De's Best Q4U vs Charlotte's Rib

I ran by De's today giving me a head's up comparison with Charlotte's in the latest playoff bracket. Here's where it stands:

Meat: Slight edge (very slight) to Charlotte's. De's could have been a little more tender, but it still beats 3 out of 4 of the places I've tried.

Smoke: Hands down to De's. Charlotte's tends to focus on the sauce and let's it overwhelm rather than complement the meat.

Sauce: Both sweet, but De's has just that little bite that gits ya. Point to De's

And the winner is:

De's Best Q4U

At the corner of Union & MLK - check it out.

Ballwin BBQ Bash Report

Well I made it out to Vlasis Park Saturday to check out the Bash. What a set-up! There had to be at least two dozen tents, most selling or giving away samples of their wares. Heaven. There was live music as well though it seems the musical acts were contractually bound to only play Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett.

My first stop was at Nice Racks to see Steve M. & try some ribs. As it turns out, Steve was AWOL and they had sold out of the ribs i n the first hour. Oh well.

Mrs. Steve sent me off to Charlotte's Rib for my first rib of the day. We've been there before, and they are still in the hunt for Best Que. The meat was very tender, but the smokiness was minimal. The sauce was tomato-ey, mild, and quite salty.

My next stop was Right-On Q for a pulled pork sandwich. The meat itself was mild, but the sauce was bold. The slaw was so-so. You had the option of tomato- or vinegar-based sauces -- a nice touch.

Things got exotic at the next tent. Checking back in on a returned Steve, I moseyed next door to Uncle Bob's. I was offered a 'dipped' rib -- glazed with a sticky cranberry/habenero sauce. The meat was tender and smokey, but the glaze completely overpowered the meat.

I wandered down to the other end of the park and took advantage of some free samples from Pick-A-Bone, a Jefferson Co. Restaurant located at 141 & Tesson Ferry (by the Pink Elephant). The spicy brats were a treat themselves, but the rib tips melted on your tongue like chocolate. They had perhaps the sweetest sauce I tasted all day and it overpowered the smoke.

I tried to get a rib at Pigs Gone Wild, but after the kid manning (kidding) the fort spent five minutes tracking down an adult to see if they had ribs, Granny looked at me like I'd spit in the sauce when I asked for just one rib. I went to find ribs elsewhere. I was told later I was lucky to have passed them up.

Well maybe not so lucky. Piggy's (not to be confused with Ms. Piggies) ribs were tough, fatty, & bland.

And Nice Rack's? I had to leave before the next batch was ready so I bought a tee shirt and a tub of Amazing Glaze. I'll make it into a DIY project in the future.