bbq

Midtown Alley BBQ!

by Stephanie on September 5, 2012

in American, BBQ

I know what you’re thinking. I said last week that I was going to choose a winner for my Ribs Challenge. I even promised a full rundown of each of the places I visited! Wow…someone is overly ambitious! Winking smile

Well, friends…I told a teeny tiny fib. The full rundown (and winner!) of the Ribs Challenge will be announced next week. This week I’m going to talk about a really cool thing I did a few weeks ago.

I helped judge a BBQ contest! The Midtown Alley BBQ Contest, to be more specific.

That’s right. I was asked to be a judge, along with Greg Lukeman (Executive Director of Food Outreach), Skip Steele (Executive Chef of Bogart’s Smokehouse), and Gerard Craft (Chef/Owner of Niche; he also owns Brasserie and Taste). Um…little old me? Sitting next to some of the biggest names in the St. Louis food scene?

Awwwwkwarrrrd.

Just kidding. I did feel awkward (as I always do!), but I was also very flattered (and excited!).

More about this contest. It took place at Atomicdust, which is a design and digital marketing agency here in St. Louis.

Atomicdust, along with several other local agencies (Switch, Scorch, Toky, Marketplace, HappyMedium, and Spot Creative) held a friendly competition to earn the title ‘Best in BBQ’.

I arrived early, so I was able to walk around and snap a few pictures of the competitors getting ready for the contest.

I was able to get a sneak peek of what was to come…

And I also enjoyed an ice cold beverage Winking smile

Soon enough, it was time to sit down and chow!

All of the judges were given scorecards. We were instructed to rate each dish on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best) in four categories: Presentation, Flavor/Balance, Execution/Cooking, and finally, How Much Did it Rock? I’m pretty sure that was my favorite category. Smile

Time to eat! Each dish was brought to the judges, one by one. We could eat as much or as little of each dish as we wanted. Since I knew there were twelve dishes to try, I attempted to pace myself.

With all of this amazing food (yes, seriously…I loved every dish!) it was really hard to pace myself, and by the time the 12th plate was placed in front of me, I was stuffed. But I pressed on, of course. I take my judging responsibilities very seriously. Winking smile

You may be wondering why there are only 11 pictures instead of 12. Well…I forgot I was a food blogger for a moment and scarfed it down before I thought to take a picture! Oops.

In between tasting dishes, I observed the crowd. One thing I noticed? More than a few people were snapping pictures.

It felt really weird to be the subject of photos, since I’m usually the one behind the lens!

After all twelve dishes were sampled (and the scorecards were turned in), the crowd waited patiently for the results to roll in.

While we waited, I snapped a few pictures of the cool trophies.

Neato!

I also chatted with the other judges for a bit.

Skip (the executive chef at Bogart’s) told me he read my review of Bogart’s! I was super flattered. Gerard told me he didn’t usually read food blogs, but I promised him that my reviews are usually nice and are always fair and honest. (And I honestly loved one of his restaurants–Brasserie!)

Finally, it was time to announce the winners.

 

3rd place went to the pulled pork by Thaddeus from Switch,

2nd place went to the Bo Ssam pork by Dan from HappyMedium,

and 1st place?

That went to the pulled pork by James from Atomicdust!

Well-deserved wins, although they were all amazing in my book.

I had a great time at the event; it’s crazy to think that my little hobby blog has opened the door to such cool opportunities! Thanks again to Atomicdust for asking me to be a judge. If you need a judge for next year, I’m totally game. Winking smile

See you next week! I promise I’ll have the Ribs Challenge winner for you then! Smile

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Ribs Challenge, Week 5: Holland Café & Meats and Boodle’s BBQ!

by Stephanie on August 29, 2012

in American, challenge, ribs

It’s here. It’s here! It’s Week 5, the final week of the Ribs Challenge.

Over the past five weeks, I’ve visited 10 different restaurants to try their ribs. Did you read that correctly? Ten. Restaurants.

I’m going to be completely honest and say that I don’t want to see another rib for a long time. I still love BBQ, and I’ll always hold a special place in my heart for ribs, but much like bread pudding and chicken wings, I need a break.

This timing was actually quite perfect; I started marathon training this week (I’m running the Disney Marathon in January!), so I needed to clean up my eats a bit anyway. Smile

Enough of that. This isn’t a running blog. And even though I am a little tired of ribs, I still have two restaurants left to talk about! Let’s get to it.

First up? Holland Café & Meats!

This cute little shack is located in the heart of Fenton, MO. I’ve passed by it numerous times while on the way to work, and I finally had a reason to stop in!

I ordered a half rack of baby back ribs, of course.

Look at that sauce! Yum. I couldn’t wait to tear into this sucker.

And tear into it I did. Smile

Wow. I’m speechless right now. I wasn’t sure what to expect with these ribs; after all, it wasn’t a place that was specifically recommended to me. Their ribs could have been terrible for all I knew!

Thank goodness they weren’t. Oh nooooo…these were awesome. The meat fell right off the bone, and it was juicy, smoky, and ridiculously tender. And the sauce? That was pretty fantastic as well. It was a little sweet and just a tiny bit tangy. I really enjoyed these!

Next up? Boodles BBQ.

(source)

Boodles is located in Affton, MO. Again, this was another spot that wasn’t necessarily recommended to me. However, Boodles has been on my list of places to try for quite some time, so I was anxious to see what they had to offer.

I went with a half rack of baby back ribs.

Hmm. Well, once again, I’m speechless. Unfortunately, this isn’t the good kind of speechless. No…it’s more of a “What did I just put into my mouth?” kind of speechless.

I don’t know what exactly offended me the most with these ribs. Was it the smell? That definitely played a part, I think; these certainly didn’t smell like any ribs I had ever tasted before. It wasn’t a smoky or meaty type of smell like the other ribs I tried. It was…well, it was interesting. I honestly can’t identify the smell, but it was pretty off-putting.

However, taste is much more important to me, so I dove in and took a huge bite.

Hmm.

No.

To be fair, I did like the taste of the outer part of the ribs. It had a nice caramelized crust that was pretty tasty.

However, the rest of the meat was majorly lacking something. The flavor was just off. These didn’t taste like they had come off of the grill; they tasted like they had been microwaved. I hate to throw out the dreaded “m” word, but I had to.

I’m not going to be overly dramatic by stating that these are the worst ribs I’ve tasted in my life. I’m sure they’re not. I’m sure I’ve had worse. But out of the ten places I’ve visited during this challenge, Boodles is pretty close to the bottom, sadly. I hate to be mean, but you know me – I’m always honest!

So there you have it. Ten rib reviews under my belt.

Now it’s time for the fun part – choosing a winner! I have an idea of what my top choices are, but I need time to really mull it over and look at all of my notes.

Next week, I’ll have a rundown of each rib place, and I’ll choose the winner! I can’t wait. Smile

See you next week!

{ 1 comment }

Pappy’s Smokehouse and an announcement!

by Stephanie on July 27, 2012

in American, BBQ, challenge, ribs

Okay…so I’m a little embarrassed.

The place I’m reviewing today has been talked about for at least a few years now. It’s been all over The Travel Channel and The Food Network. It has won numerous awards, and if you’re from St. Louis (and hey – maybe even if you’re not!) you’ve heard of this place.  It’s solidified itself as THE place to visit for good barbecue in St. Louis.

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I’m talking about Pappy’s Smokehouse, of course! While I’ve definitely visited Pappy’s on a number of occasions, all of my visits were before I started this little blog.

So when a friend mentioned that he had never been to Pappy’s (whaaaaaat?!), I knew we had to visit. And I brought my trusty camera along for the ride. Winking smile

We arrived early on a Saturday morning for some of the good stuff. Pappy’s doesn’t begin serving food until 11am, but we arrived around 10:30am to get a good spot in line.

Turns out we weren’t the only ones with that idea.

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Wowza!

While we waited patiently in line, I took a look around. There are lots of things to keep you entertained. I was a huge fan of the wall of barbecue sauce.

 

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Did you know that barbecue sauce is my favorite condiment? What I wouldn’t do to have every one of those bottles in my house!

Standing in line also gave us plenty of time to decide what to order. I briefly considered ordering the Adam Bomb:

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What’s in an Adam Bomb? Well…it’s a full slab of ribs, beef brisket, a pulled pork sandwich, 1/4 chicken, four sides, and a hot link frito pie.

I’m kidding, of course. I like to eat, but I don’t think I could eat that much food! I’ll leave that to Man vs. Food. Winking smile

I decided to go with a half rack of ribs, deep fried corn on the cob, and potato salad instead.

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Oh yeah, baby.

I loved these ribs. After getting some practice at Bogart’s a few months ago, I knew exactly how to dominate this sucker. No rib left behind!

The potato salad was also pretty good, but it didn’t blow me away.

The corn on the cob? Well, as much as I adore corn on the cob, this didn’t do anything for me. The flavor was good, but it was very unpleasant to eat. I took one bite, and immediately, sticky corn found its way into every crevice of my mouth. Having corn stuck in your teeth is not fun.

My friend went with a pulled pork sandwich, sweet potato fries, and baked beans.

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Everything on his plate was delicious. The baked beans were good, the sweet potato fries blew me away, and the pulled pork sandwich was delicious.

It helped that Pappy’s has some incredible barbecue sauce.

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I tried all three and liked the Sweet Baby Jane sauce the most. Delish!

Although everything at Pappy’s was tasty, It’s safe to say that the ribs were my absolute favorite. If you only order one thing while you’re at Pappy’s, order the ribs. You won’t be sorry.

Speaking of ribs…it’s announcement time! I love announcements. They’re fun, aren’t they?

While chowing down on wings at the Marathon Chicken Wing Eating Event a few weeks ago, I brought up the idea of doing another challenge. Oh yeah, baby. You think I was finished after finding the best bread pudding in St. Louis and the best chicken wings in St. Louis? I’m just getting started!

The idea of doing a Best Ribs challenge was mentioned, and I liked the idea, but I also knew that the obvious winners of a rib challenge in St. Louis would be Pappy’s Smokehouse and Bogart’s Smokehouse. These two places are easily the most popular barbecue joints in the city.

So I made a decision: I’m going to do a Best Ribs Challenge, but since I believe Pappy’s and Bogart’s have an unfair advantage, I’m leaving them out. This blog is called Off The Eaten Path, and I’m all about giving the little guys a time to shine. While I absolutely adore Pappy’s and Bogart’s, I know that there are other amazing barbecue places in this city. I just know it!

The setup is going to be the same as the Bread Pudding Challenge and the Chicken Wing Challenge. I’m going to visit 10 local restaurants in St. Louis to try their ribs. Starting on August 1st, I will post the results of my visits.

However, instead of stretching out this challenge to 10 weeks, I’m shortening it to 5! That’s right – I’m going to blog about two rib restaurants a week. Where are my stretchy pants?

I hope you’re just as excited about this new challenge as I am. Bring on the meat!

I already have an idea of the ten places I want to visit, but of course, that could change. Give me your input! Where are the best places to find good ribs in St. Louis? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Have a great weekend, and see you this Wednesday with Week 1 of the Ribs Challenge. Smile

{ 25 comments }

Chicken Wing Challenge, Week 10: The Shaved Duck!

by Stephanie on July 4, 2012

in American, challenge, chicken wings, Dinner, Lunch

Why hello there! Hope you’re having a happy 4th of July! Any fun plans? I have the day off, so I’m relaxing and catching up on some much needed sleep…and eating delicious food, of course!

So…this is it.

This is it.

Week 10 of the Chicken Wing Challenge is here! I can’t believe it’s over already. I plan on doing a recap of all of the places I visited (along with my top 3 picks!) this Friday. But for now? Let’s talk about Week 10.

This week I visited The Shaved Duck. It’s located in the Tower Grove East neighborhood of St. Louis.

You might remember that I blogged about The Shaved Duck before. Aside from their amazing bread pudding, I also fell in love with their smothered fries.

Calories? Screw calories! These were heaven on a plate!

I was thisclose to ordering the smothered fries again, but I had to focus on my mission: chicken wings! Keep your eyes on the prize, Steph. ;)

I ordered the smoked chicken wings. These wings were slow smoked and were served with a mango, ginger, and habanero sauce.

Don’t they look absolutely amazing?

Okay, so they looked delicious. But how did they taste?

Wow.

Wow wow wow.

I know that I tend to use a lot of hyperbole in my reviews, but I’m not even kidding when I say that these wings are some of the best I’ve ever eaten. In my life. IN MY LIFE!

Everything about these wings were pure perfection.

Crispy and flavorful skin? Check.

Juicy, flavorful meat with a slight smoky flavor? Check.

A mind-blowing dipping sauce?

Check! Winking smile

I ordered these wings to go, but I couldn’t wait to get home to dig in; I had to have a few while I was in the car! I gobbled a few wings down, and when I got full, I stored them in the fridge for later.

Guess what? These babies were even good cold! Now that’s some good chicken.

So there you have it. Week 10 is in the bag. But what are my top 3 picks? I’ll announce those this Friday! I’ll also provide more details about the judging panel to help decide the winner. That’s right — I’m leaving it up to you. It’s going to be fun! You may want to clear your schedule on July 14th. Winking smile

That’s enough chatter from me — enjoy the rest of your holiday! Hopefully some BBQ chicken is on the menu for today!

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Bully’s Smokehouse

by Stephanie on May 18, 2012

in American, BBQ, Dinner, Lunch

When I first started this blog in March of 2010, my goal was to explore and write about restaurants in the St. Louis area. Other than a trip to Chicago, I’ve stayed pretty true to that goal.

But occasionally, I’ll venture outside of the boundaries I’ve set for myself. If a restaurant outside of the St. Louis area comes highly recommended, I’ll go for it!

And this one, friends? Came with a glowing recommendation from this guy:

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You may remember my uncle from my trip to Epic Pizza & Subs. He raved about Epic Pizza, and I was blown away. So after months (maybe even years?) of hearing him rave about Bully’s Smokehouse, I knew I had to pay them a visit one day, even though they were all the way in Edwardsville, Illinois – a good 45 minute drive from my house.

The perfect opportunity came a few weeks ago when we had a Welcome Home party at Bully’s for my Aunt, who was stationed in Iraq. Perfect!

 

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There were a ton of us there, so a ton of food was ordered. I tried a little bit of everything.

Spicy chicken wings,

 

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Onion rings,

 

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Sweet potato fries (with the most amazing sweet dipping sauce!)

 

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Fried green beans,

 

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And pork and beef nachos, smothered in white American cheese sauce.

 

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It’s hard for me to even pick a favorite. All of our starters were amazing.

Yes, I said starters. When I go out to eat with family, we don’t play around. Haven’t you noticed?

My uncle ordered a BBQ sampler plate for me, so I could try a bit of everything.

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There were ribs,

 

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Chicken,

 

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Brisket,

 

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And pork.

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Where to begin?

I sampled all of the meats by themselves. Everything was so tasty, although if I had to choose, I think the ribs were my favorite. They were extremely tender and practically fell off of the bone!

And then I smothered everything in my favorite condiment ever. Any guesses?

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BBQ sauce. Of course. Bully’s has two types: Midwest Sweetness and Carolina Mustard. Although the Carolina Mustard sauce had an interesting tangyness to it, I preferred the Midwest Sweetness barbecue sauce. It had a smoky, subtle sweet flavor that I liked.

As if I hadn’t already eaten enough, I also stole a few fries (and a bite of bread) from my sister’s plate.

 

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It was all good. The fries were sprinkled with a sweet seasoning that I fell in love with!

When dessert was mentioned, I initially declined. There was no way I could fit another bite into my stomach.

But then I heard two magical words.

No, not bread pudding. Winking smile

Funnel Cake.

Bring it on! We were all going to share it anyway, right? Smile

There was the classic powdered sugar version,

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And we also tried a version with cinnamon and sugar on it.

 

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They were both incredible, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be the cinnamon sugar version. Wowza! I could eat this everyday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But then I’d probably weigh 500 pounds…and no one wants that, right? Winking smile

Anyway, I’d call my visit to Bully’s a huge success. I don’t know when I’ll visit again, but I’m sure I’ll be back if my family has anything to do with it. I highly recommend Bully’s if you’re in the area! Just try not to stuff yourself as much as I did, okay?

See you next week!

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Bogart’s Smoke House

November 18, 2011

Howdy, friends! How are y’all doin? Whoops – sorry about the country bumpkin slang. There’s just something about barbecue that makes me want to talk like a cowgirl! I promise that’s the last time you’ll ever hear me say ‘Howdy’ on this blog. I can’t make any promises about ‘y’all’, though. Anyway, I hope your [...]

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BBQ, Booze, and Good news…

September 4, 2010

So I’m going to be honest. I had heard some not-so-good things about Smoking Joes online, so when my mom suggested we go here for our monthly girls night get together, I wasn’t too thrilled. However, after giving the place a try on a busy Friday night, I can safely say that Smoking Joes is [...]

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