Nashville BBQ

I think copious amounts of alcohol bring the flavor out.
 
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RyanB said:
Where’d you go?
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He and @SkyChaser were changing planes tonight in the Nashville airport. At the moment they should be airborne en route to Dallas. I assume they grabbed airport bbq, which might not be the best sample, though I used to find pretty fair bbq at DFW.
 
We stopped in Nashville a number of years ago on an xc drive. I remember eating either lunch or dinner at Jack’s BBQ right in the middle of downtown, on Broadway:

www.jacksbarbque.com

Jack's Bar-B-Que

A Nashville tradition since 1976, with three locations on Broadway, Charlotte Ave, and Trinity Lane.
www.jacksbarbque.com www.jacksbarbque.com

I don’t remember much about it, so it must have been OK, I would have remembered it better if it had been bad. Memphis has the reputation for ribs, not sure if Nashville is really known for anything specific. When I try bbq, I will always get brisket and pork. My recollection is Jack’s had both. There have been a couple of eastern Q places that don’t have brisket at all. But this place did.
 
Half Fast said:
He and @SkyChaser were changing planes tonight in the Nashville airport. At the moment they should be airborne en route to Dallas. I assume they grabbed airport bbq, which might not be the best sample, though I used to find pretty fair bbq at DFW.
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There's only a Dickey's at DFW, and "pretty fair," is more praise than it deserves. If they're going to be in Dallas proper, they should go to Big Al's and have some of everything. But there's good barbecue all over down here.
 
Lindberg said:
There's only a Dickey's at DFW, and "pretty fair," is more praise than it deserves. If they're going to be in Dallas proper, they should go to Big Al's and have some of everything. But there's good barbecue all over down here.
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I thought Dickey’s ribs were decent (not great, but not bad), but that’s all I ever tried there.

AggieMike and some of the other Dallas POAers introduced me to Hard 8 on one of my Dallas trips and it was pretty good. I had a good sampling.
 
Half Fast said:
I thought Dickey’s ribs were decent (not great, but not bad), but that’s all I ever tried there.

AggieMike and some of the other Dallas POAers introduced me to Hard 8 on one of my Dallas trips and it was pretty good. I had a good sampling.
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Dickey's is the McDonald's of barbecue.
 
Lindberg said:
There's only a Dickey's at DFW, and "pretty fair," is more praise than it deserves. If they're going to be in Dallas proper, they should go to Big Al's and have some of everything. But there's good barbecue all over down here.
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There used to be a Dickey's in the Vince Lombardi Service Area on the Jersey turnpike.

I can say without reservation that it had the best barbeque I've ever had at a turnpike rest stop.
 
Charlie Golf said:
There used to be a Dickey's in the Vince Lombardi Service Area on the Jersey turnpike.

I can say without reservation that it had the best barbeque I've ever had at a turnpike rest stop.
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Greatest coach of all time.... Let's give him a rest stop on the jersey turnpike.
 
central is only good bbq in nashville. and it’s from memohis
 
It was in the airport and they slathered mustard over their Pulled Chicken, stuffed in a couple pickle-slices, and called it BBQ. They ought to have their smoker confiscated.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
It was in the airport and they slathered mustard over their Pulled Chicken, stuffed in a couple pickle-slices, and called it BBQ. They ought to have their smoker confiscated.
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Which restaurant?

Tootsie's isn't exactly a BBQ place, but they do have a BBQ sandwich. Don't think you're talking about Bar-B-Cutie, in the A/B food court. I haven't been down the B-concourse in a while but there might be a BBQ pace there. Also, probably one in the food court mid-way down the C-concourse. Since you were connecting, I'm guessing it was SWA and either Tootsie's or some in the C food court.

The BNA terminal now has three Nashville Hot Chicken restaurants. Hattie B's (the only location that doesn't have a 45min queue!), Princes, and, my favorite, Party Fowl. They are all within a 60 second walk of each other. Hattie B's at the beginning of the C concourse, Princes in the hallway to the D concourse, and Party Fowl around gate D2-ish.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
You think wrong. It was BBQutie
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I've never had their chicken. I've always had the pulled-pork. No mustard on that.

Either way, not my favorite spot in the terminal. I'd go for the hot chicken at Party Fowl or the muffuletta at Kitty Hawk.

I looked it up and there's now FOUR hot chicken places in the terminal. 400 Degrees Hot Chicken in in C.

For BBQ, Pig Star by Peg Leg Porker, in B, is probably a better choice with their Memphis-style BBQ. C also has Swett's BBQ.

For Burgers, try The Pharmacy in the A/B rotunda.

 
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They have Dickie's here. I've been completely unimpressed. There are a few local BBQ joints around here that aren't at all bad.
 
One place I found unexpectedly good barbecue is on a cruise. Some Royal Caribbean ships have the Port Side BBQ restaurant, and it's actually pretty good. Not saying it's the best compared to a lot of local places, but good nonetheless.

Better than Dickies, and I assume BBQutie. A high bar indeed. :p
 
Pulled pork is from the Greensboro, NC area.
Brisket is from Texas.
Ribs are from Memphis.

That’s BBQ. Everything else is a poor imitation.
 
I am a fan of some of the BBQ spots around Nashville. I like Martins - local chain. And for Hot Chicken its either Hatties or Pucketts (also has good moonshine)
 
Charlie Golf said:
I can say without reservation that it had the best barbeque I've ever had at a turnpike rest stop.
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Funniest quote I've read this week!

Yeah, talking about the quality of food you can get in an airport is about like talking about how pretty the girls are that prowl at a truck stop. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But in either case they probably aren't indicative of the rest of the local area.

That said, I did have halfway decent bbq, ribs I think, at an airport place in Birmingham AL years ago. It wasn't any better than BBQ I can get up here in Albany, but better than I would ever expect inside an airport.
 
Albany Tom said:
Yeah, talking about the quality of food you can get in an airport is about like talking about how pretty the girls are that prowl at a truck stop. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But in either case they probably aren't indicative of the rest of the local area.
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No arguments from me.
 
Nashville is a great city, an amazing city, but it's not a BBQ city.

I just have a need to say the best BBQ on earth is Woodyard in KC.
 
Larry in TN said:
… Bar-B-Cutie,..
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Hard pass. They opened one in San Antonio; my wife loves NC style pulled pork and that’s hard to find in San Antonio, so we gave it a shot.

It’s better than Sonny’s BBQ in that bastion of BBQ greatness known as Northwest Florida, but that isn’t saying much.
 
Used to go to Sonny’s in Tampa back in the 80’s. It was pretty good. Now, it tastes like disappointment.
 
donjohnston said:
Used to go to Sonny’s in Tampa back in the 80’s. It was pretty good. Now, it tastes like disappointment.
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Sonny's was sold some years ago and isn't as good as it once was. There's a place called Dianne's BBQ near Citra that used to be a Sonny's but went independent when the chain sold. Their BBQ is done the way Sonny's used to be and it's quite good.

The best BBQ is often from some guy in a roadside lot on the weekend with a smoker trailer behind a beat up old pickup truck.
 
I haven’t been to Woodyard yet.

I’ve been doing too many contests, judging. Contest cooking is really different from either home or restaurant cooking. I need to get back to checking out bbq joints again. Q39 is the newest “best” place, I want to check them out next.
 
I generally don’t use airport food options to judge a city. That said I’ve never eaten good bbq in Nashville. I’m sure it exists somewhere but I’ve never found it.
 
Texas barbecue is best barbecue. So far, Hard 8 is my favorite, but I haven’t been to Lockhart yet.
 
ateamer said:
Texas barbecue is best barbecue. So far, Hard 8 is my favorite, but I haven’t been to Lockhart yet.
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Texas barbecue is the best brisket BBQ, certainly. The same cannot be said for ribs nor pulled pork, however.

In Houston, Killen's and Central Texas Bar-B-Cue (across the street from KHOU) are a great place to start, IMO.
 
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Half Fast said:
Sonny's was sold some years ago and isn't as good as it once was. ….
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The lat time I ate at a Sonny’s was in the mid-90s and it wasn’t good then. I particularly didn’t care for the deli slice on the meats.
 
TCABM said:
The lat time I ate at a Sonny’s was in the mid-90s and it wasn’t good then. I particularly didn’t care for the deli slice on the meats.
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That might have been after it sold. I think it happened in the late 80s, but I don’t really remember for sure.
 
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