Stopped at our local Lowe's last Saturday to pick up some gardening supplies, & there was overly-loud country-rock music blaring from the center of the parking lot. Turned out it was coming from a large food truck/trailer belonging to Burnt Ends BBQ. It was just turning 11:30 a.m., so decided we'd give it a try for an early takeout lunch.
They had a nice small setup - one umbrella-topped wooden picnic table for dining or waiting for one's order, & even a flat-screen tv set into the side of the trailer, tuned to a sports channel. It may just be the old-fogeyism in me at this stage of life, but the volume of the music was really overpowering - nearly ear-splitting. I do understand that they were most likely playing it that way to advertise their presence (we didn't see any signs or ads in or around Lowe's at all), but my old-fogeyism didn't much care for it).
We put in our order for one pulled smoked pork sandwich, one pulled smoked chicken sandwich, & one side of cole slaw to go. My husband isn't a red-meat-eater, & at first we thought he'd have to buy a half a smoked chicken in order to enjoy something, but then we noticed a menu addition of pulled smoked chicken sandwiches crayoned on the window glass. They really should add this to their printed menu, as we nearly missed it. One of the friendly chefs/cooks handed me a piece of foil topped with a few free samples of both their smoked beef brisket & pork, along with a squeeze bottle of sauce. All were juicy, tender, & DELICIOUS. The sauce had just the perfect amount of spicy zip.
Our sandwiches were made, packed, & ready to go in about 15 minutes. Another friendly staffer double-checked our order & included two small sauce containers, as the meat is served pure as-is & you sauce it yourself if desired. Definitely a plus.
Another major plus? Back home the sandwiches were great! Tender, juicy, but not so soggy that the soft buns they were on fell apart while eating. Very easy to eat, even when well-sauced by us. Honest, true smoke flavoring that didn't come from any bottle. Only ding I'd give was that cole slaw - obviously fresh & housemade - while providing an excellent foil for the spiciness of my sandwich, was extremely bland on its own. Nothing outside of an extremely mild mayo dressing - no seasoning whatsoever.
Bottom Line: I'd enjoy another meal from them again if we ran across them somewhere. Meat was fresh, juicy, & obviously hadn't been sitting around stewing somewhere; staff was friendly & seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Don't have the receipt in front of me, but bill came to under $20 & made for a nice filling flavorful lunch. read more