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Type: BBQ
Hours: Mon.-Thur., 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Good choices: Baby back ribs, brisket, pulled pork, barbecued chicken, hot sausages and onions, bourbon turkey, cole slaw, potato salad, cucumber sald, Santa Fe salad.
Credit cards: All major credit cards.
Access: Ground floor entrance; heavy, exit-type door between dining area and restrooms.
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SMOKEY'S LONGHORN CAFE
91 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington
(781) 270-6700
Restaurant reviewed 01/21/99 by Bob MacDonald
Pictures of cowboys and the Old West adorn the walls of Smokey's Longhorn Cafe, along with cattle horns, a spittoon, a pitchfork, and other knickknacks - all struggling mightily to overcome the plastic, strip-mall atmosphere. While Smokey's never really makes you think you're in Austin, it doesn't really matter because once you taste the food - on plastic plates - you won't care much where you are.
Smokey's is a welcome addition to the growing number of establishments serving true barbecue, something that used to be pretty much confined to the movable feast of Boston's venerable barbecue wagon, M & M Ribs. True barbecue is meat slow-roasted over an open fire so that the smoke flavors it while the long cooking time tenderizes it. A sign at Smokey's points out that the red interior of the meat does not mean it's rare; it gets that color from the smoke.
Smokey's is set up backward: You go halfway across the room to order, then return to the front to pick up your food when they call your name. You can eat there, at a collection of small tables, or get takeout. If you get takeout, ask them to bag the corn bread separately so it won't get soggy. Smokey's also has a catering service.
The heart of the menu is the "Chuckwagon Meals" section, various meats that come with a choice of two side orders and corn bread. (Sound familiar?) There are also sandwiches, wraps, burgers, soup, chili, and "Bunkhouse Meals," which are combos costing $39.99, $59.99, and $79.99 that feed five, eight, and 12 persons, respectively. Prices that follow refer to Chuckwagons.
Baby back ribs ($9.99 half rack, $11.99 full rack) were smokey, lean, tender, and falling off the bone. Texas beef ribs (three for $6.99) led to a hung jury: Two tasters said they were too fatty and spirited them away before a closer examination could be made. Perhaps these tasters were just being fussbudgets, because the rib I drew had more meat than usual for a beef rib. Admittedly there was an equal amount of fat, but fat goes with the beef-rib territory - just cut it off. The beef was also smokey and falling off the bone.
Pulled pork ($5.99) was smokey and sweet yet spicy, a large pile of tender shreds. Hot sausage and onions ($5.49) featured slices of mildly spicy sausage with a soft texture inside.
Sliced smoked brisket ($6.49) was tender and a smoke-lover's delight. Probably because of its shape, size, and texture, the brisket absorbed more smoke and still remained sufficiently moist.
Half a chicken ($6.99) was the smokiest we've tasted, while bourbon turkey ($6.49) was a successful marriage of that particular poultry and the South's contribution to whiskey. While not enough to make us alter Thanksgiving at our house, it was enjoyable and distinctive.
Smokey's provides a variety of tomato-based sauces:
Beef - vinegary and slightly cidery with a hint of molasses.
Chicken - mostly tomato with bits of finely minced garlic.
Pork - a dark sauce with definite molasses accents.
Hot - a thin, Tabasco-like mixture with hotness that comes on fast, then fades just as quickly.
We found mixing the hot sauce with others to be satisfactory, and there's no need to confine the sauce to what it's designed for. Several bottled sauces are also available, as well as puckerful sour slices of dill pickle.
Smokey's does not rest on its barbecuing laurels, and we didn't meet a side dish here we didn't like: barbecued baked beans (like Boston-baked, only lighter), spicy black beans (not really black but like Cajun beans), cumin-infused Rio rice, Waco green beans with a garlicky sauce, glazed carrots, candied squash, and smashed potatoes.
Particularly outstanding were cucumber salad, crisp and vinegary and imparting a peppery bite to the throat; potato salad, cool, creamy, and crunchy with celery, red pepper, and onions; cinnamon raisin apples, cooked, yet still crispy; and cole slaw that struck a healthy balance between sweetness and vinegary tang and that was laced with golden raisins.
Santa Fe salad ($4.99) featured lots of radicchio and mesclun on a bed of dark beans topped with shredded tortilla bits and slices of cheese, and served with a Catalina-style dressing.
Dessert was the only downer. Pecan pie ($2.49) was mushy, and the pecans were soft and lacking in crunch. Peanut butter silk pie ($2.49) was salty and overly rich. Better to get a side order of fresh fruit or visit the Lindt chocolate store next door.
Tips & hits
