the bbq formula. this trip to earl's rib palace in bricktown was a lunch stop for me and a group of co-workers. located just above the canal, it has a nice atmosphere and good view, especially on a beautiful spring day like today was.
the line to order was moderate, reaching out the door and twenty feet down the sidewalk. there is a lunch special board inside you can peruse as you wait in line. today's special (thursday), was the "tcb burger". as i was told by an employee, "tcb" stands for "taking care of business". i'm guessing the fact that it comes with "tomato, cheese and bacon" is lost on no one. however, i'm visiting oklahoma, and i'm at a bbq place, so i gotta do some bbq. the cashier said that the burgers are considered to be better than the bbq by a lot of people and that i should that go with. i told her "next time".
i ordered the sliced beef brisket sandwich, with fried okra. i also ordered a generic large drink, and was given a monster cup to take to the self-service machine. i chose unsweetened tea, and partook of the lemon and lime wedges available at the drink bar. there is a number on your receipt to identify your particular order. we chose to sit outside where there are a dozen or so round tables. most of the tables had umbrellas for shade. the servers roam around the restaurant hollering numbers when an order is ready. not random numbers of course, but the number for the order in there hand. this is mildly annoying when you have a server coming by every thirty seconds hollering. a chip or tag placed on the table would be much better, as the constant shouting would not be required. after a five or six minute wait, my number was called.
the beef brisket was served on a grill-toasted white bun (wheat bun on request). it was a healthy portion; five nice sized chunks arranged on the bun, and came only with a few slices of red onion. a few dill pickle chips would be nice, but you do get a pickle spear. the brisket was flavorful, but surprisingly dry. a liberal amount of mild and hot bbq sauce (available at each table), did the trick. the sauces were good, and the meat had a nice, smoky flavor. it was ok, but it was nothing spectacular owing to the dryness. the okra, however, was excellent. it was hot, fresh, crisp and flavorful. the golden brown little nuggets were crunchy on the outside, and moist on the inside. throw a little bbq sauce in the mix, and "oh, heaven". perfect. the portion size was very generous, so no complaint there.
two co-workers had the "tcb burger". they both loved them. one finished his, barely, but couldn't make it through his side of okra. the other could finish neither the burger nor the huge side of fries that accompanied the burger (there way too many). he said that if he were there with his wife, they could split this order and both walk away stuffed.
overall it was just ok at best. the wait was moderate, both to order and for the food. the brisket was dry, theokrawas good. only two sauces (i am used to four or five at most bbq joints), kind of surprised me. no mustard, no sweet, no "hellfire" or "devil spit" sauces. i would come back here if i was in the neighborhood, but it's not someplace i would go out of my way to come back to. next time, i'll skip the bbq and have the burger. oh yeah, and theokra(mmmmm. perfect okra. okra. okrahoma? coincidence? i think not ).