Friday, July 22, 2011

Johnson Street Smokehouse


GREENVILLE: Johnson Street Smokehouse
2810 Johnson Street
Greenville, TX 75401
903-455-8567 ‎
Open M-Sat 11-7


After disappointment in finding Ernie's closed, and a very bad experience at Big Baby's Bar-B-Q down the road, had us itching for some decent barbecue. Pulling into the Johnson Street Smokehouse parking lot just across the big bridge that leads into downtown, things were looking more promising. Both the building and sign looked tidy, but had enough age to look legit. There were also a few cars in the lot long after the prime lunch hour.



Ordering at the counter just inside the door, I could see all of the meats on display on the steam table. Meats could be ordered by the pound, so I opted for 1/2 pound of brisket. That is until they pulled out the gray hunk of roast beef. I quickly changed the order to 1/4 pound. I added some ribs and boudin to the order. The boudin was rough around the edge after a considerable drying out period. Ribs had been severely overcooked, and might as well not have bones at all. The meat could have been boiled just as easily as smoked given it's lack of flavor. Brisket had both undercooked fat and overcooked stewed meat. My guess is that this phenomenon comes form hours in a steam tray. Regardless the cause, the meat was awful. We didn't bother with sides, and left Greenville still hungry.

Rating *

1 comment:

  1. Great lede on your first Greenville story Daniel:

    "There have been many disappointing BBQ road trips in my days, but this one to Greenville was possibly the worst."

    Thanks for saving us a trip out there.......!

    ReplyDelete