The Bar B Que Place — Restaurant in White House

We were travellers for the eclipse, for background. I am also in the barbecue business, as a supplier to competition teams, for full disclosure. I don't cook, rather I supply ingredients to people who do cook BBQ.

I give this five stars, with a few caveats.

First, the only item that is actually BBQ is the brisket. Nothing else is cooked using "low and slow smoke". For example, the pulled pork would properly be called "roasted pork", not BBQ, but I understand why the term barbecue is being used...the nuance is lost on most customers. For what it's worth, there is a disclaimer printed on the back of the menu, which I did see before ordering. I don't mind roasted meat, but I do like to know before I order. As for the taste of the pork, it was very good, with a solid pork flavor, and nicely seasoned. Wherever they source their meats, be it Sam's Club or a local butcher, they should stick with the source! Good pork and beef flavor in the meat. You don't always get that.

As for the brisket, it was cooked well, but far too much smoke. My advice is to either wrap it or put it in the roaster before it gets a coating of creosote. Still, it was quite good, because, like ice cream, even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. It wasn't bad, just too much smoke for my liking. I'd say it was cooked perfectly except for the intense smoke flavor. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was either oak or mesquite, unless it was something else I'm not familiar with. I don't like mesquite, which might also be the issue. Too much oak can taste similar to just the right amount of mesquite. Whatever the flavor, it was just too much, in my opinion. YMMV.

I thought the sides were the star of the show, honestly. We had cole slaw and fried pickles. They were both excellent. They were better than the meats, actually, and the sauces were excellent, too. Nothing weird or unique, just well-balanced in the "Tennessee Red" style. Simple, but good. A perfect match for the pork. I really liked the sauces, both mild and hot. There was also an option "with smoke" which I thought was a nice touch...clearly labeled as having smoke flavor added, so you had your choice.

Service was excellent. My highest marks on that, and another reason I give a five star review. I didn't have to ask for an extra drink, and the young lady who waited on us had the perfect demeanor and answered my questions about the cooking method perfectly, even getting the owner (I presume?) involved.

Ambiance was nice. Typically, BBQ shacks are kind of like a picnic lunch in a state park. This is an actual restaurant. Comfortable seating, clean, nice.

So, in summary, nice roasted pork, decent brisket, excellent sides, good ambiance and five-star service. I recommend this over any chain restaurant if...

Moved to White House, and being a native Texan, my first order of business is finding a BBQ spot. This ain't it. I only had the pulled pork, but that's all you need to judge for a BBQ place. It's BBQ 101, and if you can't get that right, well.... So I brought 1 lb home, opened the box, grabbed a big 'ol piece....and preceded to almost choke myself. I've never had pulled pork this dry and bland. I'm not kidding when I say this, but it tastes like leftover Thanksgiving turkey that's been sitting on the counter all day. There is not one bit of smoke flavor in the meat. Zero. Completely flavorless. The sauce is also strange. Actually has a strong honey taste....not just the sweet, but the actual taste of honey. It's weird. Now, I may return to try some of the "regular" food on menu, but this is no BBQ joint. I grew up in BBQ Mecca (Texas Hill Country), and this BBQ would not be fit to be served by a school cafeteria. So, I guess my search continues. (And for goodness sakes, get the AC fixed or installed or whatever, it's 100 degrees outside, no one wants to eat in a hot...

In all the years we’ve been coming here, we just experienced the worst customer service. We always order dry ribs, no sauce. The sweet teenager taking our order, gave us the total. Then called the order out to the kitchen, she comes back to the window with an older white/gray haired woman (60+). The older lady very aggressively says, you want no sauce on the ribs, it’s going to be nasty, the product just isn’t the same with no sauce. Continues to be agitated saying, we can do light sauce. We’ve had customers complain how nasty the ribs are dry, we just can’t do it. If it’s the sweetness from the sugars, because you can’t have sugar, then you just shouldn’t be eating it anyways (assuming we were diabetics). Then asks if he wanted sauce on the side, husband yes. She looks at the young lady and says give him one sauce. Mind you we order them this way every time, and the original order taker, never had a problem with how we ordered the ribs. We just ordered dry ribs last Friday, with no issues. I do have a question for the establishment, is this...