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fancycwabsAs you might recall, a couple of months ago I created a Google Map showing the location of every barbecue restaurant in Memphis, and on a whim, I sent a link to the food writers at the Commercial Appeal so they could link it in their blog. Since that time, I've had about 1,200 hits to the map, which is kinda cool, but not anything to write home about.
A week or so ago I got an email from one of the writers asking if she could interview me for a story that they'll run in the paper in conjunction with the Memphis in May barbecue cookoff on May 16, and I figured what the hell. Death threats notwithstanding (folks here take barbecue seriously), it would be kinda fun, so we scheduled to meet at The Bar-B-Q Shop for an interview over a plate of ribs. She wasn't feeling well that day and we had to reschedule.
We rescheduled for yesterday at lunch, at a little place called Uncle Sam's Barbecue, which is located inside Range USA. Take a moment and consider that.
Now, I've never been a fan of guns--while as an engineer I admire their efficiency as tools, and I certainly have no problem with guns or gun lovers, I myself am not one. I've never fired anything more powerful than a pellet gun, more out of lack of opportunity than anything else.
Still, if you're making a barbecue map, you've gotta be comprehensive--not that the juxtaposition of shooting and ribs isn't enough to pique my interest anyway.
Saturday morning was spent getting a replacement for Mrs. Cwab's tire which had suffered a puncture wound. She'd hit a pothole in the donut spare during the storms Friday night and bent the rim pretty severely. After all that was accomplished, it was off to lunch.
After the storms it was a really nice day. A couple of folks driving up stared at me as I took this picture, which made me a little nervous.
The interior of Range USA features, um, guns. And lots of gun-safety classes.
Wander around the corner, and you find the entrance to the restaurant area:
The restaurant itself is mostly a (restaurant-style) grill area a few tables, and two big windows through which you can watch folks target shooting.
After a few minutes of watching target practice, the CA reviewer showed up and I forgot to take pictures of anything else. We discussed me, barbecue, technology, firearms, and the state of the newspaper business, which seemed kinda wide-ranging for an article about barbecue, and we had to leave to make our next appointments before the interview was really finished.
The barbecue itself was pretty good. The CA reviewer mentioned a lack of pinkness in the meat which would indicate a lack of smoke in the cooking, but we eventually found some outside bits of the shoulder that showed telltale signs of smoking. The sandwiches were slaw-free, which is odd in Memphis, but the buns were toasted and everything had a pretty good flavor. Sides were passable; doctored beans from a can and okay potato salad. Still, a really entertaining place to have lunch, and somewhere I'll likely return to take guests for a unique (as far as I know) dining experience.
I'm pretty sure the reviewer's coming back to have the full dinner and shooting holes in things experience at a later date.
A week or so ago I got an email from one of the writers asking if she could interview me for a story that they'll run in the paper in conjunction with the Memphis in May barbecue cookoff on May 16, and I figured what the hell. Death threats notwithstanding (folks here take barbecue seriously), it would be kinda fun, so we scheduled to meet at The Bar-B-Q Shop for an interview over a plate of ribs. She wasn't feeling well that day and we had to reschedule.
We rescheduled for yesterday at lunch, at a little place called Uncle Sam's Barbecue, which is located inside Range USA. Take a moment and consider that.
Now, I've never been a fan of guns--while as an engineer I admire their efficiency as tools, and I certainly have no problem with guns or gun lovers, I myself am not one. I've never fired anything more powerful than a pellet gun, more out of lack of opportunity than anything else.
Still, if you're making a barbecue map, you've gotta be comprehensive--not that the juxtaposition of shooting and ribs isn't enough to pique my interest anyway.
Saturday morning was spent getting a replacement for Mrs. Cwab's tire which had suffered a puncture wound. She'd hit a pothole in the donut spare during the storms Friday night and bent the rim pretty severely. After all that was accomplished, it was off to lunch.
After the storms it was a really nice day. A couple of folks driving up stared at me as I took this picture, which made me a little nervous.
The interior of Range USA features, um, guns. And lots of gun-safety classes.
Wander around the corner, and you find the entrance to the restaurant area:
The restaurant itself is mostly a (restaurant-style) grill area a few tables, and two big windows through which you can watch folks target shooting.
After a few minutes of watching target practice, the CA reviewer showed up and I forgot to take pictures of anything else. We discussed me, barbecue, technology, firearms, and the state of the newspaper business, which seemed kinda wide-ranging for an article about barbecue, and we had to leave to make our next appointments before the interview was really finished.
The barbecue itself was pretty good. The CA reviewer mentioned a lack of pinkness in the meat which would indicate a lack of smoke in the cooking, but we eventually found some outside bits of the shoulder that showed telltale signs of smoking. The sandwiches were slaw-free, which is odd in Memphis, but the buns were toasted and everything had a pretty good flavor. Sides were passable; doctored beans from a can and okay potato salad. Still, a really entertaining place to have lunch, and somewhere I'll likely return to take guests for a unique (as far as I know) dining experience.
I'm pretty sure the reviewer's coming back to have the full dinner and shooting holes in things experience at a later date.
