Cuisine Review

Just off the infamous thoroughfare of ozone depletion known as Airport Boulevard, there are some good, but quite inconvenient restaurants. In my younger days, one of the few local places for barbecue was JR’s Smokehouse. Recently I have been reminded of it by some folks who frequent JR’s for barbecue. So, I went.

Wondering who in the world JR is, I found some information on their thorough Web site, www.jrssmokehouse.com. The complete menu and a 10 percent off coupon are there as well. Their history page says JR’s is named after a former local businessman Jack Robert Taylor. Mr. Taylor developed the Fact-O-Bake Car Painting franchise. He told his friends he always wanted to own a BBQ restaurant….so in 1989 he opened JR’s Smokehouse. Who knew?

The current owners are David Mong and Joey Wilkinson, both locals who managed JR’s for several years and eventually bought it. JR’s famous “meats” are slow-cooked over a pit for 16-18 hours to give them their wonderful taste

I have to make a statement first – I truly do not pay attention to the ads in this publication. But as I began to write this, I was perusing through the paper looking for something and saw a big fat J.R.’s ad. They are not being reviewed because they are an advertiser. They are being reviewed based on enthusiasm from their regulars. In fact, my initial impression of the inside was not positive – I did not even recall that it was a bit overdone. Not in a way to keep me away, just be prepared that it is a bit folksy.

Lots of country style items on the walls, wooden booths and paneling. There is nothing inflammatory, it is just not my style. But hell, it is a barbecue joint, what should I have expected, white tablecloths? I was picking up take-out anyhow. The staff is young, friendly and upbeat. They seem to enjoy working there. I appeared right at five o’clock when they were preparing for dinner, which allowed me to observe them. I read the paper and drank tea while I waited.

The menu is enormous – everything from salads, loaded potatoes, along with chicken, pork, turkey and sausage barbecue. They have lunch specials that I will cover first. There are 13 of them (I guess they’re not superstitious) that include a lunch sampler with beef, pork and ribs with baked beans and drink ($6.99); a hot-and-spicy pulled barbecue sandwich with fries and drink ($6.49); and a pork sandwich with fries and drink ($5.99). I hear they do a brisk lunch business.

The only appetizer on the main menu that caught my attention was western nachos ($7.49) with cheese, barbecue sauce and a choice of chopped beef or pork. They have a soup of the day and chili, either of which can be paired with a house salad.

JR’s is famous for their stuffed baked potatoes – a ranch and smokehouse, one topped with chili and another just loaded. To try one, I choose the smokehouse ($5.89) with smoked pulled pork. Truly an oversized potato, it was heavy on the butter, a bit shy on sour cream, but had at the very least a cup of pork. Barbecue sauce came on the side. While I was anxious to try all the other food we ordered, when I got home I thought I should taste the potato first. It was good, but I will tell you that the other items just “over shone” this like an August day. But the next day for lunch I was glad to have that tater.

When it comes to “plates,” there is a panoply. Of course the combination platter ($13.99), which comes with a choice of four meats – beef, pulled pork, chicken, sausage or ribs. Chicken and ribs ($14.69) has a half slab of their “award winning” ribs and half a smoked chicken. But one combo is creative for barbecue – the Surf and Turf ($16.99) a platter with two skewers of grilled shrimp and half slab of ribs on a bed of rice pilaf.

Others include the smoked pork plate ($9.59) – slowly cooked for 16 hours; beef brisket that is slow-cooked for 18 hours; smoked sausage ($9.59) and smoked turkey ($9.49). And everything comes as a small or large sandwich.

So what else did we eat? As you may remember, my daughter and I love ribs and theirs are “award winning.” They come as half slab ($12.79), slab for two ($18.99) or full slab ($16.99). The whole slab was nicely smoked, with a crispy, crackly outer shell. When I cut them, the bones slid out. This crackly outer skin concealed the tender, reddish inside of well-cooked meat. And, there was hardly any – and I mean any – fat.

I think these are our new favorites, if I can get my tail out to Airport more frequently. We devoured them, so they won the award. Plenty of sauce was provided.

My son and wife gobbled up pulled pork sandwiches (small $3.79, large $4.79), crowded with pork laden in sauce. Again, there was no gristle and a tender, subtle hint of smoke. I ordered three and they ate them (well, maybe I had a bite). All of the plates and ribs come with baked beans that are sweet with brown sugar, a wonderful “spicy” Cole slaw, with lots of pepper and potato salad (too much mustard and cubed potatoes for my taste).

There was absolutely nothing left but the potato that did not last 16 hours later. JR’s is well worth the trip. Just make sure you carpool, and only mow your lawn once the heat of the day is past so you can mitigate all that ozone you will create while waiting on those Airport Boulevard traffic lights

Kinnon Phillips is Lagniappe cuisine editor. Contact him at kphillips@lagniappemobile.com.

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