Taste of Texas

Taste of Texas, in downtown Spencerport, was recently reviewed by City Newspaper's food critic, James Leach. The Boy was overwhelmed with excitement when he first heard there was a new barbeque joint for us to try -- and one that received a rave review. So the other weekend we headed over to Spencerport, which is one of those downtowns chock full of "what a cute ___" places -- ice cream shops, waterfront bars, etc.

The good press was definitely helping out TofT because there were already people waiting when we got there, a few minutes before they opened the door at 1pm on Sunday. And about a dozen more came in by the time we were done. The service was very quick -- mostly because you order and the bar and the waiter/bartender/cowboy shoots the order down a zip line to the kitchen, where the alligator clip it's clamped to charmingly hits a cowbell. Perfect!

The food comes right out (or at least when you're there right after opening), and you pick it up, along with your fountain drinks, (beer, of which they have a large selection, is handed over at the cash register), sauces, soups if you ordered it, and even free loaf bread. I really liked that, as most no-frills (aka "legit") bbq places just provide loaf bread and nothing else.

I ordered pulled pork because the review said it was phenomenal. My two sides were fried okra and baked beans. The Boy had ribs, with Aunt Carla's broccoli and cheese and Aunt Nancy's cheesy potato. His complaint were that the two were perhaps a little too cheesy, cold, and heavy -- more in line with a school cafeteria casserole. I'd point out that maybe one shouldn't get two different side dishes with the word cheese in them. However, my fried okra was a bit of a disappointment as well. I was perhaps overly optimistic that it would be traditional Southern fried okra, battered by hand in the restaurant. Unfortunately, it was more in line with some kind of chain restaurants "poppers" or "bites" -- too much batter and not enough flavor. My spirits took a major nosedive when the waitress asked me if I wanted ranch dressing to go with my okra.

Both the ribs and the pulled pork measured up pretty close to Dino and Sticky Lips (although the pulled pork looked greasy, it mysteriously actually wasn't). The barbeque sauce was really, really good. A great match of sweet and spicy for my personal palate. However, the pork had definitely been dressed in the sauce with a generous hand. As were the ribs. I am an unabashed devotee of barbeque sauce, but this was a little much even for me. I think a word of caution for future visitors would be order sides that are acidic -- like the vinegar-dressed coleslaw. Fried and cheesy didn't seem to cut the sauciness, and while the baked beans were phenomenal -- the highlight -- with real bacon mixed in, they were too close in flavor to the sauce. My poor mouth just needed something different after awhile.