{"id":189,"date":"2013-06-21T03:38:03","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T09:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=189"},"modified":"2018-07-17T19:13:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T01:13:00","slug":"the-smokehouse-barbecue-restaurant-rio-rancho-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=189","title":{"rendered":"The Smokehouse Barbecue Restaurant (CLOSED)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"My<\/a>
<\/span> My friends Paul “Boomer” Lilly and Bruce “Sr Plata” flank Gary West, owner of The Smokehouse<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The very best restaurants–those we’re proud to call our favorites–aren’t always the swankiest and most elegant venues.\u00a0 They’re not even usually the restaurants you visit on special occasions.\u00a0 They’re our favorites because for the duration of our meal, all our cares dissipate and our faith that everything will be okay is restored as we’re fed comforting, delicious food by servers we know and trust.\u00a0 The Smokehouse has been such a refuge to hundreds of Rio Rancho area residents for nearly two and a half decades.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The Smokehouse’s last full day of operation was Saturday, June 22nd, 2013.\u00a0 Then on Sunday night, June 23rd at 6PM<\/strong>, owner Gary West invited guests to a farewell soiree where he \u00a0exhausted his remaining food inventory: amazing smoked turkey, ribs and so much more.\u00a0 There wasn’t \u00a0a charge for the meal though Gary jokingly had a jar in which guests could contribute to his retirement.\u00a0 Gary will be leaving the desert climes of New Mexico for Hawaii where he plans to lead a life of leisure.\u00a0 Aloha, Gary.\u00a0 You and the Smokehouse will be missed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Jay
<\/span> The Smokehouse on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his headlines segment on April Fools Day 2001, Tonight Show host Jay Leno had a good laugh at the Smokehouse BBQ’s coupons which gave patrons a generous discount on breakfast burritos. Normally offered at $200, the coupon provided an instant rebate of $199 for a total price of $1. As barbecue aficionados in Rio Rancho have known for years, barbecue at the Smokehouse is no laughing matter. The Smokehouse BBQ restaurant is one of the three or four best barbecue restaurants in the Albuquerque area, a bastion of bodacious barbecue which can compete anywhere against formidable smoke ring competition–even in Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas is where founding proprietor Gary West cut his teeth in the smoke ring business, managing a barbecue restaurant in Lubbock.\u00a0 Texas-style barbecue as he learned to prepare it means you’ll see a pink hue on the ribs and the traditional pink smoke ring on the sliced beef brisket.\u00a0 It’s the real thing–barbecue that’s not obfuscated by a deluge of sauce to mask the flavor of poor quality meats.\u00a0 The meats at the Smokehouse are top notch and sauce is added only if you request it.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rio
<\/span> Smokehouse BBQ in Rio Rancho<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Gary returned to New Mexico he managed a Golden Pride chicken restaurant for a few years before buying the franchise and transforming it to the Smokehouse BBQ restaurant, opening on January 3, 1989. He was at it for nearly twenty years before selling his restaurant in 2008.\u00a0 In July, 2010, Gary bought the business back after two years managing an Albuquerque Cracker Barrel restaurant.\u00a0 During his tenure at Cracker Barrel, he picked up a few things to introduce to the Smokehouse’s menu, including chicken fried chicken and country fried steak.\u00a0 His return also signaled the return of the incomparable smoked meats which waft into your motorized conveyance like a sweet Texas smoke signal beckoning you to try them. <\/span><\/p>\n

The number of times I’ve visited the Smokehouse–over one hundred– is not a typo–I actually have dined here that many times (or more) primarily on Wednesdays or Fridays when the outstanding smoke burger<\/em> is featured fare for lunch.\u00a0 Yes, contrary to the opinion of amateur smokers who obviously haven’t mastered the trick, it is possible to smoke burgers (and no, this isn’t one of my flashbacks to the 60s). Go for dinner (or in fact any time past three o’clock) and you won’t find the smoke burger.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"My
<\/span> My friend Mike Muller consumes one of the dozens of smoked burgers he’s ordered over the years.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For almost a year, my friend Mike Muller (pictured above) and I made the Smokehouse our inner sanctum and refuge from the rigors of a challenging multi-million dollar project by visiting this Texas style barbecue emporium every Wednesday and sometimes on Fridays, too.\u00a0 It remains one of our very favorite lunch stops though our visits became more scarce when Gary West moved on.\u00a0 His return means the frequency of our visits\u00a0 increased.\u00a0 Gary tends to the smoker with the same affection parents tend to their children.\u00a0 The result is high quality ‘cue.\u00a0 The primary object of our affection during our weekly pilgrimage quickly became the aforementioned smoke burger, one of the best, albeit most unconventional green chile cheeseburgers in New Mexico. That’s saying something! <\/span><\/p>\n

On Wednesdays and Fridays, you’d better get to the Smokehouse early because once the smoke burgers are gone, you’ll have to wait a few days to get the next one.\u00a0 On Wednesdays and Fridays, the restaurant will a limited number of burgers.\u00a0 They go fast.\u00a0 One patron enjoyed double meat smokeburgers (pictured below) so much and so often, the Smokehouse named a double meat special for him.\u00a0 Today, the Cal’s Special, a double meat smoke burger smothered in green chile, a side of your choice and a drink is the best bet for the hungriest of patrons.\u00a0 Each patty is close to or perhaps even a half pound so a double meat smoke burger weighs in at a pound, at least.\u00a0 It takes two hands to hold this behemoth burger and a big mouth (literally) to take a bite of it.\u00a0 Little-mouthed folk will cut it with a fork.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/span> A double meat smokeburger with cheese and green chile. A side of potato salad is on the left.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don’t dare desecrate the smoke burger with mustard and ketchup. Barbecue sauce and green chile are the only embellishments required and even without the barbecue sauce, this is one outstanding burger.\u00a0 The Smokehouse offers two sauces, the house sauce and a piquant sauce. The house sauce is a bit on the thin side with an almost equal flavor pronouncement between sweet, tangy and piquant.\u00a0 The piquant sauce packs real heat. \u00a0 The meat patty is thick and bun sized with a pinkish hue within. Contrary to what you might think, it’s also a moist burger…at least it is when Gary West is tending the smoker.\u00a0 He’s got the touch.\u00a0 The green chile is only mild on a piquant scale, but when combined with the sauce, its piquancy is enhanced.<\/span><\/p>\n

On November 1st, 2011, the Smokehouse began using a bolillo bun on the Smokehouse, replacing the familiar and more traditional hamburger bun.\u00a0 The bolillo bun ostensibly stays fresh longer though the round patty extends out beyond the round buns.\u00a0 Each smoke burger is accompanied by one side of your choosing. The Smokehouse features some of the very best potato salad around and very good spicy pinto beans.\u00a0 Other options include green beans, fried okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, French fries and other sides. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/span> The most unique Frito Pie anywhere–made with your choice of chopped beef or carne adovada<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As for the Smokehouse’s meats, the sliced beef brisket, smoked pork ribs, smoked turkey, hot links, beef ribs and Polish sausage are all quite good–and not just by New Mexico standards.\u00a0 The restaurant menu features sandwiches, plates and party packs that serve anywhere from two to twenty people.\u00a0 The most popular menu item, as it is at many Texas barbecue emporiums, is the sliced beef brisket<\/em> which is consumed at a rate of about twenty pounds per day.\u00a0 Your best bet is a two- or three-meat platter with two or three sides.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Both the smoked pork ribs and the beef ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender.\u00a0 My friend Sr. Plata considers the beef ribs to be at the very top of his food pyramid though with his Flintstonian appetite, he yearns for the day they are offered at all-you-can-eat quantities.\u00a0 The smoked pork ribs have a wonderful bark, that intensely flavorful crust which occurs when a meat’s natural sugars caramelize.\u00a0 Sanctioned barbecue competition judges in some of the most prestigious barbecue events love a good bark and would appreciate the fine bark on the Smokehouse’s meats, especially on the pork ribs.\u00a0 The hot links live up to their name with a heartburn-inducing spiciness you will love.\u00a0 Only Powdrell’s<\/a> serves comparable hot links.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/span> A two meat combination plate with pork ribs, spicy links, fried okra, corn on the cob and a bread roll<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The smoke burger isn’t the only unconventional twist on a New Mexico favorite. The Smokehouse also serves a smoked carne adovada<\/em> made from chopped beef. A mild red chile complements the smoky beef taste very well.\u00a0 Unconventional also describes the Smokehouse’s Frito pie<\/em>, constructed of smoked beef, spicy pinto beans, barbecue sauce (instead of chile), shredded cheese and of course, Frito’s corn chips.\u00a0 This Frito pie may be an acquired taste because the first time I sampled this oddity, I thought it an aberration. The second time, I was hooked–thanks in large part to excellent smoked meat and the spicy pinto beans which are always cooked to perfection.\u00a0 The Frito pie is also available with a more conventional carne adovada or you can have it half-and-half with born smoked beef and carne adovada.\u00a0 The operative term is “have it!”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2000, the Smokehouse began offering breakfast including the legendary Frontier Rolls<\/em>.\u00a0 Breakfast had a thirteen year run, but will no longer be served as of June 1st, 2013.\u00a0 Breakfast burritos have been the specialty of the house from day one.\u00a0\u00a0 The tortillas encasing each burrito are charred like a pinto pony and bulge at the seams holding back all those lovely ingredients and their flavor.\u00a0 The green chile is more piquant than the red.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/span> A two meat platter with brisket, sliced pork, French fries, green beans and a bread roll<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How good are the meats at the Smokehouse?\u00a0 They’re so good other restaurants use them.\u00a0 There may be no better pairing in Rio Rancho than the combination of Smokehouse meats and pizza at the Turtle Mountain Brewing Company<\/a>.\u00a0 Smokehouse meats also feature prominently on the slow-smoked carne panini from Cafe Bella<\/a>.\u00a0 My friend Larry McGoldrick<\/a>, the professor with the perspicacious palate, calls it the “best panini” he’s ever had.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

For dessert, the Smokehouse features blackberry, peach, cherry and apple cobbler alamode<\/em> as well as Itlian ices. You might think you’re in the deep south as you bite into the warm, tangy blackberries and flaky crust as rich vanilla ice cream melts on the plate. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cherry
<\/span> Cherry and Blackberry cobbler<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Smokehouse’s Web site is a member of the Smoke Ring<\/span><\/a>, a<\/span> linked list of BBQ websites throughout America.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Smokehouse Barbecue<\/strong>
\n4000 Barbara Loop
\nRio Rancho, New Mexico
\n<\/strong>LATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 8 May 2013
\n<\/span># OF VISITS<\/strong>: 101
\nRATING<\/strong>: 19
\nCOST<\/strong>: $ – $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Smoke Burger, Cobbler, Frontier Roll, Brisket, Pulled Pork, Frito Pie, Sliced Pork, Pork Ribs, Spicy Links, \u00a0Smoked Turkey<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Smokehouse<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The very best restaurants–those we’re proud to call our favorites–aren’t always the swankiest and most elegant venues.\u00a0 They’re not even usually the restaurants you visit on special occasions.\u00a0 They’re our favorites because for the duration of our meal, all our cares dissipate and our faith that everything will be okay is restored as we’re fed comforting, delicious food by servers we know and trust.\u00a0 The Smokehouse has been such a refuge to hundreds of Rio Rancho area residents for nearly two and a half decades.\u00a0 The Smokehouse’s last full day of operation was Saturday, June 22nd, 2013.\u00a0 Then on Sunday night, June 23rd at 6PM, owner Gary West invited guests to a farewell soiree where he \u00a0exhausted his remaining food…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,540,607,262,141,265],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barbecue","category-breakfast","category-closed-in-2013","category-closed","category-new-mexico","category-rio-rancho"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Smokehouse Barbecue Restaurant (CLOSED) - 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