CHILLICOTHE: Love's Texas Style BBQ
14211 US Hwy 287 S
Chillicothe, TX 79225
940-852-5400
Open Tues-Thur 11-8, F-Sat 11-9
lovesbbq.net
Chillicothe, Texas, population 707 is one of the smaller towns I've had reason to stop in, but it has a solid barbecue joint. A metal building sits along highway 287 in the middle of town, and I could smell smoke when I got out of the car. Inside were posters from local tractor pulls and exposed sprayed-on insulation in the ceiling. Homemade sausage was on the menu, so my three meat combo was complete.
St. Louis ribs were well smoked and had a heavy salt, cayenne and black pepper rub for a bold flavor. The meat could have been more tender, but this was good BBQ. Brisket also had good smoke, but it was too tender and even soggy from what was probably a long bout of improper storage. The fat was well rendered and the flavor was fine, but it would have been better fresh.
The best item here was the fresh homemade German sausage. The coarsely ground meat was laced with a good level of spice and herbs, and the casing was slightly charred while retaining a good snap. These deeply smoky links came with some sauerkraut and were made to be dabbed in some mustard rather than barbecue sauce. The people of Chillicothe are lucky to have such good barbecue joint given just how far the decent barbecue is spread out in these parts.
Rating ***
Stopped by there Friday evening on our way back to Dallas. Good meal, and it's nice to have a quality option in a long stretch without much more to offer than DQ or Sonic. We were full enough that when the waitress asked if we wanted dessert, we said no. Then, just for future reference, we asked what they had--which was four kinds of homemade cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream on top. We split an order of peach. It was outstanding, and the homemade ice cream was the part that put it over the top. One of the four flavors was pecan, and I've never heard of pecan cobbler. As good as the peach was, that may be worth a try on a future stop.
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