Baker Boys BBQ (First Impression)

My goal is to eat at all the 2017 Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ joints within a year. I feel like it is a rite of passage for true Texas barbecue fans. I am going to post a wrap up of all 50 and at each of the places that I have not written about before. I am already a dozen stops into the list so far. On this day, I had already gone to City Market (Luling). Gonzales is not too far from there so I made another stop at Baker Boys BBQ. I had been to Baker Boys before while researching for the list on behalf of Texas Monthly. I arrived around 3 PM that afternoon but remembered it being a good experience.

For the places I have not been to/written about, I am trying to order a decent chunk of the menu. I am getting annoyed at some of the pictures on social media where people are barely spending five bucks at some of these places. It is all about the sticker to some (Yeti is giving out prizes if you get certain stickers). I feel like you should order more and get the full experience at each place. I will get off my soap box now.

We ordered a little bit of brisket, pork ribs, sausage, chicken, turkey, pork loin, and stuffed chicken leg with a banana pudding. Most of the meats are cooked on vault smokers with oak lump charcoal. Everything had a good flavor. The brisket took a little effort to chew through. The pork ribs were nice and tender. The homemade pork and beef sausage surprised me. It had a good texture and taste to it. The turkey and chicken were juicy, but I prefer the skin of the chicken to be crispier. The highlights of the meal for me were the pork loin and stuffed chicken leg. The moist and flavorful pork loin ate very well. I loved the amount of smoke and seasoning on it. Phil and Wayne Baker (father and son) participated in competition barbecue before opening Baker Boys. The idea of the stuffed chicken came from that. They wrap the leg with the skin on around jalapeño and onion. They smoke it and then crisp up the skin on direct heat. It makes for one delicious bite. The homemade banana pudding rounded out the meal nicely.

Gonzales is only 14 miles south of I-10. Make a detour to Baker Boys BBQ if you are in the area. You will find a Top 50 worthy lineup. Do not skimp here. Go ahead and order a few of the meats. Your stomach and taste buds will thank you. With the menu prices that low, you might as well. Grade: N/A

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: 1404 Sarah DeWitt Dr, Gonzales, TX 78629
Phone:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BakerBoysBBQ/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bakerboysbbq

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The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint

If you guys did not know, one of our Corgis, Bentley, has Degenerative myelopathy which is essentially ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) for dogs. We have been taking him along on our road trips. Amber's birthday was in May and wanted to go somewhere fun and beachy but still drivable. We ended up picking Destin, FL for the white sands and we had not been before. I have heard of The Shed Barbeque & Blues Joint from social media and TV and knew it was on the way to Florida. We stayed in Beaumont, TX to shorten our drive, and The Shed was only about 5 hours away. It was the perfect stopping point plus we arrived there right around lunch time.

I was really excited to stop at The Shed. It was my only planned BBQ stop of the trip. We ordered the Shed Sampler Platter and a banana pudding. The sampler comes with baby back ribs, spare ribs, pork, brisket, chicken, and sausage and three sides. We chose mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, and collard greens as our sides. The brisket came shredded so that was different. It was like eating pot roast. I really did not care for it. Both ribs were overcooked and coming apart when I bite into it. It was almost like eating pulled pork on a bone. The flavors and smoke across the meats were pretty good, but I just did not love how everything was cooked. The temperatures of the meats ranged anywhere from cool to lukewarm. That threw off the texture as well and did not make for the best eating experience. The chicken wings & leg, sausage, and pulled pork were solid. The mac and cheese was kind of weird. It had an interesting cheese sauce? drizzled on top. Our favorite bite of the meal was the homemade banana pudding. It was fluffy and tasty.

The Shed is a pretty cool spot. I say stop by in the evening when they have live music, grab a beer, and chill along the river. I was definitely disappointed in this visit. Maybe I just went on a bad day? You guys might have better luck when you visit. I am only allowed one barbecue stop when we are on vacation. We stopped in NOLA for a day on the way back, and I wished I had picked a joint there instead. Where to next? We have a trip planned in September for West Texas and some of the focus of the trip will involve stopping at some of the Texas Monthly Top 50 restaurants so I am really stoked about that.

Until next time, happy smoking...

Address: 7501 MS-57, Ocean Springs, MS 39565
Phone:
Website: http://theshedbbq.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheShedBBQ/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheShedBBQ

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