Bodacious Bar-B-Q — Restaurant in Longview

I was headed to the 2016 Red Dirt BBQ & Music Festival. The plan was to make the most of it and hit a few spots in East Texas the day before event. The original Bodacious Bar-B-Q opened up in 1968. Additional chain restaurants opened up later, but each one is individually and operated. The original location temporary closed when owner Roland Lindsey got ill. Lindsey's son-in-law Jordan Jackson had a culinary background and worked at Stanley's Famous Pit Bar-B-Q in Tyler. The restaurant is now open again with Jackson manning the pits and with Roland's health better. This was the first stop of my day.

I wanted to get to Bodacious by opening but ended up arriving right before noon. I was all alone on this four stop BBQ trip so I had to pace myself. I ordered a little bit of brisket, baby back pork ribs, and some homemade sausage. The brisket was... how would you describe it... stupendous. I have not been introduced to a good brisket in a while so it was a nice surprise. I could not stop myself from eating the tender beef. I kept reminding myself I had three more stops. The briskets are smoked for 20-22 hours!? They start in a mesquite smoke bath and finish with post oak. The bark and the well-rendered fat made for some good eating. The baby backs were pretty tasty. The sweet, smoky, and juicy meat did not give up a fight as it came away from the bone. Once again, my multiple stops day was putting a damper on things. I could have eaten a half rack easily if not a full one. The homemade sausage was a good effort. The brisket and pork shoulder blend had a good amount of fat, and the casing could barely hold everything together. I would have prefer a beefier sausage. Not pictured is the beans they give away. Although I only ate two bites, I thought they were on the better end of beans I have eaten.

The original Bodacious Bar-B-Q will be on my schedule every time I go to Red Dirt. The smoked meats were superb. I did not get to try the pulled pork but will definitely next time. Jackson and crew are doing great things. The locals do not know how good they have it. Some of them got turned off from other Bodacious locations and do not know what they are...

Ok, so I don't buy the hype when magazines say this place or that one is ranked #1 BBQ joint in Texas, but since this one was supposedly #2 in the whole state, I gave it a try. Then I've been going back ever since. Yes, it might be a bit crowded inside and the hours are short (dude, I'd like to buy dinner after 6pm and y'all close at 5 - I'm still at work at that time) but the BBQ is the best around (all the way up to Nashville). This is not your average Bodacious restaurant, or if this one is it, then all the others can't hold a candle to it. It's worth the drive from everywhere in Texas. I've had the brisket, the pulled pork, links and boudain and all were amazing. The fixings are great too, but I go there for the meat. Tender, perfectly seasoned, life-restoring meat. When you watch them get the brisket from the smoker, all wrapped in paper, and you see that perfect outer layer dark from all the smoke, and you can tell just how juicy it stayed while they're cutting it...man, it's worth it. Maybe it's better that they don't stay open longer - it'd be bad for my budget to go there everyday...but I'd still give it a try...

We arrived on the last day of their week, so my expectations were pretty low. I thought that we probably would only get leftover scraps since they were going to be closed for the following two days. BOY, WAS I WRONG! This was legit Texas barbecue. The sausage was very flavorful. The ribs were absolutely delightful. The brisket was some of the best I've had in Texas. I personally would actually put it above Franklin's! You also get free beans if you dine in. Which is where I have my only slightly negative feedback. They lacked flavor to us. We did add some of the spicy barbecue sauce to them, and it totally transformed them. I would suggest that they just add some to them after they finish cooking and just see how the customers like them. If they don't, then you should definitely try it if you find them bland also. I will definitely stop by the next time I'm...