RIP El Scorcho

I'll miss that brisket. Overpriced? Yes, but still one of the top Q joints in town. With Smokin' Al's gone and now El Scorcho, the Clayton/Brentwood/Maplewood area is stuck with chains & Plush Pig for their lunchtime BBQ needs. Damn shame.

El Scorcho

Back to El Scorcho, this time for the brisket sandwich. They've got new menus (with new prices), but the same wonderful flavor. The brisket melts in your mouth. With luck, we'll run by Reynold's next week and have a winner out of these two head-to-head.

BBQ in Winter

By all accounts, most of us think of BBQ as a summer treat so staying on The Quest has been a little tricky.

For the first round, we are down to about nine joints, four of them a fairly good drive for lunch (and one of those known to be closed for winter). Four others are clustered around N. Jefferson and calling ahead left me with one wrong number, one disconnected message, one fax machine, and one no answer. Whether closed for good, for winter, or for the day it's hard to tell.

Not to say I didn't get any Que. I managed a meeting at Ms. Piggie's on Tuesday, lunch with one of the regulars on Wednesday at Smokin' Al's when we couldn't find the other joints open (not a bad plan B), and treated consultants visiting St. Louis to El Scorcho on Thursday. All in all a good week's work for BBQ in December.

I tried the pulled chicken at Ms. Piggie's. Tasty but a little too fine in texture for my taste - I'll be going back to tips. The burnt ends at Smokin' Al's were spot on, not too dry but no fat at all. El Scorcho proved the brisket is not a fluke, everyone I've met who's had it raves about it.

The other place on the list is one of the newest, Call Box Inn. I drove by for lunch last week and they are closed until Jan. 2 so it's 2008 for that one.

Happy Que Year!!!

El Scorcho

This is fairly new addition to Maplewood (on Manchester next to the guitar store) and almost did not make it onto the list by virtue of its Tex-Mex moniker.

It's an odd amalgam of BBQ & Tex-Mex. About eight of us went. The brisket I had was very tender & moist - best I've had since Super Smokers tanked. The sauce is a sweet TX style.

The folks I went with enjoyed the Mexican offerings as well.

Service was enthusiastic but addled with drinks being mixed up and one order completely wrong.

Prices are high for BBQ - not so much so for a Mexican joint in Maplewood, but be warned - they'll clip you $5 for chips & salsa you get free everywhere else in town.

This'll make it to the next round for sure (sans chips).