Wanted to love. Hoped I'd love it. I didn't love it. Actually, I didn't even like it…read more
Went in hungry around 2:00. It's a counter service joint; you walk up, order, and then someone runs the food to your table.
First off, they asked for a point of service tip; that bugs me when I'm ordering my own food at the counter and fetching my own drinks.
The menu is fairly standard for a southern BBA joint; brisket, pulled pork, ribs, turkey, chicken. I am generally suspicious of any place that offers chopped brisket. Brisket is meant to be sliced and enjoyed as a slab of meat, not as a pile of hash. So, the chopped brisket sandwich was out for me. I asked if the brisket platter would be served as slices, and they assured me it was, so I ordered brisket with two sides. They recommended the beans and the Mac 'n cheese, so that's what I went with. They also asked me if I wanted the meat lean, marbled, or half and half; I took that as a good sign, and asked for marbled.
They food came out in about 5 mins; just enough time for me to head to the soda fountain and fill my own cup. Maybe they should tip me?
On the plus side, the portions were pretty large. I'm guessing that the served at least 6-8 ounces of brisket, and the individual sides were pretty large as well.
On the other hand, whoever sliced the brisket simply didn't know what they were doing. They sliced it WITH the grain, producing slices full of stringy meat. Stringy meat that was hard to cut with the plastic cutlery provided. I find it hard to believe that anyone who regularly serves BBQ brisket doesn't know to cut the meat against the grain.
The meat appeared to feature a nice bark; however, on further exploration, a) the bark was so tough that it couldn't be cut as all with the plastic cutlery, and b) when I tore into it with my fingers and ate a piece, it had no taste. Not even a basic Texas salt and pepper rub could be detected. A large portion of tasteless, poorly cut meat does no one any favors.
The beans were a little underdone; IMHO, that's far better than mushy, overcooked beans. However, they, too, had no flavor. No spice, nada.
The mac and cheese was shells in a white cheese sauce. Strike 3; zero flavor for the sauce. I don't know how you can make cheese sauce without flavor, but they managed to do so.
I have never, ever thrown as much food away at a a BBQ joint than I did today. What a shame.
Not recommended, not even a little bit. Try Martin's or Edley's; if you prefer a chain, Mission BBQ will do you much better than Hogwood.
