One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes is the Soup Nazi Episode. Let me give you a brief synopsis: the gang becomes obsessed with a new soup restaurant. However, this delicious soup doesn’t come without a price; customers stand in line and must follow the strict rules set by the draconian owner known as The Soup Nazi. If they do not comply with his rules, they are told “No soup for you!”
I was reminded of this episode today as I attempted to attend the 1st annual Chandler BBQ Throwdown in Downtown Chandler, AZ. When I arrived there were at least 100 people in line waiting to get tickets. The event was scheduled to run 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, the ticket booth closed around 1:30 p.m. (coincidentally, the same time I arrived ), and by 2 p.m. many of the competing teams had run out of meat, and subsequently closed their tents. To my dismay, as I gradually inched my way forward towards the ticket booth, a young lady came out with a megaphone and harshly announced, “NO BBQ for YOU!”.
According to Jess Harter with the East Valley Tribune, the competing teams were told to only bring 60 lbs of food, and blew threw it pretty quickly. I was disappointed that this event wasn’t organized better, but I was happy that Joe’s Real BBQ in Gilbert, AZ was able to accommodate all of the hungry, rejected (sigh), wandering, BBQ seeking nomads. Two thumbs up for Joe’s Real BBQ for being on their game, two thumbs down for the Chandler BBQ Throwdown for lack of preparedness.
Saved by Joe's!
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Joe’s Real BBQ. I’m immediately intrigued; I haven’t really seen that many BBQ places out here in Arizona since I’ve been here so I decided to stop by and see what this place was all about. I walked into this place and they have some really cool midwest farm style decor going on and the restaurant is cafeteria style. I’m personally a fan of cafeteria style because I like to see what I’m eating before I order it. Now I realize that some could argue with me that with cafeteria style you are not getting fresh, made to order food. I reject that statement with Joe’s Real BBQ. I looked over the menu, he had quite a selection; ribs, chicken, brisket, pulled pork, salads, oodles of side dishes, and some fabulous looking homemade desserts like cheesecake and pecan brownies. I’m thinking I’m in hog heaven.
I can’t decide what I want because everything looks damn good, so I go with the sampler plate which comes with some pulled pork, 2 ribs, chopped brisket, and a quarter of BBQ chicken. It also comes with one side, I was between the baked beans and the corn, but I decided to go with the corn. The sampler runs $10.99 with one side, and it’s a dollar more if you want another side. You get your tray, flatware, and drink yourself first. The sampler came out pretty fast, I hadn’t finished paying the cashier yet. It was definitely a solid portion of food. I lifted my tray and started walking to find a table and I noticed in an island I was confronted with more choices. Joe’s Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce and Joe’s Extra Hot & Spicy BBQ sauce. Why just have one when you can have both? So I filled two little paper cups with sauce and found a table. Now it’s time to see if this place is worthy or not. I dig in. It is worthy. First of all, let me just say that the meat on the ribs, literally fell right off the bone. They had a very nice smokey flavor. I used a little bit of the extra spicy BBQ sauce, which had a nice bite to it but wasn’t overpowering. Everything on my plate was delicious. I liked the pulled pork and the brisket the best, extremely tender. And let me say this, Joe’s is really smoking this stuff for a good while; the brisket and the ribs had that nice pink layer right underneath the outside of the meat confirming my suspicion. Good stuff I
say. The chicken was uber tender and moist, also coming nicely off the bone. The corn was also top notch, super sweet. I like this place very much. So far, this is the only BBQ joint I have tried in Phoenix and so far it’s my favorite. One small con to Joe’s; I don’t like that they have the line (which gets rather long, as this place is popular with the locals) running past the booths and tables. You get a lot of food oglers, which I find somewhat annoying. They just wait in line and watch you eat. I would like to see them move the line in it’s own area. Regrettably, I stuffed myself silly and did not have room to go back up and try a pecan brownie which I was eying up as I paid for my meal. But that’s okay, it just gives me a reason to go back to Joe’s.
