Goin’ to Kansas City (or at least the East Bay) – Berkeley, here I come!
January 10, 2008 at 2:10 pm Filed in:food&drink No Comments
KC Bar-b-Q
2613 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
(510) 548-1140
I’ve never been to Kansas City, but after visiting KC Bar-b-Q, I’m thinking about making a point of it should I ever again drive through Missouri.
Damn, that’s some good meat. The ribs are slow-smoked, not quite falling off the bone, but tender, juicy, and just a bit caramelized on top. Get the sauce on the side to fully appreciate the flavor and quality of this meat.
As for the sauce, it’s sweet and not too spicy (read: not spicy enough for me), but that really doesn’t matter, ’cause here it’s all about the meat.
The potato salad was light, providing a nice counterpoint to the density and flavor of the ribs. Be forewarned, though… if you have a celery phobia as severe as mine, you might find it laden with Satan’s favorite vegetable.
Even though I ordered the rib sandwich, the chef saw one of his friends at the counter and thought the order was for him, so I didn’t get the standard order… it came with sauce on the side, probably a couple of extra ribs and some links too.
Links aren’t exactly my cup of tea: I prefer sucking the meat off a bone to eating meat that’s ground up, then compressed inside an intestine (unless it’s bratwurst). Nah, the links weren’t bad, but they’re the only remnant of that meal still sitting in my fridge 5 days later.
In summary:
+ Great ribs, decent everything else.
+ Not a fan of the style of sauce? Get it to go with sauce on the side, take home and dip or use your favorite instead.
+ Celery is the stalk of the devil.
+ Do I need to clean out my fridge? Probably.
+ Would I take my dad here? The answer is a resounding YES. So far, some of the best ribs I’ve had in the Bay Area… but then again, there hasn’t been too much stiff competition.
The Mayor of Butchertown
December 1, 2007 at 2:16 pm Filed in:food&drink No Comments
Sam Jordan’s Bar
4003 3rd St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 282-4003
Sam Jordan’s isn’t a dive bar, it isn’t a lounge, it isn’t a club. It’s a piece of San Francisco history. Opened in 1959, when what’s now known as Bayview was instead known as Butchertown, the meatpacking district of San Francisco, where the Islais Creek ran red with the blood from the slaughterhouses and cowboys ran herds of cattle through the streets.
Sam Jordan was the mayor of Butchertown. When you came to town, you hadn’t really arrived until you met Sam. When you came to Sam Jordan’s, you’d meet Sam. And when you came back, he’d remember you.
While so many bars in this city are a place to imbibe, a place to find someone to take home for the night, a place to find a fleeting source of entertainment, Sam Jordan’s is a place to find a true community. You walk in, and you’re greeted not just by the bartender when you sit down for a drink, but you’re engaged by the clientele, invited to share in their conversations, invited into their community. You can still find the original bartender there, only now he’s on the other side of the bar.
Continue Reading
The best eatin’ in town…
July 2, 2007 at 1:21 pm Filed in:food&drink No Comments
When I was young, my grandmother owned a condo in a retirement hamlet in north central Florida. What is there to do in Winter Haven, FL? Now that Cypress Gardens has closed… absolutely nothing. But when she passed away, the condo stayed in the family. Why? Sure, there was sentimental value… but the real reason: Winter Haven is only a 25 minute drive from the best damn barbecue I’ve ever had at Jimbo’s.
Speaking of ribs: fall off the bone, juicy ribs, cooked overnight in a real smokehouse shack out back. Damn tasty chopped (not pulled) pork sandwiches. Incredible, golden brown hush puppies. Sauces with the perfect blend of spices and tang that tastes good on everything except the desserts. Creamy, delicious cole slaw.
But the real reason I was eager to go to Jimbo’s on family vacations, even during the 13 years I was a vegetarian? The best pickles in the whole world. Smack in the middle of each table is a stainless steel mixing bowl filled with freshly made chunky dill pickle slices that are crunchy as all hell, but still taste like the cucumbers from whence they came. Hush puppies doused in BBQ sauce and pickles made for a happy vegetarian in the midst of the mounds of meat piled on the plates of my family members.
But now that I’ve once again joined the ranks of the omnivores? Jimbo’s is the sole reason I’m looking forward to my next trip to the land of the geriatric set.
Would I take my dad there? Hell, he took me there.
Jimbo’s Pit Bar-B Q
1215 E Memorial Blvd
Lakeland, FL 33801
(863) 683-3777