Cheap Eats - Smokey Q, I love you

Grill hashes out thumb-suckin’ rib tips and po’boys with style



You almost expect, as you walk into Midtown’s impressive Smokey Q BBQ Grill, to make your way through the blue-gray smoke-tinged air and find a group of ancient blues musicians gnawing on ribs at a corner table. A dining companion pointed out that ventilation could be a bit better, but it suits me just fine. The smoke clings to your clothes and hair the way the sauce coats your fingers and the grilled corn sticks in your teeth.

Po’boy, rich flavor: Despite some of the good old barbecue pit atmosphere, Smokey Q feels open and modern. Housed in the former Blue Trout location, the 2-month-old restaurant feels like a contemporary cafe, with its brick walls, stained concrete floors and exposed ductwork ceiling. That same beautiful combination of the old and new carries over to the food as well. Traditional favorites, such as the outstanding shrimp po’boy ($5.99), aren’t worn-out or newfangled to the point of being unrecognizable. Instead, they’re superlative examples of their classic kind, prepared with care and skill. A split, lightly toasted hoagie bun is a pillowy home to the crunchiest, zestiest shrimp I may have ever eaten (and coming from the Gulf Coast, this is no small feat). The pulled pork sandwich ($5.50) is as outrageously tender as the fresh bun it’s tucked inside of, honeyed with a top note of mellow smoke.

Tip-top rib tips: A daily special of rib tips and two sides ($7.99) is a feast for all the senses. Bigger, softer tips are a glorious contrast of charred, porky fat with creamy meat beneath, while smaller tips are thoroughly charred and jerky-chewy. A mountain of perfect potato salad — lots of mustard, potatoes melting into the mayonnaise dressing — and a field of thin, audibly crunchy, addictive onion rings accompany the tips. The sweet, mildly spicy sauce has just the right balance of vinegary pucker. I give up on dining like a civilized being and dig in like a dog, wiping my hands on the Texas toast. Our extremely polite young server keeps the refills of house-made lemonade and sweet tea coming.

Beer can fan: A dark meat portion of beer can chicken ($4.99) with two sides elevates the lowly chicken to a godly state. You’ll delight in skin so delicately crispy that it melts on the tongue like butter. The meat is so rich and yielding an infant could eat it. Just this plate alone merits many return visits.

Smores ($6.50) are a fun, fondue- like way to cap off the meal. A lazy Susan set-up is trotted out, complete with dishes of melted chocolate and graham crackers, marshmallows and spears for roasting the candy clouds over the Sterno burner in the center. Dim the lights and you might imagine you’re sitting around a campfire. Should you choose to break into song, you’ll be singing the praises of Smokey Q.

cynthia.wong@creativeloafing.com