Vernon's BBQ & Catering

Located across the street from one of my favorite Mexican joints (Mi Ranchito), I was excited to see a BBQ joint coming in close to work (downtown Clayton). So excited in fact, we tried to go before they opened (oddly, I had the same problem with Mi Ranchito).

Fast forward six months and they are up and running in an old auto garage at the corner of Vernon (where else?) and Kingsland, a few block north of the Delmar Loop.

Brian & Andrew went with and we brought the Hot Italian Sausage back for Andy so all together we sampled about half the menu.

Vernon's has a small price/small portions model with half sandwiches starting at $5 along with a Pick 2 for $8.

For me the best item was the chicken wings, a big surprise compared to most BBQ joints. Big, meaty, & tender, they were smoked to perfection, a trait they shared with all the smoked meats - Vernon's has the smoking part down.

Andy raved about the Italian Sausage (DiGregorio's from The Hill) and Andrew liked the pork. I thought the brisket, while tender, lacked the flavor you can get elsewhere in town.

The sauces were ambitious with a 'Peachy Keen' and a 'Thai-B-Q' (mostly warm peanut butter), but in the end, stick with the Little Smokey (KC style) and The 'Lou (sweet). Nothing to shout about.

In fact, these share the biggest drawback of the establishment; in an effort to brand and differentiate everything (maybe a necessity in U. City), they focus too much on naming the baked beans and not enough on cooking the baked beans. I may be biased against a joint that sells Smoked Tofu, but let the food speak for itself.

Closed Mondays, Vernon's is open 11 - 9, 'til 10 on Friday & Saturday nights.