How many BBQ joints does it take to make a good entrtmnt district?

[dbacks fan]

All this talk of barbecue has made me decide to drive to my favorite local BBQ place for dinner tonight... Mac's Barbecue in Skiatook. You all can keep Albert G's--Mac's is where it's at!

I had to go get some myself this evening, only proble was I had a 45 minute wait since they give a free lunch and dinner every May 4th as a gift to the town. You get a sandwich, a side and a drink.

http://joesrealbbq.com/

[Billy G.]

I don't really think there is any REALLY good cue join in Tulsa.  Rib Crib and Albert G's are both consistently decent to slightly better than that.  The OKD Elmer's was good, but not so much now.  20 years ago Billy Ray's was pretty good.

There used to be a place on 51 almost to Coweta (proper) back in the 90's called Linda's which was OUTSTANDING.  I believe Linda died from cancer.  Bad Brad's in Pawhuska is awesome and the one in Stillwater (Brad's daughter is the owner) is good too (there was a short-llived franchised BB operation in  Owasso about 10 or so years ago that was good but it didn't last).

Looking forward to trying the new Back Alley and also Burnco.  I really hope the reports of Oklahoma Joe's no longer coming are not true, but I fear they are.  The O.J. original location in KC, Kansas is quite possibly the best cue I have ever eaten, at least at a restaurant.

Love me some Baker's that was mentioned earlier.  In an earlier life when I worked for the City Manager in Dallas, one of the Asst. City Manager's used to get baker's catered in for us quite abit when we had to work late.  I go to Baker's in Houston pretty regularly when I'm there on business now.

Oh I also agree on Albert G's sauce not being very good.

[rdj]

My Place BBQ from Muskogee has signed a LOI to put in a location at 91st & Yale.  Figured I'd throw it out there while on subject of BBQ.  KEO is also expected to open a location there as well.

[Conan71]

I don't really think there is any REALLY good cue join in Tulsa.  Rib Crib and Albert G's are both consistently decent to slightly better than that.  The OKD Elmer's was good, but not so much now.  20 years ago Billy Ray's was pretty good.

There used to be a place on 51 almost to Coweta (proper) back in the 90's called Linda's which was OUTSTANDING.  I believe Linda died from cancer.  Bad Brad's in Pawhuska is awesome and the one in Stillwater (Brad's daughter is the owner) is good too (there was a short-llived franchised BB operation in  Owasso about 10 or so years ago that was good but it didn't last).

Looking forward to trying the new Back Alley and also Burnco.  I really hope the reports of Oklahoma Joe's no longer coming are not true, but I fear they are.  The O.J. original location in KC, Kansas is quite possibly the best cue I have ever eaten, at least at a restaurant.

Love me some Baker's that was mentioned earlier.  In an earlier life when I worked for the City Manager in Dallas, one of the Asst. City Manager's used to get baker's catered in for us quite abit when we had to work late.  I go to Baker's in Houston pretty regularly when I'm there on business now.

Oh I also agree on Albert G's sauce not being very good.

I left unhappy the last time I ate at Bad Brad's after several great meals prior to that visit.  I've had great experiences at Head Country in Ponca and bad ones too.

Several which stand out for me still are: Van's in Shawnee, Dink's in Bartlesville, Ethel's which has been gone for some time but it's the cinder block building on the east side of Hwy 97 between 51st & 61st where they have the flea market.  Public Eye in Memphis (Corky's is below average and one of the most splintered racks of ribs I ever ate came from the Rendezvous) Wilson's on Apache, a street vendor on St. John USVI who had the best grilled baby backs anywhere... and so it goes 

[Billy G.]

Love the Head Country sauce, but it's been over 15 years since I last ate there.  Dink's was probably the most disappointing I ever had after the build up from B'ville residents.

My Place, huh?  I've never been all that impressed.  I actually ate lunch yesterday at Mahylon's in Muskogee.  Decent cue.

I ate at Corky's in Germantown, TN a couple of years ago and thought it was decent, nothing special.

In you guys ever eaten at Wild Horse outside Sallisaw. Very Good, although my understanding is it has gone downhill some the last few years.

KEO near 91st and Yale would be nice.

[joiei]

I guess none of you guys have been to Buffalo BBQ up in Sperry.

[Hoss]

I guess none of you guys have been to Buffalo BBQ up in Sperry.

There was a bbq place that a friend of mine and I went to on our two-year-long, every other week series of "100 dollar hamburger" trips.  Conan should be familiar with that term (and any other pilot, although now it's likely to be more like "200 dollar hamburger" with the fuel prices).

Sorry for the drift.

Long story short, we would, every other week, pick out a destination that we would fly in a Cessna 172 that we knew or had word of that either had a restaurant on the airport grounds, or nearby.  In some cases, you could get a loaner vehicle from the FBO you parked at and have it for several hours.  The first one of these we went to was during a 'poker run' day (another pilot term, and yes, it is a game) and we went to a little airport in Miami County Kansas (K81).  It was a little BBQ place called "We-B-Smokin".  Good cue, but interesting as the sauce tasted a little like spaghetti sauce to me.  The next cue place we went to on our travels was in Ada, OK.  We walked from the airport about 3/4 of a mile to a place called Bob's Famous BBQ.  It might have been famous, but it really wasn't that memorable.

Sorry to drift a little, but it brought back memories of these little GA flights my friend and I would make.  We went to several other places (not cue) and they were always fun.  Our 2.5 hour flight to Amarillo just to go to the Big Texan to celebrate my friend getting his instrument ticket was a fun one for sure.

[Gaspar]

Speaking of. . .we start trimming and prepping people's choice meats tonight.  We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!!!!!!

http://www.bixbyrotarybbq.com/

[Red Arrow]

Good cue, but interesting as the sauce tasted a little like spaghetti sauce to me. 

That reminds me of my dad's spaghetti sauce that always tasted like chili.  It tasted good but it just didn't seem right for spaghetti.

[rdj]

That reminds me of my dad's spaghetti sauce that always tasted like chili.  It tasted good but it just didn't seem right for spaghetti.

Some people call that three-way...

[dbacks fan]

CMIIW Slicks in Muskogee, and Wild Horse Mountain south of Sallisaw.

[DowntownDan]

I think all three will survive.  Each offers something different.  Albert G's is the best BBQ in town in alot of peoples' opinions.  Adding a full bar and the location alone will make it successful.  Back Alley will offer the Memphis and blues scene and will thrive not only as a restaraunt but a bar as well.  Rib Crib will thrive on downtown catering and family dining, especially during Drillers and BOK events when suburbanites who are scared of non-chain downtown restaurants are in town since Rib-Crib is at least familiar to them.  

[Townsend]

I believe once Rib Crib makes it in Blue Dome McDonalds will soon follow bringing back the much sought after McRib thus bringing a 5th BBQ joint to lovely downtown Tulsa.

[DTowner]

I'm not convinced all 3 can make it opening up so close in time and proximity.  To me, the least likely of the 3 to survive is Rib Crib.  In yesterday's Tulsa World a Rib Crib exec said they would focus on the lunch and family dinner crowd, and would not have late hours or compete with the bars and other entertainment venues in the area.  I just don't see a lot of folks loading up the kids into the SUV, driving past their suburban Rib Crib location to come to "scary" downtown, and struggle to find parking that is within 15 feet fo the front door.  There aren't enough Drillers games to make up for the empty nights.  As for lunch, Rib Crib's name recognition would help them succeed downtown if there weren't two other alternatives also going to be available - one that also has some name recognition and one that has generated a lot of buzz downtown.  Finally, I don't think catering will save Rib Crib.  Albert G's caters my downtown office's BBQ now, why would we switch to Rib Crib with a closer Albert G's available?  Plus, I suspect Back Alley will also cater.

In the end, I hope all 3 survive because they each can provided something different to downtown and help create a "BBQ District".  I'm just not convinced we can go from 0 to 3 in such a short time, but the competition will probably make them all better.

[Gaspar]

Finally, I don't think catering will save Rib Crib.  Albert G's caters my downtown office's BBQ now, why would we switch to Rib Crib with a closer Albert G's available?  Plus, I suspect Back Alley will also cater.

You would be surprised.  RibCrib does huge catering business.  The also have a huge take-out business (pharmaceutical reps mostly).  I'm not sure if they make special deals with the reps or what, but several of my doc friends have told me that their reps really push RibCrib for lunches.  I would assume they reward people like this for pushing their product. Perhaps gift cards or discounts??

They do a good job of making sure that when you order take-out, you get everything you ordered plus all of the napkins, utensils, plates, and sauce you will ever need.  My doc said that last time one of the reps brought RibCrib they ended up with about a gallon worth of sauce in their fridge.


Mmmmmm! Smokey Corn Syrup.