Barbecue is good for us.

Now, don’t scoff right away, give me a chance to explain. Cooking Light is a fairly good magazine, at least where recipes are concerned. As a magazine it’s largely geared towards women, so there’s lots of articles on facial scrubs, sports bras, yoga, etc. But we have found some truly great recipes in there. Unlike most other ‘health’ magazines, they don’t take all the flavor and goodness out of food. I don’t want to die of a heart attack of high blood pressure any more than the next guy, but there’s no way around this: fat is what makes BBQ good. Without fat you get dry, tough meat. Cooking Light seems to get this. Their thing is to make a dish healthier without taking out the ingredients we love.

And, as it happens, a feature in their July issue is all about BBQ. They do a nice job of giving a sense of what I tend to think of as the four major types of American BBQ: Kansas City, Memphis, Carolina, and Texas. (Of course, there’s many other wonderful variations. I’m just saying, for your average Joe, these are the 4). There are some good starter recipes that you’ll want to doctor up, but the discussion has quite a bit of nuance. For example, they go into some detail on the differences in using wood chips vs. wood chunks for smoke and the variations between East and West Carolina BBQ.

Sadly, I couldn’t find the feature on their website – just a few random BBQ recipes that are nothing special. It might be worth the news-stand price, but at the least flip through next time you pass by the magazine rack.

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(Swish of the BBQ apron to Christina!)

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Frank Bruni of The New York Times has a tantalizing article on the joys of fatty meat (and just fat itself) in New York City restaurants. On devouring a pork butt:

We looked, I realized, like hyenas at an all-you-can-eat buffet on the veldt, and I wasn’t surprised to notice other diners staring at us. … But what I saw on their faces wasn’t disgust. It was envy.

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6609 Shattuck Ave. (North of Alcatraz)
Berkeley, CA
(510) 595-5323

Hours: Somewhat variable, but generally lunchtime through evening.

The Nutshell

Best sauce in the Bay Area, bar none: thick, dark, sweet, and smoky. Good pork ribs and brisket.

The Place

Flint’s was closed for the first two years I lived in Oakland, but it was all the more tantalizing because it’s only a few blocks from my house. It’s not much to look at — just a bare storefront with white cinderblock walls and a white counter with a cash register and a few fliers. No tables; it’s take-out only. There’s a fridge behind the counter, usually half-full of sodas and the occasional piece of pie, and a bench of questionable structural integrity by the door that you can perch on while you wait for your order. In other words, it’s the prototypical barbecue dive joint.

Last year, after being pleasantly surprised by the lit neon “Open” sign and the smoky aroma, I wandered in, and Flint’s quickly became one of my favorite BBQ sources.

The Sauce

I have a confession: I’m a North Carolina-born vinegar sauce partisan, but the dark, smoky sauce that the folks at Flint’s heap on their meat is so delicious that I can’t pass it up. It’s thick and brown-black, like some sort of Texas crude, and just as well-guarded: you can’t buy the sauce alone, so you’ve gotta pony up for some meat if you want a fix. It seems to be a ketchup-based sauce, but that’s not what you’ll detect when you taste it — the complex flavor includes hints of chocolate and molasses. The medium sauce gives a good amount of spice that builds as you’re eating.

You’ll want every last bit of the bread in the baggie to sop up all the spicy, smoky goodness.

[Seriously, this sauce must be made with crack. I would spread it all over wet cardboard and eat every bite. -Judd]

The Meat

When I first started visiting Flint’s, the brisket (or “sliced beef” on their menu) was always my order of choice. It’s not too fatty, not too lean, not too gristly, and fairly tender, though not melt-in-your-mouth. But they often run out, in part because a pound of the stuff is a great deal — a hearty dinner for two, including double portions of the sides. One of the women behind the counter told me that they keep making more to meet demand, but demand just keeps increasing, so they are still out much of the time. Call ahead if you want to be sure they have it.

During one of the brisket shortages, fortuitously enough, Judd and I decided to try the pork ribs, which it turns out are perhaps even better-suited than the brisket for the delicious sauce. They’re not as good-quality meat as the ribs from KC’s or Great American — a bit more gristle and connective tissue — but they’re thick and well-smoked, pink-tinged with delicious chewy and crunchy bits around the edges.

Avoid the beef ribs; they’re fatty and unappealing. For that matter, avoid beef ribs in general.

The Sides

Flint’s serves just two sides: baked beans, the basic kind from a can; and a decent potato salad. The dense, chunky potato salad provides a nice, cooling antidote to the sauce as the spice builds in your mouth.

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The Great American BBQ Co.
2009 High St. (Corner of High St. & Marina @ the foot of the High St. bridge.)
Alameda, CA
(510)865-3133
Hours: Tues-Thurs. 11:00 am-8:30 pm, Fri. 11:00 am-9:00 pm, Sat. 12:00 pm-8:30 pm, Sun. 12:00 pm-8:00 pm

The Nutshell

Great ribs, mediocre brisket, ho-hum sauce but great side dishes.

The Place

The Great American BBQ Company is barely in Alameda, just over the High St. bridge from 880, so you can stop on your way to the Oakland Airport. It’s pretty nice inside, though it feels a bit like the inside of an Applebee’s. Still, it’s clean and there’s plenty of seating, which is more than you can say for a lot of joints.

The Meat

I had the ribs and Andrew had brisket. My ribs were quite good – they’re served dry (the sauce is on the table in squeeze bottles) so you can get a good taste of the rub they put on. These are some tender and meaty spare ribs with a nice smoky flavor and a beautiful pink ring. What stood out for me, though, was the nice pork flavor – I think that’s mostly about the quality of the meat. Fair warning – I ordered the 6 rib entree not knowing how big and meaty the ribs would be, and I basically rolled out of the place. For only about $8 you can get the 3 rib entree with two sides and cornbread – plenty for lunch unless you want to lose most of the afternoon like I did.

Andrew’s brisket was less impressive than the ribs. The top layer of marbled beef was nice and pink, so it was clearly long-smoked, but Andrew found the rest of the meat too dry and a little tough. Again, the beef flavor was nice and so was the rub, so maybe this was just a bad batch. Andrew also got a hearty portion – 3 or 4 big, thick slices, so it’s certainly a good value.

The Sauce

The sauce is nothing to write home about. It’s a pretty standard Kansas City-style brew, and it’s served in squeeze bottles on the tables, which I don’t care for. It’s nice to put on only as much as you want and to choose from mild, medium, and hot, but I like my sauce warm, and constantly squeezing out sauce when your hands are already covered with ribs and sauce is no fun.

The Sides

The sides at the Great American BBQ Company are great. Andrew and I agreed that they’re the best of any place we’ve tried so far. Andrew liked the mac & cheese, which was fairly standard but not at all rubbery, and the slaw was well-seasoned. The potato salad was similarly standard but well seasoned but the baked BBQ beans were fantastic.Good cornbread too, I thought, though it’s the cakey kind which Andrew, being a good Southerner, doesn’t care for.

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KC Barb-Q (note the unusual spelling)
2613 San Pablo Ave (at Parker St.)
Berkeley, CA
(510) 548-1140
Hours: Tue-Thu 11:30am-9pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am

The Nutshell

The best cooked ribs in town, and everything else is good but not great. Don’t expect much from the side dishes.

The Place

KC’s, on San Pablo just South of Dwight, looks from the outside like a hole in the wall. Inside, though, it has more character than any other BBQ place around. The large and rustic dining room is chock full (inexplicably) with vintage stoves, washing machines and the like, and there’s a giant wagon cart in the middle. Its really a great place to sit, though – Jane’s thinking of having a party there.

The Meat

Ribs are the thing at KC, so of course I’m happy. Andrew and I agree that KC’s smokes the best ribs of anywhere in town. The meat is obviously very high quality – tender but dense and good to bite into, nicely marbled but not fatty, very little gristle. They must take a lot of care smoking these ribs to pink perfection, though they wouldn’t give away any of their secrets.

The Sauce

Better than average, for sure, but not as good as Flint’s sauce, which remains our favorite by far. It’s a good consistency, fairly tomato-ey but with a bit of dark molasses sweetness to match. Usually they ask you to pick the spicyness, though this last time we were there they didn’t ask. If they do, get the medium – it’s not too spicy, but it builds a little over time.

The Sides

Your entree will come with beans and potato salad but don’t get too excited about either. The beans are almost certainly canned, and the potato salad tastes like an upsettingly sweet dill pickle.

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