Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 02/15/18> “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” Volume 4 … Blanco BBQ, San Antonio, Texas
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San Antonio has a huge selection of BBQ restaurants to choose from and even more restaurants that pretend to sell BBQ. Normally I take the beginning of these reviews to show you around the town and give you a little glimpse of small town Texas and the things that make it special. All three of my previous reviews were on BBQ establishments is those type towns, I think the largest town had a population of 6 or 9 thousand people. I could go back and look it up but it really doesn’t matter, it was a small town none the less.
Today though it would be ridiculous for me to go down that road, everything I could possible decide to show and tell about San Antonio of any importance is probably already know by you anyway. Just to prove my point, if you have not ever heard of the Alamo raise your hand. Yep, just as I suspected, not one hand went up, at least not that I could see. So I am going to tell you a story about one of those “pretend BBQ” places and my oldest boy name T-Bone.
Back in 2003 I took the family with me to convention in San Antonio, at the time there were only four of us in the family, the wife, the two boys and yours truly, the girls would be added later. The hotel we stayed at was right on the River Walk which is the most popular destination in San Antonio; the Alamo would be the second most popular. If the Alamo served margaritas and cervezas it might be number one but it only serves up Texas history. There are plenty of good places to eat along the River Walk, but when you have young kids most of the places are too loud and the crowds are a little out of control at times so we opted for a quieter place on this one particular evening, Tony Roma’s Restaurant would be our choice.
Tony Roma’s is pretty good food, and has a pretty good selection as well. The wife is a vegetarian and so we needed to make sure she had a place that had some veggies. The youngest boy was still nursing so those veggies served two in the family not just her. The oldest boy and I are definite carnivores, he will eat some veggies, but meat is on the top of his list when it comes to food, his favorite is BBQ ribs. Well, he thought he was in luck going to Tony Roma’s as his mother had told him prior to getting there that Tony Roma’s was famous for their ribs.
When we got to the place we didn’t have to wait but a few minutes to be seated, and it didn’t take long for us to decide what we were having to eat either. When the waiter came to take our order, T-Bone politely hand the waiter his kid’s menu and told the waiter, “I’ll have the ribs”. The waiter looked at me and said, “The ribs are not on the kids menu.” To which I responded, “I think that is why he handed it back to you, he wants ribs, not kids food. Give him the rib dinner with fries.” I ordered a steak, I was in a beefy mood that night and the wife got her veggie plate ordered so we were all good to go on ordering food.
Everything is good at this point, the salads come out and the wife and son are enjoying them, I’m not a veggie person so I just pick at mine for the crunchy little bread cubes, yea I know they have a name I just can’t think of it right now, that should tell you how much I care for salads. Like most good restaurants they have a way a timing the main course delivery to the table when you are just finishing up on the salad, and this night was no exception.
The waiter came with our tray carrying the meals, he put his little stand up to rest his tray on and cleared the table of the salad plates, then he placed the meals in front of each of us, ask if we needed anything else and said,”Enjoy”. The waiter got about three steps away from our table and T-Bone piped up. “Excuse me sir, excuse me, .. waiter.” I had already started cutting up my steak, so I looked up and asked T-Bone what was wrong, he said, ”Dad, I can’t eat these. they have sauce on them!!”. Well, they damn sure did, the ribs were a sea of BBQ sauce and about that moment the waiter was back at the table. “What’s wrong young man?” he asked. T-Bone proceeded to tell the waiter about the problem. The waiter looked astonished, I don’t think he had ever had someone tell them that the ribs were no good without the person ever taking a bite of them, but he had now.
Tony Roma’s sign even says, ”famous for Ribs” but that according to my son that was false advertising, he proceeded to tell the waiter that in Texas good ribs aren’t served with BBQ sauce all over them. I’ll give the waiter credit for the way he handled it, he explained that the restaurant was part of a nationwide chain that was headquartered in Florida and they have to serve the ribs with the sauce because that is the way it is done in all their restaurants. “So are you telling me I can’t get ribs with no sauce?”, asked T-Bone. The waiter gave him the answer he didn’t want to hear, “Yes”. To which T-Bone politely responded, “Can I see that kids menu again?”
T-Bone ended up with the customary kid’s meal of chicken strips and fries and corn, the waiter was nice enough to leave the ribs for me to eat or take with us and he only charged us for T-Bone’s kid’s meal on that exchange. We did leave the young waiter a nice tip too. I came out the big winner in the deal, because even though I like my ribs dry rubbed and smoked, I can handle BBQ sauce if I have too, so back at the hotel room I had a late night snack of ribs and fries.
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Blanco BBQ is owned by Steven Honigblum and they opened their doors back in 2013. I first came across their BBQ not at the restaurant but at an event that one of my customers was having at their business and Blanco BBQ catered the event. I had the ribs at that event and I knew that I had found a BBQ place that knew what they were doing when it came to cooking ribs, don’t get me wrong their brisket is real good also, but it is an art to smoke ribs that are consistently moist, flavorful, and where the meat just falls off the bone when you eat them. Many a place tries to rush the cooking of ribs, and you almost have to be like a dog when you eat them, constantly gnawing on the bone to get the meat loose
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Steve was in the restaurant when I got there to eat but by the time I was finished eating he had left so I wasn’t able to interview him for this review. I will tell you that despite only being in business for around five years I have to believe he has many more years of BBQ experience under his belt. I have been eating here for three years and the staff is friendly as can be. I order the ribs and as you can see by the picture these are nice portion of ribs and cooked to perfection, the fries are hand cut and since my rib plate came with two sides, I got two fries. I am not a veggie person as I have explained before. They do offer the usual sides that you would expect and then some; cream corn, corn on the cob, ranch beans, potato salad, cole slaw, green beans, steamed broccoli and mac & cheese. Baked potatoes are also served here but not as a side dish, in fact the potatoes with meat are a meal by themselves.
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Croutons, I knew I would remember it sooner or later.
That concludes this month’s edition of the “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” BBQ review. Be sure and stop back on the next 15th of the month and we will do it all again, and if you can’t wait until then to read more of what I have to say about things check out my normal Daily Dose of Sultnpapper found here each and every day.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
All photos are property of @sultnpapper
Below are additional photos of Blanco BBQ and one item of interest you might not know about in San Antonio, the Boots @ North Star Mall.
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Shot of the inside dining area
A little look at the outback play and picnic area
More awards and the perfect health inspection on display
Last but not least, the largest pair of cowboy boots you will ever see, and yes, that is me by the boots, for scale reference I am 6' 2".
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Looks like the real deal. It is worth the drive just to get a pic of the boots.
Congratulations! This exceptional post has been featured in Episode 10 of The STEEM Engine Express Podcast. Click the link to hear what I had to say, and keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, I also enjoy listening to the podcasts, this will make it even more enjoyable to here the review.
I'm glad I got to read your BBQ review in a timely manner this month. I hope I'll drive a few more views over to it!
Just mark the 15th on your calendar, "Lunch in Texas", that should do it.
Awesome looking ribs! I am with your son! Too much sauce on Toni Roma's! If I want sauce and sometimes I do, I would rather have it on the side, thanks.
He was around 5 years old at the time but he already knew that good bbq doesn't come with sauce on it, maybe near it , but not on it.
Another great BBQ review! I enjoyed the story about the "fake ribs." It was a nice lead-in. If I ever come to Texas, I'll know where to go and where not to go.
In relation to the BBQ sauce, do you have a preference on what type of sauce you go for? Not just the base, but what sort of flavors? I've had many different types of sauce, being from NC. Even though BBQ here is pulled pork on a bun, we have plenty of sauces that complement it nicely.
Thanks Ethan, as far as sauce goes I seldom ever use any. When I BBQ all me meats are dry rubbed and smoked so if everything is done correctly the flavor is cooked in. If by chance I screw up and the meat end up a little on the "dry" side I keep a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ , the original flavor one, in the fridge. I know that Sweet Baby Ray's makes several flavors of sauce but I am not a sauce guy so I have never tried any of the others. I wouldn't be the guy to ask for advice on sauces, that's for sure. I'm like my son, sauces hide the flavor of the meat. If you need sauce you may as well just get two slices of bread or bun and slap some sauce in the middle and skip the meat.
That's interesting. I've always been a fan of sauces. Not drenching the meat in them by any means, but enough to add decent amounts of flavor. Then again, I've never had Texas BBQ.
The big debate in NC is over tomato-based vs. vinegar-based sauces. Sweet Baby Ray's is a classic tomato-based sauce that you can't really go wrong with. There's a brand around here called Sticky Fingers that I enjoy, too. I think the area I grew up in had enough BBQ places that had both types of sauce that I like both about the same.
But don't ask someone from SC, because they'll say mustard-based is king. Living in VA now, there are many places that have all three types of sauces, so I'm usually happy at those places. Many times the meat has a great flavor by itself, but I do enjoy some good sauce.
Thanks for the perspective. I'll have to keep that in mind if I visit Texas and try it without sauce.
If and when you do try Texas BBQ, you will understand what I'm talking about. Then you will actually experience the juices of the meat, that is where the flavor from the wood gets drawn into.
That definitely sounds tasty. I'm glad I have several recommended BBQ eating joints to check out now! Keep up the good work. I'll be looking for the next review.
That's great! My daughter got tickets for Six Flags in San Antonio from a reading contest at school and now I know where to get dinner after the park.
From Six Flags it would be east of there on Loop 1604 to Blanco Rd, and then south on Blanco towards town about two miles or so from Loop 1604.
That sounds easy enough!