Saturday, January 3, 2009

Green Mesquite BBQ & More


AUSTIN: Green Mesquite BBQ & More
1400 Barton Springs Rd.

Austin, TX 78704

512-479-0485

Open Daily 11-10

www.greenmesquite.net/


Green Mesquite has a wide menu including CFS, salads, jambalaya, and catfish. Usually this would preclude it from making the list at all, but it came with accolades from a recently published guide book on Texas BBQ. The exterior looked promising, and the parking lot smelled of smoke. The interior is small, but a large patio out back would be a great place to enjoy one or two of the beers on tap. I ordered to go.

The corners of my brown bag had gone clear by the time I arrived at home, and it got my hopes up for some good, moist protein. The ribs were large spare ribs with a nice salt and pepper crust. The rib meat beyond the crust held little flavor and even less smoke. The fat was poorly rendered, but the tenderness of the meat was satisfactory. The brisket was sliced thick because any thin slices would have fallen apart. The beef was overdone with a stringy texture. The fat needed more time under the smoke to render, and the resulting flavor was roast-beefy with a hint of smokiness in the crust. One thing they have nailed is their sauce that is tomato based, but with mustardy flavors and good spice. It was a needed addition to the flavor unrich meat. I should have followed my instincts about joints that take too much attention away from their 'cue.

Rating **
Green Mesquite BBQ & More on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

PatronSaint said...

Agreed that the meat there isn't tremendously special, but I still like the place. Something about the place just feels authentic and dirty, which is nice to have in the middle of a pretty sterile part of town.

DISCLAIMER:

Each joint is judged on the essence of Texas 'cue...sliced brisket and pork ribs. Sausage is only considered if house made. Sauce is good, but good meat needs no adornment to satisfy. Each review can only be based on specific cuts of meat on that particular day. Finally, if the place fries up catfish or serves a caesar salad, then chances are they aren't paying enough attention to the pits, so we mostly steered clear.

-THE PROPHETS OF SMOKED MEAT