Pecan Lodge — Restaurant in Dallas

Lunch at Pecan Lodge in Dallas, TX today. I have for years heard rave reviews of this restaurant and have not yet tried it mostly due to there being long lines most of the times I have been in the area when in search of places to eat.

Pecan Lodge is located on Main Street in Deep Ellum, a restaurant, bar, club, office and loft district around a mile East of Downtown Dallas between Elm Street, Main Street and Commerce Street. Due to it being close to Downtown It is a convenient lunch spot as well as dinner for locals living nearby in one of the many loft or apartment buildings. Due to their high volume of customers they open every day starting at 11am with closing times between 3pm and 10pm.

Ordering was easy with a line starting upon entry with wall pieces displaying the articles and awards the restaurant has received over the years. A large menu behind the counter outlines meat by the 1/2 pound prices as well as meals, sides and deserts. Food is portioned in the kitchen after ordering is completed and then your order number and name is called to pick it up. A metal tray with butcher paper is used for serving which is the norm for restaurants of this type in the area.

Brisket- The bark was crispy and had great flavor and the smoke ring was pronounced. I opted for an "in the middle" cut which has the flat and point so lean and moist portions are included. The lean portion was better than most that I have had due to it being fork tender but not so much that it fell apart. Each bite was moist and had a heavier than normal smoke taste. The moist section required a knife to cut it and some of it was not rendered thoroughly. I had a 2" wide by nearly one inch tall section of non rendered fat left after eating the "good parts". When ordering just the lean or moist section this fat area is usually discarded.

Pork rib- Plenty of flavor and hard crust on the outside which for me made the thin outer portions of it mostly inedible. All of the meat pulled from the bone easily. The fat was rendered well and like the brisket there was a heavy smoke flavor.

Jalapeno cheese sausage- The grind was overly coarse and the center was pink. I ate enough to taste it but did not finish the rest.

Sauce- there were two types on the table, one was a thin type with large seasoning flakes and the other was a thick smooth type with a small amount of seasoning. I tried each individually and ended up mixing them together to get a smooth and flavorful option that helped to cut the smoke flavor of the meat.

Peach cobbler- The peaches were soft and had great flavor, the remainder was uncooked oatmeal and what could have been slightly cooked oatmeal with no pie filling. It was rough and after a couple bites I gave up due to having raw oatmeal to either chew to attempt to grind up or spit out. This was easily the oddest version of peach cobbler I have had so I dug to the bottom to see if maybe I had received a bad scoop on top. It was the same consistency top to bottom.

I would return for the brisket and to try other menu items that I had not tried on this trip. #dallasbbq #texasbrisket #bbq #porkribs #jalapenosausage #pecanlodge #deepellum...

Pecan lodge is definitely a place worth trying out. Starting off, you stand in a line to place your order. Your menu is the chalkboard that has a plethora of tasty options. Afterwards, you find your own seats. You can choose to dine in or outside, you even have the option to sit at the bar. Your order is ready for pick up, after they announce your number. With so many people coming in going, you would think the staff would get behind on keeping the place clean. Well, they didn’t get behind and I was quite impressed on how clean and ordering the staff were. My only complaint I have for this restaurant, is the fact they don’t offer free sides for the biggest entree on their menu. The “Through” meal cost $155 and even though it feeds 3-5 people. It should’ve included 2-3 sides for free.

The Trough meal consisted of the following-

Ribs (1lbs)- tender and the seasoning was absolutely delicious. It came with no bbq sauce grilled onto it, and it didn’t need any

Pulled pork (1/2lbs)- perfect amount of smoke to this meat. Squirt some of the table *sauce onto them, and it will add even more flavor to the pork.

Beef rib (1pc)- huge beef rib, that was seasoned to perfection. Every bite the meat fell off the bone.

Sausage (2pcs) - links was good and not greasy at all. The table sauce again added a good flavor to them

Brisket (1lbs) - nice thick slices of brisket. As juicy as these slices were, to me they were a little too fatty for my liking. I know many people like the fat in their meat because that’s where the flavor is. So if you’re that type of person, you will truly enjoy the brisket.

Sides-

Potato salad- Absolutely delicious… it’s very rare a restaurant makes a really good potato salad. But Pecan Lodge has it right

Mac and cheese- not a fan of the liquid cheese sauce type of mac and cheese

Fried okra- seasoned and fried good. No greasy pieces at all

Collard greens- totally different than what I’m accustomed to. These greens have a slight vinegar taste, but it’s followed by a sweet and tangy flavor. It definitely works and I like it.

*Table sauce- if you’re looking for the traditional bbq sauce, you can forget it. You won’t find that here, and if you did find it. I didn’t see it. Pecan Lodge sauce is thin and runny. It’s a vinegar based sauce that has a sweet and tangy flavor, is similar to what the collard greens taste like. This sauce is interesting, you either love it or...

Pecan Lodge is both our favorite bbq place in Dallas!! We tried 5 different bbq places to try in Dallas within 5 days. Their beef ribs and burnt ends were sold out. Fried okra is a MUST! I said wow, when I ate it lol Brisket, Pork ribs, and Turkey are amazing too! Just everything was at least good to fantastic. Way better than Hutchin's, Soulmans's, Rudy's and Terry Blacks. Apparently our Lyft driver said they love Pecan Lodge and a Lockhart BBQ (specifically Bishop arts district).

3 meat and 1 side $21, can't include beef ribs. Fried Okra!! I usually don't like fried foods and overly battered fried foods too. But this batter, season was amazing!! Short Ribs have an outer crunch, but tender inside. It's not overly seasoned or salted like other places. Brisket was tender, juicy and not overly fatty Turkey is was great too. Hutchin's was good too Mac and Cheese: SO enjoyed it.

Our first ever Texas bbq. And its been in Dallas. Everything was decent to incredible even for someone who's an extremely picky plant-based type of meat eater, and SO who likes to bbq and smoke food. We tried 5bbq places during our visit, below in order: Rudy's in Allen: Brisket was a bit fatty but had a very smokey taste. Soulmans in Allen: Chicken and Links are good. We didn't get to try chicken at other places. Hutchin's in McKinney: Fried okra was really good. Pecan Lodge was spectacular though. Hutchin's only had brisket, brisket links and sausages. Their sampling of Turkey and chicken were great but we didn't get to try more than that. Only the fried okra was good. Pecan Lodge is both our #1 favorite place. Brisket, fried okra was just wow! Turkey was really really good too but it's the only full dish turkey we've eaten. Overall everything was great! Whereas many places had maybe only 1 item that was good, until we tried better. Terry Blacks in downtown would be our number #2 fav place: The 1st place to actually have Beef Ribs available. So we couldn't compare the beef ribs to other places. It was delicious, a bit fatty, and stayed super soft even after reheats. The sausage was just as good as Pecan Lodge.

Definitely looking forward to trying Lockhart BBQ in Bishop arts district next time. Pecan Lodge and Lockhart BBQ were...