note: this joint is in Atchison KS
 |
| not from Iron Horse, but consider this a visual bookmark until you can get yourself up to Atchison |
Inside is a quaint, old town store. It probably housed a dress shop or a hardware
store, maybe a rarely visited pilot's map store back when the river town was
robust. These days, Iron Horse BBQ may
be the only reason to get outdoors in Atchison – and certainly the best. Bride-for-Life and I devised a clever assault
on a meat-rich menu. We split a "¼
slab" o’porksicles and a twofer plate of brisket and pulled pork. The KC style spare-ribs were very lightly
rubbed and as rich burgundy as my cordovan kiltie tassel loafers. Absolutely gorgeous. All the ribs were tenderly perfectly done,
"toothsome" let's say - not falling off the bone, but relenting with
the slightest tug.
The brisket was competition perfect – nice smoke ring, good
bark brown bark and as tender as… well, as tender as the distant glow of
grandma’s porch light.
Iron Horse doesn’t feature burnt ends, so I opted for the
pulled pork. I’m not a big fan of
shredded pig flank because most joints don’t do it right. Wifey usually orders the pulled pork and I
get disgusted just looking at the hacked brown mess. Iron Horse BBQ is re-writing the script. This mound of pink protein was moist, laced
with a rich smoke ring, showing a rich dark bark, and most of all – it actually
was PULLED pork. Large and small chunks
rasslin' around in moisty self-love. I
need a synonym for perfect.
My professional assessment (based on my
scoring standards):
Brisket...
Taste: 9 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 9 = Overall: 9
Ribs...
Taste: 9 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 9 = Overall: 9
Pulled
Pork… Taste: 9 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 9 = Overall: 9
The sides were generic, but as good as anybody’s. If you go to a BBQ joint for the sides,
you’ve missed the whole golldurn point.
Among three sauce options, the Sweet and Smoky was near-legendary.
Two BBQ dinners with two sides each, two sodas, tax, and
generous tip to a wonderful gal who’ll be studying Baking Science at KSU in a
couple years tallied out to just under $32.
The portions were so generous we brought close to half back to the house
with us. A definite value on top of
being the sheer essence of 'Q.
I’m stingy with my “five proud little piggies” acclamation,
but Iron Horse definitely earns all dap they get. If you can find any reason at all to get
north of the ‘burbs, maybe allege a visit to Nell Hill's, this is truly a
barbeque destination I most highly recommend.
