DALLAS: Cobb Switch BBQ
2625 Old Denton Rd. #700
Carrollton, TX 75006
214-483-3600
Open Sun-Thur 11-10, F-Sat 11-11
Update: This joint is CLOSED.
07/2009: I decided to head back to this joint now that's it's been open for about six weeks. Based on the many comments I've received from other folks' experiences, I was braced for the worst. On this Saturday visit I stayed away from the hot dog like sausage options, and went back for the brisket, ribs and pulled pork...and pie.
Chunks of brisket that were once slices were piled high on the plate. These nearly fat free morsels were a bit dry from overcooking, but were tender with a good smoky crust, while the meat beneath the crust held a decent amount of smoke. The ribs were also a bit beyond their prime showing some signs of being stored for a while. However, the flavor of the crust was still smoky, and the meat was tender and moist with well rendered fat throughout. These were good ribs.
The pulled pork was lacking the complexity that it had on the previous visit, and the addition of sauce didn't help. The sauce is actually closer to marinara than bbq sauce. It tasted as if someone thought ketchup was below use in their recipe, and instead they started with tomatoes. It was lacking any sweetness or spice. The sides of green beans and potato casserole, and the key lime pie for dessert were again stellar. If the meats were all as good, the overall rating would surely be higher, but despite all of the naysayers the three stars remain intact. Maybe they're just better on Saturdays.
Rating ***
05/2009: Phil Cobb, Janet Cobb, Blair Black, Chris Andrews, Dotty Griffith...I've never seen so many names associated with one BBQ joint, but this joint is definitely getting some free buzz with that lineup. No telling how many of those cooks really inhabit the kitchen. This place just opened on Monday, but it seems the cooking has hit its groove. The efficient service may have helped by the fact that we had the only occupied table at 1:00 on a Saturday, but the staff was friendly and helpful.
Six hickory smoked meats are slow smoked in a Southern Pride smoker, and I tried them all. The standout was the St. Louis style ribs with a salty and subtly sweet rub. Ruby red meat hid below the deep black smoky crust. Brisket lacked a robust smokiness, but the moist slices were tender, with a well flavored crust.
Pulled pork had a good balance of moist meat, smoky crust and bits of silky fat, while the turkey (an actual turkey breast) was a bit dry with little smokiness. The big disappointment was the jalapeno cheese sausage which will take you back to childhood days of cheese filled hot dogs. Better was the black pepper flecked original sausage, which could have used a boost of smoke flavor. Management has confirmed that chicken will soon be added given to customer demand. I guess those adventurous suburbanites don't realize that turkey is also poultry.
The side items could not have been better. cole slaw and potato salad were well above the bar for typical BBQ joint fare, and the unsoggy green beans had actual flavor. Pinto beans were well cooked with good flavor, and the potato casserole was oozing with cheesiness, and flecked with bacon and onion. I attempted to order a fried pie, but was convinced that I should go with banana pudding while being basically forced to order the key lime pie in addition. The pie ended up being so good that I took a slice home for my wife. The butterscotch banana pudding had good flavor profile with addition of the butterscotch, but the consistency was incredible soupy.
Given the relative infancy of this place, I have to give them credit for churning out quality grub across the board. Even if none of the meats stood out as fantastic, this was a solid dining experience with few negatives beyond the cheesy frankfurters and banana soup. I'll definitely be back.
13 comments:
Wow, I am shocked at your rating after eating there myself... I figured two stars for sure, three is way generous.
The brisket failed to stand on its own, and the flavor of the sauce didn't add anything great to the mix.
I guess what shocks me the most is that you gave them the same rating as Coopers in Llano, and I would put Coopers miles ahead of this.
Phil Cobb and Dotty Griffith?
Is this a new chain concept?
hijodelsol - I'm sorry you're shocked, but I have a simple explanation for you. Cobb Switch was having a great day...firing on all cylinders, and Cooper's was not the day I was there. Bumping Cooper's up to four stars means I would suggest someone else travel an hour to eat there, and I was disappointed I traveled that far to try it. Just because they've got the best marketing team in Texas (aside from the folks at the Salt Lick) does not make Cooper's flawless.
While you guys are quibbling over the minor leagues, I will be enjoying the best style of BBQ on the planet, North Carolina style. (piedmont region) North Carolina lexington style is the second best style of BBQ. Texas style BBQ is ok provided you chop up the brisket real fine and serve on a couple buns with coleslaw and a really good North Carolina sauce. LOL.. Hey! It is what it is. So there you have it, Texas BBQ can be ok, provided you give it a good ol' North Carolina twist.
Eric and Susan Johnson
Eric & Susan - That's just the point you're missing. If your NC pork was smoked as good as Texas brisket, you wouldn't need to cover it with vinegar and slaw to mask the flavor of the meat. I guess in NC, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!
We visited Cobb Switch for lunch today, and I thought I would pass along a few comments, since my experience was significantly worse than what you published last week. I am not challenging your assessment at all, just passing along my thoughts.
Here's what I found:
Brisket was dry and tough in spots, and had very little discernible smoke flavor. My guess is, it was wet marinated and baked in the Southern Pride that didn't kick over to wood until late this morning. If there was a dry rub on it, it was mostly brown sugar.
Ribs had been parboiled(!!!), then also smoked for an hour or two, and possibly finished on a grill. Today they were weren't St. Louis cut, as described on FCGBBQ, but small back-end spare ribs that had been poorly trimmed. I kept pulling shattered bones and cartilage out of mouth, while the "deboned" flaccid meat flopped out of mouth. Sauce was thin, very sweet and runny.
Sides: Pinto beans were okay; "barbecue beans" tasted like Ranch Style Beans into which they had poured some of their own sauce; the potato casserole was inedibly dry; and the green beans had been recently liberated from their foodservice can, and warmed marginally. The roll was either frozen foodservice or made from a mix.
My lunch mate had an apricot fried pie that tasted heavily of the shortening used to fry it.
We left food uneaten ... pretty much unheard of for us!
Cost for that and two soft-drinks: $29.
Unless we hear that things have improved dramatically, I suspect today was the last time we go there.
I dropped in to Cobb Switch on my way back from the Denton County court today at about 3:00PM. I inquired about their sausage vendor (Sysco), and despite my likely obvious displeasure, he cut me off a piece to try. Moist, but flavor was completely unremarkable. I ordered a half pound of brisket and 3 ribs. The brisket was cut "stacked" with both fatty and lean (good, because I like to try them both), and I rounded out my "meal" with a fried pie.
The brisket was very good from a moisture and texture standpoint; both were very solid. Alas, smoke was another story. There was some, but not a lot. Enough to push it away from roast beef, but not too far. The ribs were similar in the smoke department, but suffered in texture. They were a little too mushy and seemed to have a wet rub based on their BBQ sauce (which was a fairly pedestrian not-too-sweet-nor-too-tangy tomato sauce based concoction) which detracted too much from the meat. Moisture level was moderate. Both meats were definitely edible, but the search for smoke goes on.
Finally, the fried pie: Heed Kirk's warning. I had the apricot (was supposed to be cherry; I was a little disappointed there), and sadly, Crisco was the main flavor component of what COULD be a nice pie (flaky crust yet fairly basic, probably food service filling).
I might go back again if I'm in the neighborhood, but I doubt I'd make a special trip.
My wife and I went grocery shopping at the H-Mart just right behind the Cobb and Switch BBQ and decided to give it a try based on the review here. It was Saturday lunch time but there were only a couple of tables occupied. We were quite hungry going in and craving for food. My wife had a pulled pork sandwich and I ordered a rib plate. Oh boy, my ribs were dry, salty(even without source), and tasted like it's been sitting there for quite a while. My wife said the pulled pork was fine but not great. We are not very picky but we know what good BBQ tasted like. I was quite surprised of a 3 star rating you gave them.
My girlfriend and I went to Cobb Switch yesterday. The brisket was pretty much as described here: moist and smokey. Some very good brisket. The pulled pork was also very good. Moist and smokey, but would've liked more crust. The sausage wasn't anything to write home about, however. Bland and a bit on the oily side. I liked the baked beans but the green beans didn't seem to be anything special.
Having been a fan of the previous tenents I had some hope that the BBQ at Cobb Switch would be just that but alas that was not the case.
I had a 3 meat plate consisting of Turkey, Briskey and Pork.. The Turkey was dry and the sauce unremarkable and that was the ok part of the plate, the brisket was also dry and missing any smoke flavor and the pork was salty and tasted like it had been sitting for quite a while.
The sides were Green Beans and BBQ Beans and that lasted one bite when I pulled someones hair out of the BBQ beans.
Needless to say I left 75% of the food on the plate and left.
I wont go back nor do I think anyone reading this should give it a try.
Eric and Susan, as BBQ Snob told you, and as the disclaimer below states by -THE PROPHETS OF SMOKED MEAT, the difference between 'real' Texas cue is 'no sauce is needed if the cue is right, which is not the case with NC cue... as "good meat needs no adornment to satisfy."
worst BBQ ever. And the place smells like an ash tray. If you value your skin or lungs stay far far away from Cobb Switch.
mediocre BBQ , but your site is #1 !!!
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