Pat's Barbeque

Last night my wife and I went to Pat's Barbeque for the first time. I had heard about Pat's from friends and co-workers who raved about it as the best bbq in Utah, and I knew it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. A month or so ago they had a Groupon, so we decided we had to try it out.

Before I get into my review, let me just say that I love good barbeque. I enjoy grilling ribs at home. I love pulled pork and good brisket. I love to go out for barbeque, but I am often apprehensive, because as good as good barbeque is, bad barbeque can be really bad. Pat's is located just off West Temple, about half a block south of 2100 South. Its kind of an industrial looking area, with warehouses and that sort of thing, and Pat's is no exception. It appears to be an old warehouse or industrial building. Cinderblock walls and low ceilings with a layout that doesn't feel like a restaurant. When we got to the dining room it was filled with wooden picnic tables, the kind with the benches attached. The tables each had a tin bucket full of plastic silverware, three bottles of sauce and a roll of paper towels. It was great. They had a big flat screen TV at one end of the room. While we were there it was on a live Foo Fighters concert. I enjoyed it, but I'm sure not everyone would. I loved the feel of the place. It was definitely a "dive". They have another room with a stage in it where they often have live music while you eat.

I was told that if you go to Pat's you should go for lunch on a Friday when they have "burnt ends". Sometimes they sell out at lunch, but sometimes, if you go early and are lucky, you may get some at dinnertime. We got there about 5:30 and were told they still had some. I heard about two tables after me order it, but after that everyone was told they were out. Meals come with corn bread and one side. We ordered burnt ends with a salad and ribs with mashed potatoes. They have two choices of gravy for the potatoes and we picked the meaty gravy with chunks of pulled pork. Service was quick, I don't think it even took ten minutes from when we ordered for our meals to arrive. The waitress explained that the three sauces on the table were the sweet, the spicy and honey mustard.

When they brought out the food I finally learned what burnt ends are. They are really cubes of brisket, about an inch square, that are cooked twice and must be cut from the thin end of the brisket because every one had the black crust you get on good brisket on at least one side, and some had it on two. They were awesome! The most tender, juicy brisket I have ever had, with an incredible smoky flavor. They were good enough to eat without sauce, but I am a sauce guy, so I used some anyway. I only tried the sweet and the spicy, because I hate mustard. The sweet was less sweet than I was expecting, given the name, but had a great flavor. A good mixture of spices and the right amount of sweet. It was a thin sauce, not thick like your KC Masterpiece or whatever that you buy at the store. It kind of soaked into the burnt ends and was the perfect complement to their smoky goodness. The spicy sauce wasn't what I was expecting from the name either. The first flavor you get from it is actually super sweet, way sweeter than the sweet sauce. Then the heat comes. Its not really too much heat, maybe comparable to a medium salsa that you would buy at the grocery store, and its not the kind of heat that lingers and leaves you burning. It was actually really nice, though I thought it was a better fit for the ribs than the burnt ends.

Which brings me to the ribs. These are not your tiny baby backs that you get at a lot of restaurants. These are big meaty spare ribs. A half rack would probably have been enough to feed me and my wife, without the burnt ends, if we weren't too hungry. They were smoked beautifully, with the pink smoke ring going almost all the way through the meat. They were tender enough to eat easily, but not "fall-off-the-bone" tender. They were exactly what ribs should be. I have had just as good at other places, but I can't say that I have had better.

The sides were just fine. I don't really go to barbeque places for the sides, for me its more about the meat. The mashed potatoes had a nice garlicky flavor and the gravy with chunks of pulled pork was good, but definitely not your typical gravy. The salad was a lot bigger than most side salads and had cucumbers, tomatoes and olives, in addition to the lettuce. The dressing was just a single serve packet of Newman's Own ranch dressing. If I was feeling more adventurous I would have tried something like the red beans and rice, the jambalaya or maybe even the mustard greens. They have quite a few sides to choose from, but don't expect to get french fries. They don't even have a deep fryer in the building. I think the cornbread would have been even better served warm and with butter, but even cold and plain it was really good.

Prices were reasonable. Pretty average for a barbeque place. $15 for a half rack of ribs or for a combo plate, $11-12 for your other plates. Soft drinks were $2.

We didn't stay long enough for the live music that was scheduled to start at 7:00, but I'm sure it would have made the dive atmosphere even better. Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Pat's. It was great barbeque. I would go back for the burnt ends anytime. I think the only complaints we had was that the seats were benches, and my pregnant wife could really have used a chair with a back and that they served Pepsi instead of Coke. Overall I would rate it 4 out 5 stars.

Introduction

I have been thinking for quite a while about starting a food blog. I love food. I love to go out to eat. I love to cook when I can take the time to do it right. I especially love meat. Grilled, baked, sauteed, fried, smoked, however you like it. I plan to blog about things I cook, both the things that go well and the things that fail. I may share recipes or ask for help with something I want to make. I will also reviews places I eat. If I ever do a solicited review, where I have received discounted or free food in exchange for my review, I will disclose the potential conflict of interest, but I will also give my totally honest opinion. While there may be occasional discussions about desserts or some fantastic vegetable or something, I think what makes the meal is the meat, so much of my focus will be there. I may occasionally go totally off topic and cover things like movies, current events, or random musings, but for the most part this blog will be dedicated to my love for food.