Daily Dose of Sultnpapper 12/15/17> “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” Volume 2… Smolik's Meats & BBQ
The December edition of the monthly BBQ review has us dining in the little town of Cuero, Texas. Some of you may have caught yesterday’s daily dose where I discussed the Cuero Heritage museum. While I did bring a lot of history and facts about the town out in that post I saved some things for today, I think half the flavor of Volume 1 of the Will Eat BBQ 4 U edition was getting you a taste of life of the town. I don’t know how long it takes to start a tradition, but I like that part of the BBQ review, so being that I have control of the blog it is my intentions to include that portion in this review and those in the future.
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The history of Cuero is pretty well documented by the Heritage Museum, but museums have a tendency to only tell documented items. To me, legends are the intriguing part of small towns, and Cuero has a few legends of its own. It seems that the cowboys on those cattle drives were a pretty rambunctious group of fellows, when they hit town to rest the horses and cattle plenty of hell would break lose when they got liquored up at the local saloons. It is said that many a gun fight broke out on the dirt roads in the middle of town; it truly was the “wild, wild west”.
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The court rooms were locked up, so I couldn’t get pictures in there, the district attorney’s office door was partially open so I peeked in there and scared the hell of the man and woman inside. They informed me that I had no business in there, and the court wouldn’t resume cases until 1:30 in the afternoon. I told the gentleman that since this was a public building and that he was to serve the public, since he obviously worked there, I didn’t appreciate his rudeness. I suggested to the arrogant jackass that he might just ask, “How can I help you?” next time. How did they know I had no business in there, they had no idea who I am. Lock the damn door if you are on lunch and don’t want to be bothered.
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One last thing before we go eat, the 10 commandments and court houses just don’t go together any longer in the USA. The court house in Cuero is no exception on that front, but the locals said if we can’t have them in there then we’ll make sure we have them close by. Directly across the street is a big granite monument that has the 10 commandments engraved in it, it is on private property and the ACLU can’t do a thing about it. They even have lights to illuminate it at night.
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The other reason is, I’ve been eating here at least a couple times a year for ten years. The brisket is always flavorful and moist, and that takes skill to do, not all briskets are created equal and you need to know how to “read the meat” when your smoking it.
The menu includes all the normal meats and while they don’t have baked potatoes, there is a good selection of side dishes. I’m not a side dish guy, so a bag a chips is all I need to compliment the sandwich. The sandwich is available in two sizes, regular and large. The regular will get you a quarter pound of meat, the large will get you a third of a pound.
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Oscar did tell me that back in the 1990’s the place flooded from a big storm, the front third of the building had to be demolished. There is plenty of parking out front; if you are in a hurry they have a drive up window as well. It was well after the lunch time rush but there were several people eating and the people are easy to talk with. Leroy Grant and his buddy, Big Daddy, were talking about roping and a mare Big Daddy had recently bought. I tried to get them to let me shoot a couple shots of them but they were hesitant with that. It turned out though that Leroy knew an old friend of mine from my horse days name Eddie Floyd Pierson. Eddie Floyd was always short on entry fee money, but he was a damn good header when it came to roping. Being that he roped left handed when he snatched a steer it was always in a perfect position for the heeler to catch the back legs. I made quite few dollars with Eddie Floyd, I would pay his entry fees and we would split the earnings.
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Until next month, this has been the “Will Eat BBQ 4 U” for December 2017.
@sultnpapper
All photos are property of @sultnpapper
The photos below are additional views of the town.
This last photo is Oscar's lovely assistant, I'll just call her "Sweet Heart"
I love the little history-and-social-sciences lesson that goes with the restaurant review. Gives me something to read while I drool.
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Thanks, I am happy to know that you enjoy that part as well, I do enjoy writing about the towns. This one in particular, since I never had spent any time there looking around.
If you are ever in the Land of Enchantment near Albuquerque and find yourself in need of a BBQ fix, try this one, Ribs in Cedar Crest. I have no idea if it's up to Smolik's standards, but we love it for takeaway.
If we're ever anywhere near Cuero we'll try Smolik's. I'll have ribs. It's not that I don't like brisket but I'm crazy about ribs.
They will serve me if I hide my tail, won't they?
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
Your "Ribs" place looks like it was originally a Bob Evans Breakfast Restaurant from the exterior shot. I will make a mental note if I am in your area I may give it go.
I didn't see any Catweasal on the menu at Smolik's but if they were to serve you I suspect that your tail and cuero (hide) would be removed before they served you, I could be wrong though... I'll ask Oscar next time I stop in there.
@enchantedspirit scratch Smolik's off our list; it's not safe.
@sultnpapper that little double-sided mall was built in 95-96. Ribs took the main building straight away. They expanded to the left a few years back as a small bar.
Trust me, I'm a doctor.
Ribs must be good to have gone in and hung in that long. My next review will include ribs in the meal, in honor of your work to promote the porkness of BBQ.
Awesome, would love to check out some bbq joints like this place. I have a smoker on our terrace and do lots of ribs and pork. Much harder to find quality brisket and then get it right - that’s still work in progress!
Cheers
Smoked pork tenderloin is really good, you might try that. They are really tasty, the other thing is if you can't find good brisket try cooking a beef pot roast on your smoker.
I'm gonna try everything!!
I've enjoyed your BBQ series very much. I appreciate the time you take to set up the story and describe the town. It looks like you enjoy every visit you make to these restaurants, and I'm sure the owners don't mind the free publicity.
Unfortunately, I'm too far away to give them any business, but the food sure does look great.
Thanks for sharing. Can't wait for the next installment.
Thanks Ethan. Had I not started this BBQ review I would have not found out the stuff about Cuero for myself. it would have continued to be a restroom break or lunch stop town for me. I sent Oscar a link to the blog so hopefully he will get to read it.
I hope he does read it. It's nice to know people stop to enjoy the parts of the town that normally only the locals enjoy. I need to remember that next time I drive through a small town like that. Thanks for sharing.
The seating reminds me of Woody's Smokehouse. We always stopped there on our way from Dallas to Houston. One side gave free beans and the other didn't. Or was it unlimited. I forget, but we learned that the hard way. ;) Anyway, BBQ sounds really tasty right now. Especially Texas BBQ. Crazy about the lawyer in his office! Lol. The courthouse is so nice. I don't know if I've ever been to Cuero before. It doesn't look or sound familiar. Thanks for sharing! :)
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Awesome review mr Papper, thank you for taking us along to Cuero, love those old buildings!
Keep up the BBQ reports! I am having a hard time finding anything outside of photographs that is really worthy of upvoting these days. I need your BBQ reports to keep me from giving up on Steemit! Keep on eating!!!
Well I appreciate that kind remark, unfortunately I only do the BBQ reports on the 15th of the month. I would consider doing some Mexican food reviews but we have more Mexican restaurants and taco stands than you could shake a stick at. We may have won our independence from Mexico years ago but we have steadily given the state back to them. The Mexicans figured out that you don't need guns and cannon balls to conquer Texas, fajitas and tamales can accomplish the same task.
Just goes to show you how little fun I'm having on steemit these days. Enjoyable posts, or ones that give you something worth thinking about, are few and far between. What's left are the burritos: the posts that give you gas and make you fart a lot.
BBQ in Texas sounds delicious just thinking about it! Can't wait for that day... :) #theunmentionables
Thanks for checking it out, much appreciated.
This post has received a 0.28 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.