taste of texas

Yesterday, Sam and I went to the Swinging Door, a barbecue restaurant that has been highly recommended to us on several occasions. It takes a while to get there since its out the much more rural town of Richmond, south of Katy, but it was well worth it.

The decor was kitchy and included a fair amount of dead animal heads and bones, and country music came from a big juke box in the hallway. We got seated and our waitress gave us our menus and starters: dill pickle slices and onions, with a jalapeño on the side.

On the handwritten and photocopied menu, we found we could get almost any combination imaginable of the meats and veggies they served there. I saw a list of meats-- brisket, chicken, pork ribs, sausage, and pecan sauce-marinated turkey-- and a note on the menu said they also served ranch style beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and green beans. Sam and I discussed which meats we wanted to try and we concluded we'd just have to ask the waitress what the vegetable choices were.

Our waitress soon came with our drinks and bread (wonder bread, butter, and a cup of bbq sauce to dip it in) and asked us what we'd like to order. I told her it was our first time there, and she suggested we split the 3-meat, 3-veggie platter. That sounded good to us and we asked what the vegetables were. She said, "ranch style beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and green beans." Who knew coleslaw was a vegetable?

Anyway, we opted for the brisket, chicken, and ribs and beans, slaw, and green beans. In the mean time, we made little sandwiches of bread, pickles, onions, peppers and bbq sauce. That may sound gross, but don't knock it till you've tried it.

Soon enough our food came, and it was DELICIOUS! It was smoky and tender and the sauce was great. The ribs were huge and meaty, and we continued our sandwich creations adding in the brisket. And the green beans were amazing. They must have been cooked in bacon grease and had some nice garlic and pepper to season them.

All in all, it was great food (and a great price-- our platter was only $15!) and lots of it. Even after dinner and sharing some leftovers with Katrina, there's still an entire thigh piece of chicken for Sam's lunch tomorrow. It was fun and busy and so quintessentially Texan that if you come visit, we'll definitely take you there. Besides, Sam really wants to try the sausage. So if you want great barbecue and a good time, come visit us and the Swinging Door!

Just be sure to bring a change of clothes because you'll smell like a smoke house when you leave...