Boss Hawg's Barbeque

note: this joint is in Topeka KS

Happy Family took a field trip to Topeka and on the recommendation of a friend we made our dinner stop at Boss Hawg's.  We were not disappointed.  I'm not much on what passes for a desirable attraction in Topeka, but I was very pleased with Boss Hawg's.  It is just worn enough and just crowded enough to feel like we were in a real serious bbq joint (maybe more reminiscent of Texas than Kansas City).

not from the Boss,
but a pretty slab, nonetheless

Feeding three carnivores and one carnivette, we ordered the "Beast Feast" consisting of a full rack of St Louis cut spareribs, a whole chicken, and about a quarter pound each of pulled pork, burnt ends, and sausage.  Sides consisted of steak fries, mashed potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, and cornbread with honey butter.  Yes, there were enough leftovers to bring home – we're carnivores not gluttons! 

I'll start with the fails and work my way to the wins.  Pulled pork: the pork had enough smoke, but it was more chopped that pulled and it was not fresh and had dried out.  Sausage: this was generic, store-bought, Ekrich-style sausage that was fat and bland - real bbq demands much better sausage, preferably private label or custom-made.  Burnt Ends: wonderfully smoked, but not fresh - a little dried out.  Chicken: you really don't bbq a chicken as much as grill it in a smokey environment - this bird was very tasty, but virtually no smoke essence, but excellently seasoned.  Ribs: "pink to the bone!" which means slabs spent a long time low and slow in the smoker, tender to the bite and not overcooked so as to fall off the bone. 

My professional assessment (based on my scoring standards):

Burnt Ends... Taste: 9 Tenderness: 8 Appearance: 8 = Overall: 9

Ribs... Taste: 9 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 8 = Overall: 8.6

Pulled Pork… Taste: 8 Tenderness: 7 Appearance: 6 = Overall: 8

Sausage… Taste: 7 Tenderness: 7 Appearance: 6 = Overall: 8

Chicken… Taste: 8 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 8 = Overall: 8

Steak fries were outstanding.  Baked (navy) beans were heavily sauced with lots of onions, but no chopped, smoked meat thrown in for richer flavor.  Big miss.

When I go back, and I will, ribs are the only thing I'll order - and the steak fries.  Since the meats were so inconsistent, I'm not going to rave about the ribs alone, but this is a nice restaurant with a good vibe.  Well worth another visit.

I’d love to give the Boss 3.5 piggies, but we only do whole hogs here and we round down instead of giving joints points they didn’t earn.  That said, here’s THREE for the Boss.

site: http://www.bosshawgsbbq.com