Serious 'Cue: The Only Guide to the BABBP You Will Need
First of all congratulations to our Serious Eats Big Apple Barbecue Block Party Bubba Pass Plus Winners. See you both this weekend. There are so many pitmasters and other food and drink booths I thought the Serious Eats community could use some 'cue guidance so that you maximize your eating pleasure when you do go. Now I must admit that I have not tried every pitmaster's cue as of this moment. But I can give you my list of Five Fave "'Cue" Booths so that you can be certain that even if you didn't purchase a Bubba Pass, the time you'll spend on these particular lines will be well worth it:
Big Bob Gibson's Championship Pork Shoulder, Pitmasters Chris Lilly and Don McLemore: Let's face it, most of us might not ever make it to Decatur, Alabama to visit the Big Bob Gibson mothership, so a wait on this line is a must. Flat out, the best pork shoulder sandwich you will ever taste.
17th Street Bar & Grill and Championship Bar-B-Q Baby Back Ribs, Murphysboro, Illinois, Marion, IL, and Las Vegas, Nevada: Mike Mills, pitmaster. Mike Mills may be as good a yarn spinner as he is a pitmaster, and that's saying something, because his dry rub baby back ribs will make you cry they are so good.
Southside Market & BBQ Beef Brisket & Sausage & Pickles & Onions, Elgin, Texas: Bryan Bracewell, Pitmaster: Bryan Bracewell's smoked beef sausage is so delicious and so juicy I'm convinced the man is secretly a dry cleaning and laundromat magnate. Wear an already stained t-shirt to save yourself the worry.
Mitchell's Whole Hog and Cole Slaw, Wilson, NC, Ed Mitchell, Pitmaster: Until you've had one of Ed Mitchell's incomparably delicious Eastern Carolina whole hog barbecue sandwiches, with its little crispy shards of skin and bits of meat from all over the pig, you haven't really lived. Really.
Stehling Brothers Fried Pies, John Stehling, Early Girl Eatery, Asheville, NC and Robert Stehling, Hominy Grill, Charleston, SC. I've never really embraced the idea of eating dessert at the BABBP, but these guys are serious food people, so I have to believe that their fried pies are going to be killer.
This is not to say that everything else at the Block Party is not up to snuff. I'm just trying to make sure you maximize your barbecue and fried pie pleasure this weekend.
Happy "Cue Hunting. http://www.bigapplebarbecue.com
[photographs taken by Lia]
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8 Comments:
Dearest Ed, your list matches my list perfect. Get out of my head!
kathryn at 4:59PM on 06/08/07
Thanks again Ed and also for printing this cheat sheet.
I printed it and will take it with me.
he_seems_ok at 6:18PM on 06/08/07
Thanks for the 411. It's going to be my first time there. If you see a chick in a wheelchair with insanely large sunglasses on -- that'd be me -- do say hello.
:) FKC
FKC at 11:51PM on 06/08/07
We hit the first 3 of your recommendations today. Bob Gibsons -- heaven. 17th Street -- eh, not so fab, small portion for the price, and a long not worth it wait. Southside? I'm going back tomorrow for more -- the best brisket and the best sausage ever. I'm glad we hit this one first because I didn't want to share and made the Husband get his own. Man that was heaven.
Thanks for the recs. It was a really fun day.
FKC at 12:06AM on 06/10/07
I live less than 30 minutes away from Big Bob Gibson's in Decatur and it always thrills me to hear how much people love it around the country!
Ash at 11:01AM on 06/10/07
We actually walked through after having brunch at Blue Smoke for my son's birthday. Too full to eat except I had to get a sandwich at Mitchell's when I saw no line at his stand at 1:15 (I was shocked). Too bad his place in NC is closed. I've been craving this sandwich for a year. Did not disappoint.
Got to talk to him for a few minutes. Nice guy.
crackblind at 8:13PM on 06/10/07
Just about the list we hit, no 17th though and did the ribs next to bob Gibson.
Mitchell's was predictably awesome but my personal fav was the Gibson pork shoulder, wow what a sandwich. Surprise of the day was getting our beef fix at Southside instead of Salt Lick (line was really long at SL even with the pass)... their sausage was excellent and the overall plate was the best value for dollar at the event. Just a huge plate of food (comparatively)
... and the James "Blood" set was a perfect end to the day Sat.
Abe Froman at 10:22AM on 06/11/07
The brisket and the sausage at Southside just blew me away. The sausage was the best ever! Those were the standouts for me.
I enjoyed Mitchell's whole hog sandwich...it was very different. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of the extra skin or the ribs that some people were given. :-(
I am from the NY Metro area and have never had such good 'cue!
Bosmer at 11:07AM on 06/11/07