Spring Creek Barbeque

RICHARDSON: Spring Creek Barbeque
270 N Central Expy.
Richardson, TX 75080
972-669-0505
Open Sun-Thur 11-9, F-Sat 11-10
www.springcreekbarbeque.com/

I braved a serious rain shower in Dallas to meet Mr. & Mrs. Smokemasterone over at Spring Creek. I've loosened my standards about eating at chains, allowing the original location of any chain to be judged as the example for all of the chain's locations, and Spring Creek started at this location in Richardson. This joint is generally well known for good sauce, bottomless sides, and freshly baked buttery rolls. While we didn't opt to refill the mediocre sides (cole slaw was the best) it was hard to resist the temptation to get that second roll. It's actually nearly impossible given that we were offered "fresh, hot bread" by the basket-toting bread fairy no less than 7 times during an hour of dining.

One item that did not disappoint was the sauce. It was truly sweet and delicious with a hint of spice. Unfortunately the meat needed the flavor assistance. I think even the servers know this considering I asked for no sauce but it was poured over top my rib plate anyway. I tried to clean one of the St. Louis ribs off well enough to get at the flavor of this moist and tender meat. The underlying pork was red, but lacked smoke, and any bold flavor. The remaining ribs were much more enjoyable eaten with sauce. I stole some brisket and sausage from my companion's plates, and Mrs. SM1 said it best by describing the sausage's flavor as that of a hot dog...a really good hot dog, but she couldn't have been more right based on flavor and texture. The brisket looked promising with a decent smokeline, but not even the crust was smoky, and the rest of the slices from the fatty point cut of the brisket were full of unrendered fat, and nearly devoid of anything but roast beef flavor. Sauce to the rescue!

Rating **