Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 01/15/18 > Will Eat BBQ 4U Volume 3…. Oakridge Smoke House
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This particular tasting actually took place on 01/12/17 as I was making a return home from San Antonio. I always look at my calendar a couple weeks in advance of the 15th of the month so I can decide which BBQ establishment I want to feature for the month. Being that the 15Th fell on a Monday and I publish in the early morning hours of the day, like midnight eastern time, I knew that I would pass by the Oakridge Smoke House two times in the week prior to the publishing date.
I will tell you something that I never took into consideration when I decided to take on this monthly project. My preacher hit on it Christmas Eve in his sermon about the best laid plans of mice and men, no matter how good your plan is, something or anything can screw up the plans. If you remember the first volume, I reviewed Lost Pines BBQ in Giddings, TX. and the day I decided to eat there, they were closed. They had never been closed on a Friday but they were that day. Somewhere along the time of the last BBQ review I promised someone that I would make the meat for the Volume 3 review ribs, slow smoked hand rub ribs.
But before we get to deep in to the meat and potatoes of this volume 3 we need to take our customary look around town and see the lay of the land. Like most small Texas towns that have managed to survive there is a rail line that contributed to the survival. Unlike the last two towns where we dined, Schulenburg is not the county seat of Fayette County, so those neat old grand court houses you’ve seen in the last two editions will not be in this edition.
The population of Schulenburg is considerably less than those last two towns as well, Schulenburg has less than 3,000 residents according to the population number on the city limits sign. One thing about the town is that the people that reside in this town are home grown, born and raised in the area. Most all the folks you meet and talk with are native to the local area. There haven’t been a lot of people from Houston packing their bags and buying up land around Schulenburg and retiring to the small town.
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The downtown area of Schulenburg really started taking shape in the early 1890’s , the city bought its first piece of firefighting equipment in 1891 it was a hand pump device used by the bucket brigade up until 1903 when water lines and a water tower were put into place. Some businesses that started in the 1920’s are still in business today in downtown Schulenburg. That first fire hand pump is on display at the Schulenburg Historical Museum that is located on Main Street across from the rail lines.
For such a small town it is not short on items of interest, aside from the Historical Museum there is what is known as the Painted Churches Tour. Five churches constructed in the early 1900’s that are substantial in size and feature painted interiors that were painted to resemble churches of Europe that had extensive marble interiors, marble wasn’t a readily available building material in the area but the settlers figured a way to paint the structures to appear on the inside as marble. The tour is a self guided event and maps are available at the towns chamber of commerce building located on Main Street.
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I had intentionally skipped breakfast Friday because I love the food at the Oakridge Smoke House, and I wanted to make sure I would be hungry. By the time Shirley and I parted ways it was 2:30PM and my stomach was growling for BBQ so let’s head up to the restaurant and grab some grub.
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Sure enough, the normal BBQ chicken and ribs were nowhere to be found on the buffet. If this were a fried chicken or fried catfish review I would have been in business and eating until my heart’s content and my stomach was full. They also had sausage on the buffet but, boiled sausage isn’t BBQ either, if they would smoke their sausage like most BBQ places I would have done the buffet. I don’t have a problem with fried catfish and chicken but it was time to order from the menu.
I’ve been eating here for over twenty years, this was the first time I had ever picked up a menu and opened it up. Having never gone down this route of menu ordering I opted for the sliced beef brisket plate, they have really good brisket but it normally isn’t on the buffet, beef prices are pretty high. So rather than chance getting a few ribs, and the size of those can very too, I went with the beef.
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Despite the name of the establishment being, Oakridge Smoke House, the BBQ wood they use is pecan. Pecan is very plentiful in this area so they take advantage of that resource. Pecan has a good flavor; smooth tasting would best describe it, and where as oak and mesquite have a definite bite.
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This month’s meal rang up to $12.94, I didn’t get a receipt, and even though it wasn’t all I could eat it was more than enough by all measures.
I hope you enjoyed this month’s edition of “Will Eat BBQ 4U” and I look forward to next month’s, I will get ribs on here sooner or later, promise.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
I totally agree with French Fries & French Fries in a steakhouse mr Papper, the slow cooked Brisket looks delicious too! So interesting reading about and seeing the towns you visit.
You mentioned once that your wife is from German roots, must tell you that my hubby's grandfather Gustav Heise lived in Luning, Texas, as did his two sisters who I believe never married. Granpa Heise came to South Africa during the First World War, was married to a Danish lady, but stayed on in South Africa, was a farmer. I'm just sorry we lost contact with his family, mom in law used to correspond with a cousin from San Antonio.
So there is our little bit of history and a distant connection to the Texans with German roots :)
I am guessing that he lived in Luling, Texas, not Luning. I stayed in Luling not to long ago , not much there but there is a mill on the river that looks pretty neat and interesting. The water tower for the town is actually painted like a water melon, the have a water melon festival each year too. Evidently Texas was a big destination for German & Czechoslovakian immigrants in the mid 1800's. Several towns have roots to those countries in Texas. You and my wife may be related if we were to go back several generations, you never know. I do know some Heinze people but not any Heise named folks.
The brisket was delicious, and had I not been under the deadline for the review I would have had the buffet. The catfish is really good there too.
Are you familiar with "kolaches" , they are a breakfast roll that has meat or other things baked in the center? That is a German thing, and just wonder if Gustav got that going with his family over there in RSA.
Sorry of course it was Luling, it's way past my bedtime! Interesting that there were many German immigrants in Texas! And mom in law never made kolaches, must google how that is done, sounds interesting. Yep you never know, I just wish we had kept in touch with that side of the family. On my side, we're such a close knit family so I find it kind of sad that hubby lost ties with his family, but then our priorities were different way back then! Have a good day further mr Papper :)
Kolaches are big here in Texas. Most have ham or sausage,and cheese. Some do fruit and I have even seen spinach, never had tried any others than the meats and cheese.
I'm sure that a recipe can be found on the internet somewhere, take care.
It is not one bit fair that you get to have this much fun writing about the places you visit and scrounge a fabulous meal out of it, too. Even if you'd had to settle for chicken and catfish from the buffet, I'm not sure I forgive you. However, your post made its way into my new curation project The Inbox Runneth Over. You can find your post showcased at this link. Stop by when you have a minute and see what else I found along the trail. Your companions here are all interesting in their own way.
I don't scrounge anything, I always pay and I never say anything about a review until after I have paid and eaten the meal. We both know life is not fair, it wasn't designed to be fair and rightfully so in my opinion.
Trophy's for participation is one thing that comes to mind that has started this downward spiral of the folks and it just seems to get worse along the way.
While life wasn't designed to be fair, I think it was designed for the people to be "honest" and that is where the majority of the problems stem from in the form of dishonesty in people.
Just my thoughts.
Slow cooked BBQ beef brisket is the best! Your meal looked delicious. Can't go wrong with French Fries either!
It was very good, I'm just a meat and potatoes guy so there wasn't a crumb left when I got done.
It looks like a good meal and I love slow cooked meat.
It was delicious and anyone who confesses in public that they like slow cooked meat is a friend of mine.
So thanks for stopping by today friend, I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read and comment.
The meal looked scrumptious and you definitely enjoyed it cos your plate is perfectly clean and empty. haha. Good read once again!
It was good, the meat was awesome and the fries are hand cut from fresh potatoes. They bake their own rolls too. I am a clean plate guy when it comes to food I enjoy. Thanks for stopping in today.
Sounds a good place and all you can eat even better
Yes, this place is a favorite of mine as I love the buffet, really a good value when you consider all the selections drink and desserts.
Yes it sounds a real good deal hard to beat
@originalworks