Best and worst BBQ franchise?

Cafe Society
1

I know, the idea of a ‘good BBQ franchise’ at all is a contradiction in terms for some people, but hear me out.

First, my credentials: even though I live in northerly country, good BBQ is not unknown in these parts. We have some great BBQ places in the Detroit area, like the Union Woodshop in Clarkston (far outer suburb of Detroit) or Slow’s in Detroit city (never been there yet, but I hear it’s really good). And I do a lot of BBQing myself: briskest, pulled pork and turkeys. Not quite a grand master but I’d say I know my stuff pretty well.

Once on a trip to D.C. we went to “Red Hot and Blue”, a BBQ franchise that also exists in Michigan, but I had never gotten around to trying it. The one on the Arlington side of the D.C. Area we were at was the first RH&B, started according to the menu info by Lee Atwater and some other politicians because there just wasn’t any good BBQ in the D.C. Area. So they started the franchise, also with live blues entertainment, since Lee Atwater was a blues musician. So that all sounded promising, though I was never a big fan of Lee Atwater.

The table had a variety of sauce varieties in squeeze bottles, which I took to be a good sign. I ordered brisket, the most difficult of all BBQ to do correctly, as a test. What I got was some thinly sliced, oddly-textured mystery meat, without a trace of smoke flavor. Basically lunchmeat. Worse yet, it came pre-slathered with a ton of too-sweet, generic BBQ sauce- why provide all the varieties on the table if you’re just going to dump all that crap on? It was, in short, an abomination.

In contrast, there’s a Dickey’s near our house that I always noticed had a wonderful woodsmoke aroma emanating from it, which was intriguing. So I tried it, and it turned out to have pretty darn satisfactory BBQ. The brisket is always juicy and flavorful, not dried-out, like some places (or like my brisket at times :() And they serve their BBQ unsauced, as it should be. The house-made sauce varieties they offer are pretty good, too. All in all, not a bad bad place to take the family.

What do you guys think- agree with me on Dickey’s? At least the one by my house is good- other locations may vary in quality. Any other franchises that have decent or better BBQ?

2

Funny… I was about to come in here and describe Dickey’s as the WORST BBQ chain that I’m aware of.

Around here (DFW), Spring Creek, Baker’s Ribs and Sonny Bryan’s are miles better than Dickey’s. In Austin, Salt Lick isn’t terrible, and neither is Poke-e-Jo’s.

Statewide, Rudy’s is pretty solid, although the best places are usually one-off locations that tend toward the decrepit.

3

I live in the Dallas area, and my go-to place for ribs is Red Hot and Blue. You can get a rack of Mephis-style dry rub ribs, and the sides I usually get are excellent – battered fries, a warm style of potato salad, sweet potato fries, hush puppies. I don’t use their sauces, because the dry rub crust is good enough for me. My wife is happy with the pulled pork sandwiches they make. I’ve never tried their brisket.

I have had the brisket at Dickey’s, and I find it’s normally bland and stringy except where you happen to get a tender, fatty end, in which case it’s divine. The sausage is excellent and the chicken breast is nothing to complain about. I haven’t had the ribs there because whenever we order from there, it’s with a group and I’m apparently the only one of our friends who favors ribs.

Recently we visited Tulsa, Oklahoma. There was a kind of hipster-looking joint called the Rib Crib, which did a deliciously well seasoned dry rub style rib. Then on the way home we stopped at a place along the road called Massey’s, which by all the signs was a long running local institution. They seasoned their ribs on the principle of letting the flavor of the pork itself really shine through. I’d be hard pressed to say which of these two approaches is best, or that there’s such a thing as being in the mood for one over the other. I’d want them both every time.

4

Yea, Dickey’s is so bad I would go almost anywhere else.

Shane’s here in GA is not too bad.

5

The Dickeys near where I work has decent bbq but the prices are insane. 40$ for 3 people and we were all hungry when it was done. (2 of the 3 were pretty small women to boot)

I honestly don’t know a single bbq chain I would call good. In Seattle we have a couple decent places but they are local only.

6

I would not consider myself an expert, but I am going to have to go ahead and disagree with you on Dickey’s, altho agree on the potential of varying of quality. The one near us (Sacramento, CA) is horrible, dreadful, ghastly fare. They are stingy with the portions, the meats are tough, the sauces are overly sugary, and the sides are heated and poured from a plastic bag. The service is lousy, and the take-out order we got from them was missing items (on me for not checking). That was only two visits - never again. The local grocery store has better BBQ in their deli.

We have a mom & pop BBQ place that is excellent, but you asked about franchises. A local one here is “Back 40 Texas BBQ” which is very good, and pretty much the opposite of my complaints about Dickey’s.

7

The only BBQ franchise we have up in this neck of the woods is Dickey’s, which I’d rate as decent, but overpriced. I like their cheddar sausage and the mac & cheese and their spicy BBQ sauce is decent, and the daily specials they have are a pretty good bargain providing that the meat you like is on special the day that you go.

I eat there once in awhile if I’m in the mood for barbeque, but don’t feel like driving ten miles out of town to the barbeque shack out in the country owned and operated by a legitimate state chili champion, US barbeque champion, and world barbeque champion that’s not even that much more expensive.

8

In my experience the best BBQ joints are not part of a franchise. Corky’s, I believe, is, and they are good. Is Whole Hog a franchise? They do not cook the meat with sauce.

9

That’s not real BBQ. :smiley:

10

I like Rudys

11

My experience is the opposite of OP. Grew up in Memphis and Red Hot & Blue pulled pork is pretty darn close to home cooking. I don’t know about its brisket, but I don’t really put brisket in the same consideration set as pulled pork. In Memphis, BBQ is pulled pork or pork ribs. I guess different places just specialize differently.

Moved to CO and ate at a Dickeys… horrible pulled pork, just disgusting. I wouldn’t feed my dog that stuff.

12

Dickey’s and Famous Dave’s are the only chains here in my neck of the woods (suburbia north of Seattle). People here think BBQ is a sauce, so I have very low expectations of BBQ that doesn’t come from my own backyard.

That said, they both seem reasonable to me. My wife’s favorite BBQ joint back in Texas is a little better, but not better enough to make much of a difference to me. If I want good BBQ, I’m still going to cook it myself.

13

If it’s a major franchise- it’s not good BBQ, in fact it’s likely not BBQ at all.

BBQ is whole pig, smoked overnite over real wood. Sauce on the side.

14

Another vote for Rudy’s (Houston). Also, Mia’s. In Florida, Woody’s was first rate.

15

Rudy’s advertises itself as the worst BBQ in Texas. So there’s that.

16

Here in my neck of the woods in the deep south the only chain I am familiar with is Sony’s BBQ.

Seems pretty passable to me quality wise and the price/portion ratio is respectable.

17

You said it and you were correct, BBQ is a local craft. The only decent chain I’ve had is Rudy’s, but those vary a lot in quality from one to another. But they are all pretty decent because they’re doing it right, pulling meat straight out of the smoker and slicing it up in front of you and serving on butcher paper. Nothing like Lockhart or Luling or Taylor or Elgin, but good for a big city chain. Rudy’s does a very good turkey at holiday time, you can order one or bring your own in for them to smoke.

18

Here in Nashville, there’s really no shortage of good BBQ. As far as franchises go, I’d say Jim and Nick’s is the best I’ve had, and that includes the* way overrated* Corky’s

19

The original location of Red Hot and Blue is basically known for their sandwiches, fries, and fried onion tangle. These are why they had to open a take-out counter a few blocks away in Clarendon. Alas, that location got redeveloped.

That said, Red Hot and Blue now has stiff competition in their home area, from local chain King Street Blues down to Rocklands and their wall o’ hot sauce.

20

Huh. I see from the Rocklands website that they now have more locations than King Street Blues. I remember when they only had the one location at Fairfax Drive & Quincy with CarPool in the back.