OC Smokehouse

DALLAS: OC Smokehouse
1300 W. Davis St.
Dallas, TX 75208
214-943-2300
Open Daily 11-midnight

Update: This joint is CLOSED.

10/2011: A Dallas Observer report a couple months back showed a strained relationship between partners of Luckie's in Oak Cliff. The relationship was beyond repair, so Charles "Lucky" Johnson is out and Nhat Ngo is making a go of it alone under the new name "OC Smokehouse". The Luckie's website is still active, and an OC site is nowhere to be found, but Luckie's is dead.



The address and phone number haven't changed, and save some overly salty, but good and crispy chicken wings, the menu hasn't changed a lick either. The barbecue is also no different, even after talk of menu updates from the new solo owner. He even said the barbecue was better than Luckie's, but I couldn't find any meaningful differences from the previously underwhelming joint. The same ridiculous exclusion of a pork rib option to the combo plate is still there (just add a few bucks to the cost, Nhat) and you must spend at least $11 just for a taste of ribs.



An in depth review of the rest of the meat options would be little more than a word-for-word repeat of my previous review. Here's a sample that is still spot on. As for ribs, "The meat was mushy from being overcooked, and any crust that may have formed was eliminated in the warmer. The meat had decent seasoning, but lacked smokiness. They weren't really worth the menu hassles. Brisket was a pretty good version of roast beef. They had a nice mix of lean and fatty beef, but most of the bark had been trimmed away on all of them. The meat that remained needed more seasoning and more smoke." Call it lazy reviewing if you like, but that Southern Pride pit is still putting out over-tender ribs and tough smokeless brisket.



Pulled pork was a bit better with a few crusty pieces, but the sausage was just warmed over Smokey Denmark's links. After Luckie's departure, it's tough to determine if he had any responsibilities for the meat preparation. Nothing has changed.

Rating **

Dairyland Bar-B-Que

JACKSBORO: Dairyland Bar-B-Que
325 S Main St
Jacksboro, TX 76458
940-567-5000
Open W-Sun 10-?

The sign out front says "DINING ROOM DAIRYLAND", but my eyes were focused on the yellow letters plastered on the front awning - "Brisket, Ribs, Ham, Sausage". We were wrapping up a long weekend of barbecue and had no other joints on the itinerary. There would only be more brisket if we happened upon a place that seemed meant to be, and this was it. I'd never heard of the joint before, but figured a town the size of Jacksboro would have at least one joint serving smoked meats. It just happened to be one that also specializes in flavored soft serve ice cream as well.



Pulling towards the back of the parking lot, we saw the homemade brick smoker covered by a suburban seventies style carport structure. It was late afternoon on a Sunday so the fires had been out for hours. Signs on the side of the building again spelled out the many smoked meat offerings including ham and fajitas, but one placard was missing. The menu had all of the other meats accounted for, so I'll never know the one that got the ax. A smoked meat mystery.



We thought we'd had our fill of battered and fried onions, but no. These babies were thick, wide and crisp with a thin flour batter. The onions beneath were not yet translucent and offered some bite. My traveling companion and trip photographer, Nick, decided then and there to start an onion ring blog. There's no word on when it will go live. The third meat in a three meat combo is always a toss-up. I'll always try brisket and ribs and save the third meat for a regional specialty, an unusual meat offering or a staff recommendation. On this day the staff recommended the sausage which ended up being a very boring Eckrich quality kielbasa. This girl didn't know good sausage, but in her defense she spent most of the day adding flavored syrups to soft serve. Luckily, ribs and brisket were both very much commendable. St. Louis cut ribs were perfectly moist and tender and had a decent bark with a heavy powdery rub. The foremost flavor was pork with a good hint of smoke. Tightly trimmed brisket slices were a bit dry. The slices were tender enough and had a great smokiness in the black crust. This was some good brisket made better by a dip in the subtle homemade sauce which used mainly ketchup and beef broth. As we dined on the picnic table out back, we realized we had been led here so we could end this epic trip on a high note before making our way back into the concrete tangles of DFW, where good onion rings are hard to come by.

Rating ***

Stubb's Memorial in Lubbock

"Well, I'm a high straight in Plainview, a side bet in Idalou, and a fresh deck in New Deal." These are the opening lines of Terry Allen's song 'Amarillo Highway' which includes the names of a few small towns that surround Lubbock, Texas. Terry is a Lubbock native, an artist and a songwriter, and he lent his talents to memorialize one of this state's most famous barbecue men.

Christopher B. "Stubb" Stubblefield was born in Navasota in 1931. He opened one of Texas most revered BBQ joints and live music venues in 1968. He gave it all up and moved to Austin (where he did pretty well) after it all burnt to the ground in 1984. Stubb died in Austin in 1995 and four years later a memorial was erected on the site of the original joint's ruins in Lubbock. Terry Allen was the artist who brought Stubb back to life.



The plaque on the site gives a glimpse into the history of this joint, but a larger collection of stories is available on the Lubbock Hospitality site.

The dedication plaque


They even kept the old floor on the ruins of the concrete slab that remains.



There's nothing of note around this site these days, and for someone who wasn't able to visit the original, it was hard to imagine the lively atmosphere given the uninspired surroundings. No matter the current state of the neighborhood, this is a site worth a visit, especially for any fan of smoked meat history.

- BBQ Snob