Baby J's Bar-B-Que & Fish

PALESTINE: Baby J’s Bar-B-Que & Fish
FM 2419 at U.S. 287
Palestine, TX 75801
903-729-8402
Open Thur-Sat 11-8

Sweet Baby J's may be a more appropriate name for this joint. The sauce was sweet, the greens were nearly candied, and the tea was downright syrupy. Even cut with half a glass of unsweet tea, this was liquid sugar that required a water chaser.

The meats were spared from a dose of sugar, and got a good dose of smoke instead. The brisket slices had a good crust, and a decent smokeline. The tender slices were moist and flavorful, if a little too fatty. The ribs were a tad chewy with an odd flavor created by being basted with sauce while being smoked with a combination of hickory, oak and pecan. The smokiness was there, but more time in the smoker could have added some tenderness and rendered the fat a little better. The spicy, dense sausage was incredible with a hefty amount of red and black pepper. The beef and pork mixture had a flavor similar to italian sausage with a deep smoky twist.



Pulled pork is not usually found on a Texas bbq menu, but this version was smoky and tender piled high on a bed of pickles and onions and doused with the sweet sauce. The buttered bun tied this sandwich together, and it was quite good.



Out front are a bevy of smokers that vary from the tall rotisserie style one pictured, to a couple of offset steel smokers, to the smoker housed inside a renovated camper. One of the owner's friends was using the tall smoker to cater a prom dinner for his daughter and 23 of her friends. He looked busy.



The interior was sparse but homey, with wall murals painted by a local "artist". Some of the smoke painted on the wall looked a lot more like Mr. Hankey than smoke bellowing from a fire.



Overall this joint is an interesting place to visit to get some distinctively flavored meats, and with a bit more time on the smoker, the meats could really be stellar.

Rating ***