bbq road trip!!!!!!!!!!. some days bbq is just what i've gotta have. sadly, in my town i have two choices: duffy's hanger which is ok and adam's rib which is not. so i jumped on the old spoon and wrangled up boss hawg's bbq express.
it's 106 miles round trip from the hacienda de bradley but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. with the memory of a not so long ago drive to newport, on the coast, only to find the doors locked, i had the presence of mind to call ahead. the man said they are up and runnin'. boy howdy!
an hour later i rolled into junction city on main street/hwy 99 and there on my left i saw the sign. seems the street side is the back of the building so you have to whip around another business and into the parking lot of an adjacent motel. kind of a strange set up. i noticed no sign of a smoker anywhere. i hoped this wasn’t going to be one of those crock-pot® liquid smoke kinda que joints!
i walked into a visual assault of red and black checkered tile floor, raspberry walls and a black ceiling. the tables have black wood-grained tops and stainless steel chairs with black cushions. the effect is almost psychedelic. honky-tonk music was playing. (i’m told they have live music the first and third saturday nights of each month.)
my perky server, tiffany, set my mind at ease about the smoker. it’s located a few blocks away behind their other eatery; bambino’s which is a pizza and italian deli kind of deal.
i ordered up a four meat platter of ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken with one side of baked beans and a garden salad. a cornbread muffin with a pat of butter came with. the que was all fair to good. the pulled pork and chicken at the top. ribs were a little dry and not as meaty as many i’ve had. the pork just missed the mark. two sauces were in squeeze bottles on the table. boss hawg’s spicy was flavorful but i’ve had ketchup with more heat. the other was unmarked and vinegary good. both were, mercifully, not over sweet. the baked beans were a stand-out. made with just-firm-enough large cannellinis with molasses, mustard and smoky flavors. again not overly sweet as are so many. the cornbread muffin was ho-hum.
the sticker price on this basket (the meat platter doesn’t come on a platter.) was a reasonable $16.75 and is easily enough food for two.
i probably will not make the drive for the sole purpose of coming here again, but if i’m in the area, it’s worth a rerun.