Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Rudy's BBQ

Well, seeing that I've had a few people reading my blog looking for Rudy's BBQ, I thought that I should say a few words about it.

Rudy's is not the kind of place where you sit down and have a waitress bring you a menu. This is the kind of place where you go and buy a half pound of brisket or a half pound of smoked turkey and take it home and make a sandwich. Not that you have to take it home. You can eat at Rudy's, at some really long picnic tables with red and white checkered tablecloths. And you don't have to have a sandwich. You can order ribs or a whole chicken, and you can have a side order of creamed corn or beans or coleslaw.

If you can't decide between say brisket and turkey, they'll give you a little sample of each. Probably, you should go ahead and buy both. If you still can't make up your mind, don't get upset if someone else is served ahead of you. At least you've been politely asked what you wanted by some friendly college kids. A lot of good BBQ places some old black guy asks what you want, and if you don't give him an answer quick enough he'll look at you like he's going to chop off your fingers.

Possibly you didn't plan to order very much, but with the sodas and the side orders and everything, two people very quickly spend twenty dollars or more. But that's usually okay, since you probably didn't eat the whole chicken or the half pound of brisket. You probably bought enough stuff to take home and make sandwiches the next day. Don't forget to take some extra onions, extra sauce, and a jalapeno pepper with you.

Sometimes they also have something called green chile stew. I am not a big fan of the green chile stew. It has too much black pepper for my taste. It's a good idea though. No need to waste all the little bits of smoked meats, just add some green chiles and a few other vegetables, and then you can sell it.

If you've never been to Rudy's before, and you turn where you see the sign, you find yourself in front of a big red gas station and wonder if you're in the right place. Don't worry. There's usually a gas station and a convenience store in the front. Just walk through the convenience store and there's a big dining room behind it.

Here's a menuhttp://rudys.com/menus/index.html

There are a few Rudy's here and there, but most of them are in Texas. The nearest one to me is probably in Denton, though we more often end up at one in Waco or near Austin. Most of my readers are either up north or across the pond, so they're just out of luck.

5 comments:

dmarks said...

" A lot of good BBQ places some old black guy asks what you want, and if you don't give him an answer quick enough he'll look at you like he's going to chop off your fingers"

I've read a bunch of John Grisham novels, and he describes places like that in Mississippi. That's the kind of BBQ place I want to see.

I saw a BBQ in East Texas that was a little similar to what you describe for Rudy's, but it had a meagre menu and was rather spartan inside.

Anonymous said...

I can already tell I am a huge fan of Rudy's

Diva's Thoughts said...

Sounds like a great place!

Anonymous said...

If I am down sown in Texas I will have to look it up..or just come your blog. I am hungry today and this sounds like a really good idea, too bad Cleveland has no barbecue joints that are any good.

Philip. said...

If only we had places like this in the UK!