Nothing Is Sadder Than Bad Barbecue

On Thursday night, BPLJ and Pescado treated us to Gus's Barbecue (mainly because Pescado wanted to go to The Cigar Sultan next door). Mr. Monkey and I had a great time with BPLJ and Pescado. Lots of laughs and good times!

I must say, however, that the restaurant itself was rather disappointing.

And that's saying a lot because the Monkeys love barbecue.

Gus's has been around since 1946, yet the place smacked of chainy-ness.

And we all know how I feel about chain restaurants. So very very sad.

Dinner started off well. The shredded onion strings were a mountain of greasy goodness.

But my pulled pork was pathetic. Pescado's opinion was right on point -- it was bland and not vinegary enough.

My side of "pecan rice" was disgusting. I couldn't figure out why it was called "pecan rice" because, no matter how hard I hunted, I didn't find even one pecan. It was just rice slathered with weird sweet stewed peppers. Gag gag gag. Luckily, my baked beans were tasty enough, as they were smothered with bacon and brown sugar.

Mr. Monkey's baby back ribs were decent but far from droolworthy. They paled in comparison to the ones we'd had from Dr. Hogly Wogly's Tyler Texas BBQ last weekend (and those were take-out, no less). The accompanying sweet potato fries and creamed corn were better than everything else we had. Thank God.

We ended with a slice of red velvet cake. This was pretty good, and the cream cheese frosting was particularly noteworthy, even if it was a bit excessive for my liking. When I said that, even Pescado agreed, "I can't believe I'm saying 'too much' and 'frosting' in the same sentence, but I think you're right."

I wanted strawberry cobbler, but they were out of it, which I found supremely irritating, as it was still early in the evening. I was also annoyed with the general level of service, which was rather inattentive.

I will not be going back, but I did enjoy catching up with my dear former co-workers. Thanks! It was great seeing you guys!