Recently got Mission BBQ (chain BBQ joint) after not having gone in a while, and got 3 miniature slices of brisket, a tiny cup of mac & cheese and a piece of cornbread that was MAYBE 1 square inch and that shit was like $22. It’s been a bit, but the price to product ratio was way worse than the last time I visited.
I don’t know which hipster BBQ place started the trend of giving you a thimble of food for mid-high tier sit-down restaurant prices, but they can fuck all the way off.
I recently moved from TN to somewhere where BBQ isn’t as prevalent. I had never heard of Mission BBQ (didn’t know it was a chain either) until I moved here and figured I’d give it a shot because it was the only option.
My expectations were low, but goddamn was that food awful. They charged me $30 for the most tasteless brisket, undercooked ribs, and collard greens that may as well have been a soup. Their very existence is offensive to me.
i don’t understand it because surely they could just give you a reasonable amount of food without markedly affecting their profit margins? do they really think they’ll maintain a customer base when they serve a fifth of a meal?
pizzerias over here have it figured out: sure you can charge a lot if that’s what it takes to survive as a business, but then you also make sure to give people like 1.5 meals worth of food, then it actually feels worth it and people won’t chafe at the idea of giving you patronage.
Agreed on all points. To be honest, I don’t really even care that portions are smaller, just don’t charge me more for less (the ol shrinkflation bit). You’re absolutely right about the patronage thing too, they’ll get me once with the bullshit, but never twice. It’s just not a forward thinking way to handle a business.
The cost is in the black gloves. It means quality
“Ooooh they give you white bread with it!” -Texans, probably
No, the white bread has to be under the meat to sop up the juices and sauce friend.
Stereotype us right at least.
Damn dawg my parents send me a lot of pictures of bbq when they’re down there and it’s always about 6 slices of white bread sitting on top of everything as if someone had pulled half a loaf out and said “fuck it, it’s $.30 worth of bread”. What you do with it is your business but I’m not gonna pretend I believe you are the norm.
Also, I think it’s hilarious that part of the food culture there is someone clearly spitefully giving you an amount of bread they believe you won’t complain about. I guarantee people still ask for more bread, don’t they? I worked at Olive Garden, they do.
Sorry you’re the vehicle for my main beef with Texas, at least it’s a small one. In the Midwest we put ranch on everything and don’t have a reason to be alive so pobody’s nerfect.
Texan here. The shitty white bread at barbecue places is what we call napkins or mops. Their purpose is to mop up all of the grease and sauce on the plate after you have finished eating your barbecue. They are NOT meant for putting your brisket in and eating like a sandwich. We use the shittiest bread possible because that’s what works the best for mopping purposes. Also, it’s free. Half of the places just set loaves of it out by the condiments. Then you can grab however many slices you need wherever without asking.
What’s wrong with asking for more bread at olive garden? It’s the only thing halfway decent and pretty much a core value of keeping the doors open at that place.
When I was traveling all over the world for work, I learned really quickly to skip the local BBQ joint when I was in the south. They pretty much universally mediocre if not flat out bad.
Now the local burger and malt shop in the upper Midwest. Count me in.
In the southeast at least best BBQ is always the dude cooking in a kettle drum thing in the Publix parking lot. I don’t eat meat anymore and have lived in California for a long time now (which has other great food but not really much of a BBQ culture) but I still think about those Florida parking lot meats from time to time.
What do you consider the South and/or good BBQ? There are a few different styles of BBQ and quite a few major BBQ cities in the South.
Been everywhere from Texas across to the Atlantic. I was meeting dealers and farmers. So both in the cities and small towns. I would fly in somewhere then drive all over the place and grab lunch wherever the local farmer or dealer we were meeting wanted to eat.
Yeah, I got taken out to the “best BBQ that you just have to try” so many times across the region. They are all very proud of it, and is all bleh…
You’ve gotta factor taste into it. Just because they were farmers from around there doesn’t mean they know what tastes good. Having those people for relatives all my life and having tried every restaurant they swear up and down is delicious (and eaten their food at Thanksgiving), I’ve accepted that they don’t have very…let’s say complex palates. Sometimes I think that if the food is literally just cooked with any amount of sauce/seasoning they think it’s good.
There are a few little holes in the wall that are the life-changing BBQ you’ve heard about, I promise. I’ve had them and consider them my benchmarks for good BBQ. Just don’t take random small town guy’s word for what’s good because he might not know shit (could honestly say that for most people). Also, look for it in shacks that look a little sketchy in very small towns. Like <5000 people small.
We’d burn a place like that down here in Kansas City and then smoke some ribs over the fire.
It’s the free kiddie cones! Mother fuckers love a free kiddie cone!
But you’re right, with Bryant’s, L.C.'s, Gates, jackstack, etc… it’s hard to believe they’re still around.
