Coming up "Short"

Our 10 minutes late turned into 50 minutes early for church service. So it was that we began our lazy Sunday. With time to kill, we decided to spring for a quick breakfast, but after three failed attempts, ended up settling for gas station convenience store OJ.  Needless to say, after feeding our souls, it was time to fill our bellies. So we went to a BBQ joint on Monroe.

I'll preface this pseudo review by saying I was one of "those" people who went to a BBQ joint and ordered a salad- unavoidable in  year of family weddings and formal events, all documented by expert photographers for the rest of our days. Vanity diets aside, the service was good but the food...well, came up "Short". We were given some corn bread muffins to tide us over while we waited on the salad and sandwich. They were so fluffy it was easier to eat the butter out of the dish than butter the bread (or more like sweet yellow cake with a faint corn flavor). Having lived in Texas for over ten years, I longed for the crunchy crust, golden sweet morsels and maybe, just maybe, a sliver of jalapeño inside the steaming hot purse of goodness. Not today and definitely not at this restaurant.

The chili was just "meh". The salad was just downright bad. Ordering a Crunchy Chicken Salad was a huge mistake. It boasted corn, black beans, toasted pecans and red onion to accompany the fried chicken tenders on a bed of lettuce, with a half dozen dressings to choose from. Feeling nostalgic, I chose the Creamy Chipotle with Balsamic Vinaigrette as a backup.

Now, if I had know I was going to be served dry chicken fingers, canned corn, canned beans and flavorless cream to dress it all, I would have walked out. Is it wrong to expect a BBQ joint to do justice to corn and beans? ...to have BBQ sauces with depth and complexity of spices?...fried chicken that is actually moist? Apparently yes. So I am flying back to Texas ASAP and resetting my taste buds to the way BBQ is really supposed to be.

For those of you who want to have GREAT fried chicken, go to Mutz. I virtually drooled when I popped a bite-sized chicken chunk into my mouth. It was hot. It was moist. It was flavorful. IT WAS FRESH. They soak them in buttermilk and toss them in seasoned flour prior to flash frying. The chicken breast sandwich DF, (aka hubby), ate was equally fantastic. Their mac & cheese is the best I have EVER had. The pasta was al dente, the sauce cheesy, gooey and still miraculously light- not the least bit greasy, the generous (child) portion complete with a golden crust on top. How's that for ending on a positive note?!