Tag: Baked Beans

AlbuquerqueBarbecueBreakfast BurritosNew MexicoRating: Very Good

J’s Var-B-Q – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Step into J’s Var-B-Q and the first thing you’re inevitably going to notice is the aroma of smoked meats wafting toward you.  The bouquet of sweet and succulent smoke envelops you like a warm blanket on a cold night.   It’s a comforting smoke sure to elicit involuntary salivation.  It’s a siren’s song luring you to the counter where you place your order from a tempting menu of meats, sandwiches, sides, specialties and desserts.   If the doors to J’s Var-B-Q were to literally stay open, the rapturous redolence of smoked meats would escape onto Montgomery and traffic would be snarled with motorists (maybe even a vegetarian or six) making their way to this bodacious barbecue restaurant. The second thing you’re likely to notice is a large mural on the wall depicting a grizzled gentleman with engorged pythons for arms.  He’s got his hands steepled in prayer and his eyes closed in reverence.  Undoubtedly he’s giving thanks for the bounty laid out before him: a plate of ribs and hot links with sides of mac-and-cheese and baked beans.  The prayerful man on the mural is Julian Vargas, a born-and-bred New Mexican and patriarch of the Vargas family.  If you haven’t…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Duke City BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

During a 2016 campaign event in Phoenix, Arizona, Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez warned that if the country did not adopt tighter immigration standards as proposed by Republican nominee Donald Trump, there would be “taco trucks on every corner.”  For many of us, the only conceivable retort was along the lines of “what could possibly be wrong with that?”  Tacos (Mexico) have become as American as pizza (Italy), apple pie (England), French fries (Belgium), hot dogs (Germany), peanut butter (Ancient Inca and Aztec civilizations) and barbecue (Caribbean).  These foods may not have been invented in the good ol’ USA, but we’ve adopted them.  They’re part of the fabric of what makes this country fat…er, great. It’s likely that if you didn’t grow up hearing the adage “as American as apple pie,” you may have heard a version in which barbecue takes the place of or is included with apple pie.  Barbecue, in fact, has supplanted apple pie as the proverbial All American gastronomical delight.  It’s practically a cult in some parts of the fruited plain.  At the very least, it represents a pop culture microcosm.  Americans make pilgrimages to famous pantheons of barbecue to partake of meat cooked low…

ArizonaBarbecueDog FriendlyUnited States

Big Nate’s Family BBQ – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man” ~Genesis 2:21-22 Ever since God took a rib from Adam and created Eve with it, Adam and Eve’s male desccendents have been craving ribs almost as if wanting to replace the one God took. Whether short ribs, baby back ribs, spare ribs, St. Louis style ribs, or any other type of of rib, the scions of the first couple have a rapacious appetite for ribs, the meatier the better.  NOTE:  Because both men and women have the same number of ribs (24: 12 on each side of the rib cage) God must have replaced the missing rib on Adam and Eve’s progeny. One of the most prolific paramours of ribs is my friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver.  Together we’ve journeyed far and wide in search of Korean style beef short ribs and beef ribs, his two favorite types of beef ribs.  When he and…

BarbecueDog FriendlyRating: ExcellentUnited StatesUtah

Blu Pig BBQ & Blues – Moab, Utah

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

For many of us barbecue is a noun as in “a social gathering at which barbecued food is eaten.”   For others it’s a verb (to roast or smoke food over wood using smoke at low temperatures over a long cooking time).  For the most passionate and devoted, barbecue is a way of life…even a religion.  That religion is practiced by large and small congregations in both outdoor and indoor temples throughout a portion of U.S. Highway 61.  The hymns wailed and warbled by choruses of angelic voices are the reason that portion of U.S. Highway 61 is known as the “Blues Highway.”  Rivaling Route 66 as the most famous road in American music lore, the portion of U.S. Highway 61 known as the legendary “Blues Highway” runs north from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee.  So common is the paring of barbecue and blues along this stretch that U.S. Highway 61 could rightfully be called the “Barbecue and Blues Highway.”  Visit the iconic Beale Street in the heart of Memphis and you’ll understand why Bon Appetit declared “Blues and barbecue, smoke and sauce. In Memphis, they all meld beautifully. Just like heaven.” We didn’t wear blue suede shoes during our visit…

ArizonaChickenDog FriendlyRating: N/R (Not Rated)SouthernSpecialtyUnited States

Gus’s Fried Chicken – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:02 AM

As the crow flies, Nashville and Memphis are separated by about 210 miles.  You can get from one to the other of these two prominent Southern cities–that are probably best known for their signature sounds–in a speedy three hours.    Nashville sits on the north-central part of the Volunteer State.  It’s considered the cradle of country music.  Legendary pantheons of country music include the Grand Ole Opry House, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and historic Ryman Auditorium.  Honky-tonks throughout the city feature live music as aspiring artists and song-writers compete to be noticed. Memphis, progenitor of the blues, soul and rock n’roll, borders the mighty Mississippi at Tennessee’s west flank.  Popular landmarks include the Rock n’ Soul Museum, Blues Hall of Fame and Elvis Presley’s Graceland.  Beale Street, “America’s most iconic street,” is home to B. B. King’s Blues Club and a number of other clubs which feature the blues, soul and rock n’roll.  No other state can legitimately claim to be birthplace of four distinct genres of music as Tennessee does.  If you’re an aficionado of country, blues, soul and rock n’ roll, there’s nowhere else you might aspire to be. It isn’t solely music for which Nashville…