and my sausage links served whole not sliced. For me ( and the Dining Companion as well I think) one of the biggest surprises was how little I enjoyed the BBQ offerings in most of Kansas' famous BBQ joints. For a lot of people BBQ is all about pulled pork and ribs. Not so for me. Don't get me wrong, I love ribs. However, I like good dry rubbed ribs not mediocre, over cooked ribs slathered in lousy sauce. Sadly that was what I was getting in the places in Kansas that we tried.

One bright spot in our journey was the stop that took us to Pappy's in St. Louis. There I found the best ribs of the trip. Perfectly smoked and seasoned, dry rubbed and not a drop of sauce on my plate. Very good and I would gladly go back again for them. That brings me to the other BBQ I enjoy, a good, moist, smoked brisket. A lot of places list brisket on their menus but they needn't bother. At best it's an after thought and at worst flat out awful.

By now you may be wondering what any of this has to do with Q Fanatic in Champlin, MN. Let me start by saying that when we decided to visit Q Fanatic recently I wasn't holding out any hope that it would be anything better than the stuff we had been eating on our trip back north. A BBQ joint in the Minnesota 'burbs? How good could that be? Pretty damn good as it turns out.

We got to Q around lunch time and stood in a short line to place our orders. We were informed that there was about a 30 minute wait. I looked around confused, most of the tables were empty and it was a counter service restaurant, what's with the wait? Turns out the wait was for our food.We grabbed our order number and headed to a table.

 

While we waited the Dining Companion and I discussed the dry uninspiring brisket we had encountered at most of the places we'd eaten at over the last week or so. We decided that maybe we should ask about the brisket that we were about to be served and find out a bit more about it. I approached the counter, the line was gone and there was a gentleman there speaking with the person who had taken our order. I told her I had a question about the brisket and she pointed to the man over her shoulder who turned out to be the pit master. I asked him how the brisket was served. Was it lean, was every bit of flavor, I mean fat, removed before service? I think I gave him the wrong impression because he started to assure me that yes, the brisket was lean. Before he could finish I told him that was too bad as we prefer the fatty less lean style. He said no problem, we remove the cap (fatty part of the brisket) because most people prefer their brisket lean but that he had some in back that was what we were looking for. I headed back to our table and told the DC about what just happened. Still skeptical we waited for our food to be served. I think you know where this is going. This BBQ joint in the Minnesota suburbs served us the best brisket of our whole trip. Better than the most well known BBQ places in several states. The best hands down. Thick cut, moist and fatty, smoked to perfection. A true representation of what Texas style brisket is all about. ( In Texas you can order your brisket moist OR lean. Hear that Kansas and Missouri?) The ribs were good too, dry rubbed and meaty, falling off the bone tender but not mushy or overcooked. Good sides, nice service and a true taste of the BBQ we were looking for. Home run.

So, there you have it. I should add something here about traveling and coming home to find the thing you were looking for all along. You know what I mean. Q Fanatic is serving up some fantastic BBQ. Well worth the drive, the wait and whatever other hurdle you may need to jump to get there. Go, just go, ask for the moist brisket or order it both ways to compare. You may be surprised at what you've been missing.

Happy dining!

Kansas City BBQ

Traveling around as much as we have the past couple of years we've been able to get to most of the major BBQ areas in the country. (With the exception of Texas and we'll try to get to that this summer). In the last few weeks we traveled through Kansas city. We picked two popular local spots and set out to see what all the fuss was about. The first place we tried was Woodyard Bar-B-Que. Pretty well known, visited by many foodie TV programs including No Reservations and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

When we arrived for lunch there were only a couple of parties seated in the outdoor dining area. Fine by me, this was on of the few places we didn't have to wait in line to order.

 We looked over the menu and made our choices. Chicken, ribs, sausage and brisket for me and a combo for the Dining Companion that included ribs, turkey, brisket and burnt ends.I had the cheesy corn side and the Dining Companion had the coleslaw. Our food arrived and we dug in. Nothing was really fabulous but nothing was awful either. The food was OK but not pilgrimage worthy, in my opinion, as some people have claimed. The ribs looked good but were fairly tasteless and a bit dry. I tried the burnt ends and the few bites I had were very chewy. I'm not an expert in burnt ends by any stretch but that wasn't the consistency I expected. Tastes vary and I get that but for us the whole experience was underwhelming. Our first foray into Kansas City BBQ was nothing to write home about.

Our next stop is also a very popular spot, Oklahoma Joe's Barbeque. We went to the original location that is located in a gas station. Here we did encounter a line of folks waiting to order lunch. Not only was there a line to order food the dining room was filled about to capacity when we got there. We looked over the menu and were ready to order when we made it up to the counter.

The Dining Companion ordered the brisket plate and I ordered the ribs and sausage. Now granted, Oklahoma Joe's may not be known for their brisket but that pile of roast beef masquerading as barbeque was just sad. As for my lunch, nothing special. The ribs were OK, a little on the dry side. But that sausage, what the heck is with those little slices? I don't get that presentation at all. The best part of my lunch was the toast. Truth.

   

That was our maiden voyage into the world of Kansas City BBQ. Maybe we ordered wrong? Maybe there's a secret that we don't know? Whatever the case we came away underwhelmed once again.

I was informed by a couple of people that we should have tried Arthur Bryant's. If, when, we make our way back to the area we'll give it a try. I have hope that there is a shining beacon of BBQ out there that we just managed to miss.

Happy dining!


Note/Preview

For my money this is what brisket should be like. And for the record this wasn't found in any BBQ hotspot we visited, it's from Minnesota. Review to come.

Pappy's Smokehouse - St.Louis, Missouri

During our recent travels we decided to check out a few BBQ places along the way. The first place we visited was Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis. Being a fan of St. Louis style ribs (dry rubbed) I was really looking forward to giving this place a try.

 

Pappy's is a very popular place for BBQ in St. Louis. Knowing that and knowing that people start lining up early, we made our way there as soon as they opened for lunch. Even though we were early there was still a line of people waiting to order.

The menu is chalked on a couple of boards that hang over the register. We went in knowing what we wanted but took a moment to look things over in case anything else sounded good. In the end we ordered a combo plate with brisket and a hot link and a rib dinner.

Ribs, sweet potato fries and fried corn on the cob

First the ribs. They were great. Not to spoil future posts but these were easily the best ribs we had the whole trip. Perfectly cooked, meaty, tender without being too soft. Just really fantastic. And that corn on the cob, it's fried! I had to try it. Frying gave the corn a sweet, nutty flavor. Odd but good. The rest of the meal was rounded out with some tasty sweet potato fries. All in all very good.
 

Brisket and hot link combo

Next up was the brisket and hot link. This sadly was not quite the hit that the ribs were. I'm not sure how well you can see the brisket in this picture but it was not at all what we were expecting. Again, not to spoil anything, but the best brisket of the trip was found in MN. But we'll save that for a future post. The sides were very good. The coleslaw was unusual and reminded me more of kraut than coleslaw but in a good way. I'm not usually a fan but I enjoyed this version a lot.

Tasty, tasty brisket

While we were enjoying lunch one of the owners (John Matthews, wonderful customer service attitude) was walking through the dining room asking people how they were enjoying things. We mentioned that we loved the ribs but that the brisket wasn't what we were expecting. He asked why and we mentioned both cut and trim. Well no sooner did we mention that he went back to the kitchen and delivered a new order of brisket to our table. This order was EXACTLY what we expected. Beautiful smoke, fat cap in place, great flavor. Sadly we were told that most diners aren't interested in the fattier cut and that's why they serve the leaner cut as the default. Such a shame. I can't believe that people are so worried about a little fat that they prefer something dry and less flavorful. Fine by me. That leaves the good stuff for us.

Overall our visit to Pappy's Smokehouse was pretty great. If our travels take us back to St. Louis you can be sure we'll be in line at Pappy's for those wonderful ribs and a pile of that succulent brisket.

Happy dining!