So, Mrs. Roadhouse and I stopped in for dinner before heading up the street to the Landmark Theater to see "Today's Special" (I can't believe there isn't more discussion here of this lovely little foodie film. If you haven't seen it, you're really missing the boat). We each got three sliders, each with a different meat, so we could get a wee taste of everything. Between us we got the brisket, pulled pork, burnt ends, and turkey. Smoke flavor as others have noted was light at best, but the flavor and texture of the meat, in general, was pretty darned good.
Jeff Shapiro was wandering the room, checking up on his customers, and sat with us for a few minutes to discuss Barbecue, his years in the restaurant business, and catering to his Highland Park clientele. This last item is perhaps the most important, at least in terms of the style of 'Que he is serving at his establishment. When Jeff asked how our meal was, I gave him an honest answer. This led to a (non-defensive) discussion of how he smokes his meat (Cookshack pellet smoker) and why he
aims for a lighter smoke flavor.
Jeff explained that the HP crowd wouldn't accept a smokier product and since he is there to serve the community, he feels he should cater to their tastes. I'm not sure I agree with his assessment of the North Shore Barbecue Sensibilities, but hey, this guy grew up in the area, he knows just about everybody up there, and if he says this is what they want, I guess I have to believe him.
For those of you who strongly disagree and feel RUB should be true to the Ideals of Barbecue (whatever the hell those might be), and anyone who doesn't like "real" Barbecue shouldn't eat there (or anywhere else for that matter--anyone who doesn't like Real Barbecue should just starve to death, am I right people?!?), all I can say is...don't eat there. I mean, this guy is a businessman; a restaurateur. His job is to make food that will appeal to his intended audience and keep his restaurant going for a very long time.
He understands his intended clientele and cooks for them. It's not his job to educate the public against there will as to what Real Barbecue is supposed to taste like. And frankly, what he's serving up there isn't such a bad version at all. Our brisket was moist with some decent bark. Same with the pulled pork and burnt ends. Mrs. Roadhouse focused on the turkey, so I can't comment on that , although I can say it came from a real, whole breast and not a processed loaf, as is the case at
many of
Kansas City's finest Greasehouses.
We also enjoyed our sides of mashed potatoes, corn bake, cole slaw, and baked beans. The taters were clearly the real thing; nice lumps, good texture, and a clean potato flavor. The corn bake was a good version of a classic Indian pudding. We liked the slaw's tangy buttermilk undertones. We also liked the fact that the beans were made from several different varieties of legumes and didn't find them to be
too sweet at all.
As for his sauces, I'd rank them as follows:
1. Piedmont-This was Jeff's interpretation of the central North Carolina style of Barbecue Sauce. Vinegar based, similar to an eastern NC version, but more and different peppers, with a touch of tomato for color.
2. Mustard-This is RUB's original house sauce (sweet and tomatoey) mixed with three different types of mustard. The mustard is predominant so I'm not sure why they didn't just start with that and build a totally original sauce around it instead of just mixing in another existing sauce. But hey, it works, so who am I to judge?
3. Texas Roadhouse-They say it's from Texas, but the spice notes I noticed immediately were closer to several Kansas City sauces I've had. Gate's, LC's, and Bryant's all came to mind upon first tasting this sauce.
4. RUB's House Sauce (or whatever they call it)-This one was actually too sweet for me. Jeff Shapiro says this is what the Highland Park crowd wants, so this is what he makes. Once I mixed it with any of the other less sweet sauces, it was pretty good.
About the food in general I will say this; when I've eaten at other 'Que joints I've noticed that after a while my taste buds start getting used to the flavors and they become less interesting as I get towards the end of the meal. At RUB it seemed like my sense of taste
increased with each bite. Maybe it was because I was drinking their (excellent) lemonade and that acted as a palate refresher. Maybe it was because I was trying different combinations of sauces with each bite so it was always new. I don't know. All I can say is, the flavor in the last bite was just as intense as the first, if not more so.
Finally, let me just say, that I'm still Smoque's #1 Fan, and I still love them dearly. But anytime I'm headed up to Highland Park for a movie, RUB will be my dinner stop.
And seriously, go see "Today's Special".
Buddy