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| - The outside is cute with a nice sign outside to make sure you won't miss it. But the inside is very average. It's as if they took a pre-existing restaurant painted it with colors that say smokehouse and blues music and slapped on some blues and jazz music icons laminates on the walls and called it a BBQ restaurant. Let's just say it looks a little Spartan décor wise and could use a bit of a sprucing up. But they played a great array of Blues nonstop. And the best smokehouses I've been too in Texas didn't even have plates; you were served on a piece of parchment paper layered at the bottom of a cafeteria tray. So I digress. Let's attack the food shall we?
THE GOOD
Everything...really. They bring us a small basket of chili cornbread with spicy whipped butter spread. I could have fed on those buns alone all night.
I started with an entrée of ribs. This was almost a small meal, not an entrée but DAAAMMNNNNNNNNN. This is smoked ribs the likes of which cannot be found in Montreal - unless more Southern BBQ joints can be found in Montreal of which I'm not aware - and are supremely well prepared. I could taste the smoke and the wood in the meat. I'm sure the rub is a well guarded secret but I would kill for it. It was well balanced. Not harsh but certainly not flat. And I'll say this without hesitation that these were the best ribs I've ever had in Montreal.
As the main I had the combo platter - because I wanted to sample as much as possible for my first test drive - which consisted of Pulled Pork, Brisket and 2 sides of my choice. I picked the Mac'n'Cheese and the Shaved Fried Onions. The Mac'n'Cheese was a bit peppery but made with freshly grated cheese, this was certainly not KD. The Shaved Fried Onions was insanely delicious and any steakhouse and burgerhouse should pay them for their recipe. My friend also had a side of Baked Beans with Jack Daniels... AWESOME! Sweet, Tasty perfectly cooked beans and the JD after taste really had some kick to it.
I've never been a big fan of BBQ Brisket and this one was cut a big thick in my opinion but it was worth the detour for any Brisket fan. And of course there's my personal favorite, Pulled Pork. If you've never had Pulled Pork, you've never had pork; it's the way it was to be. And Mesquite certainly doesn't screw it. It was so good I had to sit in the back of my chair and close my eyes and let it all soak in. Flaky, fall apart full-flavored smokey goodness. I can't really describe it but fans of Pulled Pork with thoroughly get their fix here at Mesquite.
THE BAD
Now I don't have much in the way of bad to say. Except that every Texan smokehouse I've been to served their ribs dry and they pretty much make fun of Yankees with their over-sugared and wet ribs. But I could see in the kitchen that the sauce was added at the preparation part, not the smoking part so I'll just order them dry next time. Same goes for the Pulled Pork and Brisket. I like them wet, just not drowned in it. So the bad really isn't about the food, but the presentation which can be fixed as you order.
And I know it's a smokehouse but not self-respecting southern establishment is complete without the fried chicken. I mean where's the Southern Fried Chicken? That would be a great addition. Here in Montreal our Fried Chicken options are meager - KFC DOES NOT COUNT. Wouldn't be great to have a place that serve homemade Fried Chicken drizzled with sweet golden honey?
Also in Texas, Dr. Pepper is king. Hell they still make it with real sugar there and not corn syrup. So I ordered Dr. Pepper seeing as my BBQ sauce is made with Dr. Pepper. Denied. Which made wonder on the authenticity of the sauce. Was it made on site or purchased in bottles? Which brings us to...
THE UGLY
Desert. Both deserts were obviously store bought factory made over-sweet sugar-rockets. I mean I ordered Apple Crumble Pie, thinking I'd get some awesome homemade crumble but no, it tasted like something taken off the shelf at Costco. This was a disappointment. The restaurant had so far Prefontained itself through BBQ heaven and then tripped, broke a leg and failed to finish the race with a nice homemade desert. Apple Crumble, so easy to make how could you buy it from a factory? Fail.
THE SHOWDOWN
In the end, best ribs in town, awesome, awesome pulled pork. I only wish I was in delivery range - but again this may be a good thing for my health - and I will definitely return often since as far as I know it's the only smokehouse in town and they now have a loyal customer in me. I'm going back as soon as I can and bringing friends.
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