 |
| a beautiful sampler ...definitely not from Suzie Q's |
Suzie makes her home in a reclaimed restaurant that can best
be described as Gladstone Medieval. I
assume Sue made no effort at all to spruce up the joint when they moved
in. The place looks fatigued and run
down. But I came for the food, didn’t I?
Mrs. That-Smoke-Smells-Nice-On-You and I ordered Suzie Q’s
Sampler ($24.95). I spied this meat
mountain on another patron’s table and was impressed with the heft and
diversity. This Library of Smokegress
compiled Spare Ribs, Burnt Ends, Sausage*, Pulled Pork, Chicken Wings, Brisket,
and Ham. I’ll score the meats
individually next, but on the whole, my notes indicate that the Suzie's Q was tender and tasty, but generally lack the true essence of great barbeque –
smoke, as well as rub. (When I say “tasty”,
I mean the meat had the typical taste of its category, but it lacked the rub
and smoke flavor that one goes to a barbeque joint for in the first place.) The portion sizes we generous – I’d say that
this meal could easily feed three “normal” people. Good luck finding three.
My professional assessment (based on my
scoring standards):
Brisket...
Taste: 6 Tenderness: 9 Appearance: 7 = Overall: 7.4
Burnt
Ends... Taste: 7 Tenderness:
6 Appearance: 7 = Overall: 6.6
Ribs...
Taste: 8 Tenderness: 6 Appearance: 7 = Overall: 8
Pulled
Pork… Taste: 8 Tenderness: 8 Appearance: 8 = Overall: 8
Sausage…
Taste: 6 Tenderness: 7 Appearance: 6 = Overall: 6.4
Chicken…
Taste: 7 Tenderness: 8 Appearance: 8 = Overall: 7.6
Ham… Taste: 6 Tenderness: 6 Appearance: 6 = Overall: 6
Ham… Taste: 6 Tenderness: 6 Appearance: 6 = Overall: 6
* There were actually three kinds of sausage – Italian,
Polish, and spicy Polish. All of which
had the quality that you would find in the wiener section of Aldi.
We had a very nice conversation with Suzie Q after our
meal. I pointed out the lack of rib rub
on any of the meat. She said, “We use a
little salt and pepper. I’d like to use
more, but mostly we’ve found that our patrons don’t care for much spice.” My observation is that of the hundred plus
bbq joints in KC, even the worst use a discernible rub. If patrons don’t like Suzie’s, I’d suspect
that the rub was repugnant. Don’t blame
the patron if your food is poor.
This restaurant represents a passion shared by both Suzie
and her husband. At this point, they
have a ton of work left between them and even good barbeque. I sincerely wish them the very best.
Suzie Q no better
that TWO piggies.
