Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Mr. Will's Restaurant


NACOGDOCHES: Mr. Will's Restaurant 
3406 Center Hwy 
Nacogdoches, TX 75961 
936-569-1827 
Open M-F 10-8, Sat 8-8, Sun 8-3

Maybe the addition of the fresh baked biscuit in the container of barbecue was because we were visiting in the in-between meal hour of 10:00am, or maybe they just felt bad for the inattentive service. I walked around the front counter whistling and stomping as loud as I could while peeking into the kitchen doors hoping for someone to catch a glimpse of a potential customer. A full ten minutes and time for a bathroom break elapsed before someone came out to take our order.


We took the combo plate of brisket and ribs to the car trunk where we learned the beauty of a brisket and biscuit sandwich in the morning. Without the help of the buttery bun, the brisket didn't hold up as well. In fact it didn't really hold together at all. It was smoked the day previous, and because of the well rendered fat left on the meat you could still taste that smoke. The meat itself fell into small bits that would have made for fine saucy chopped beef, but weren't great on their own. The day-old ribs didn't fare well either. The meat had decent flavor, but was dried out and still quite chewy with a poorly formed crust from a powdery rub applied too heavily. Both beef and pork may have even been good if fresh, so I'd advise coming later in the day. It may have been a filling breakfast, but that biscuit did most of the work.

Rating **

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DISCLAIMER:

Each joint is judged on the essence of Texas 'cue...sliced brisket and pork ribs. Sausage is only considered if house made. Sauce is good, but good meat needs no adornment to satisfy. Each review can only be based on specific cuts of meat on that particular day. Finally, if the place fries up catfish or serves a caesar salad, then chances are they aren't paying enough attention to the pits, so we mostly steered clear.

-THE PROPHETS OF SMOKED MEAT