GREENVILLE: Big Baby's Bar-B-Que
3811 Wesley St.
Greenville, TX 75401
903-454-1100
Open M-Sat 11-8, Sun 11-3
www.bigbabysbbq.com
There have been many disappointing BBQ road trips in my days, but this one to Greenville was possibly the worst. My father-in-law and brother-in-law were along for the ride, so there was some added pressure for some decent BBQ right off the bat. I can deal with mountains of bad BBQ, but I despise being a poor host. We then sat for about an hour on the service road of I-30 on our way to Greenville because they decided to close the entire Interstate for a few hours. When we finally arrived into town we made our way to the oldest and most storied joint in Greenville called Ernie's. It was 1:30, and I knew they were open until 3:00, so I was both confused and furious at the "Closed" sign out front. They had taken the week off. We then drove north into town to try the second of three planned stops. As a hungry group, we sat down at Big Baby's and placed our order.
A few minutes later, a four meat plate arrived for us to share. Along with brisket, pork ribs, turkey and pulled pork, I also got a Pittsburg hot link. It looked like a turd on the plate, and the flavors were a bit earthly for me in this dry link. This link is certainly one that uses the entire hog. None of the meats exuded smokiness in any form. Turkey was baked deli meat, pulled pork could have been any meat given its total lack of flavor, and the ribs tasted only of the thick rub applied to the meat. The brisket outdid them all in the tasteless category. These slices were a single shade of gray, and might as well have been steamed rather than smoked. It was awful. A side of grocery store grade potato salad did little to help offset the disappointment, and then there was the okra. It's amazing that these perfectly crisp hand battered orbs of still crunchy okra came from the same kitchen as the rest of the food. We were anxious to get on to our next stop.
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Sad state of affairs my man, sad state. Sorry you had to eat that stuff.
ReplyDeleteThat's one nasty looking sausage. Really, it is.
ReplyDeleteWhat a disaster ! You should bring your guests back to Central Texas asap to erase the memories of this dreadful day.
ReplyDeleteStopped at Ernie's after reading this post. The first trip will be my last. Brisket had only a hint of a smoke ring and tasted like a pot roast from a slow cooker. Brisket was sliced without separating flat and point - point was with the grain which made it tough(what is with this method of slicing. I've only seen a few places do it, and all were not very good). I give it one star.
ReplyDeleteI live in Greenville, and have long lamented the state of barbecue in it. That being said, I plan on remedying it shortly with by opening a place of my own with an emphasis on Central Texas-styled, dalmatian-rubbed brisket. That grey matter from Johnson Street has haunted my childhood....
ReplyDelete