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| Chief & Snoogie's Sign |
It
was lunch time when we arrived and business was brisk with lots of
drive thru traffic and customers coming to dine in and to get orders
to go. The young guy working the counter was fast, efficient and
friendly, and, we asked how long they had been open and was told
since August of 2010. Further conversation was hampered by the
constant ding of the drive through bell and customers coming in the
front door.
The
menu board lists all the standard fare for a pork and chicken Q-Joint
in the south, but missing was Brisket which I overheard one customer
asking for. It woould have been a nice touch to have had a brisket
pulled pork combo plate on the menu. As usual though I ordered the
regular pork plate that comes with slaw, pickle spear and dinner roll
along with two additionally sides, of which I chose the potato salad
and beans. The other choices were potato chips or Mac-n-Cheese. We
were not offered a choice of sauces when we ordered and but were
served a watery vinegar peppery sauce that was heavier on the vinegar
than pepper. The sauce is suppose to be the vinegar sauce of
legendary Q-joints in Alabama but it misses it's mark on the
imitation and was a little on the sour side.
Their
barbecue is cooked on a Southern Pride wood over gas cooker. The
Southern Pride and/or the Old Hickory units are the standard in the
commercial bbq business. These cookers are capable of producing
excellent bbq if the Pit Master knows his craft. Chief and Snoogie's pulled pork did have a decent flavor, but was getting a little long
in the tooth in age. It was cooked a day or so before and then
juiced and reheated. How do I know this you ask? Well, because
after running a Q-joint for six years one knows all the tricks of
the trade and this was one of those tricks. I'm not downgrading the
flavor because of this though, so in my opinion it was fairly good
barbecue pork.
Now
here is where other folks and I may differ and that is on the sides.
A good Q-joint should have killer sides such as BBQ beans, tangy
mustard slaw, an above average potato salad and a good mayo based
slaw. Unfortunately, Chief and Snoogie's misses the mark on all of
these. Their slaw is just ground cabbage with sugar water mixed in
(Yuck), the bbq bean base was pork and beans (at least use baked
beans as a base) with some meat and watery pepper sauce mixed in and
heated for a while. The potato salad was suffering from an overdose
of sour cream and should have been sent to rehab to recover and then
enrolled in the 10 step process to remain clean. It really tasted
like a Food Service product that an attempt to doctor it up had been
made and failed.
If
your ever in the Midway/Trinity area check out Chief and Snoogie's
and see what your opinion of their BBQ is and report back here.
As
a professional barbecue judge, I would give the pulled pork a rating
of six and half, the sides a four since they were edible and overall
ambiance, décor, and service an 8. This would then give Chief and
Snoogie's an overall rating of 7.5.
Chief
and Snoogie's BBQ
23419
Alabama Highway 24
Trinity,
Alabama 35673
256.351.9904
Credit
Card Accepted
Catering
Service Available
Recommendations: Ribs, chicken, pulled pork.
Suggestions: Bring your own favorite sauce Alcohol: No.
Ambience: Small cafe
Service: Fast & Friendly
Vegetarian-friendly: Nope.
Price range: Most entrees $5 - $10.
The
opinions expressed in this review are the honest opinions of the
author who is solely responsible for it's content. This opinion was
not influence by any third party whatsoever. If and when you visit
the reviewed restaurant your opinion my vary greatly. So as always
YMMV!
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| Sign from previous BBQ Joint used as Wall Decor |
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| Menu Board |
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| Regular BBQ Plate, slaw, potato salad, beans and pickle |
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| The Wood Pile |
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| Southern Pride Stickig out of the building |
I agree with you. The pulled pork has a pretty good flavor but was reheated and dry. Sides could sure use a do over.I,ll probably eat there again if I pass through but will stick with a sandwich and chips.
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