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| - It's taken us a while to get out to Waunakee and try Blowin' Smoke, but we finally made it on a mild Saturday evening perfect for barbecue and a Totally Naked pilsner from New Glarus, which was on the menu. The service is prompt and friendly, the price per portion is fair and the small space is clean and modern.
We started with the cheese balls appetizer -- who knew cheese had balls; no wonder curds are squeaky -- which consisted of about 10 golf-ball-shaped pieces of cheese, breaded in a flavorful, herby crust, fried and served just a bit undercooked (the centers were cold, but I'm not deducting any stars for this because I was stahhhrving).
We ordered and shared the pulled chicken sandwich (skip it -- way too salty, which overpowered the smoky flavor that I think was there), the mac 'n cheese (homemade and spectacular) and the "Chief" sampler, which consisted of pork shoulder (tender, smoky and wonderful -- do it), beef brisket (tender, lean, less smoky than the pork but definitely stands on its own -- order it), smoked sausage (juicy with good flavor, but don't order it as an entree) and ribs (too dry and overcooked for me to comment on them -- I hope they're usually better).
For sides, the coleslaw is fine (slaw is slaw, really), the beans rate in the upper half of BBQ joints and the sweet potato fries are pretty good. Get the mac 'n cheese and beans for sides.
It's a haul to Waunakee from Verona and the verdict is, I'll come back if I'm in the neighborhood -- I'd like to try the ribs again on a better day -- but it's not likely I'll make an ad hoc trip just to come here.
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