Maples Barbecue

[Roger S]

The sauce thing is just a force of habit because everyone here is used to lousy BBQ meat.

Not so much lousy BBQ as much as sauce is a regional thing. Our local BBQ is more strongly influenced by Kansas City style BBQ (sauced) than it is Central Texas style (unsauced). In fact Central Texas is about the only BBQ I know of where sauce, and eating with utensils, is frowned upon.

I don't particularly care for the style of brisket served in our region but a lot of people must like it to keep all the BBQ places we have, just in OKC, going.

I'd put the ribs from The Flying Pig BBQ and pretty much any of the Top 5 from the 3 rib tours I did up against ribs anywhere in the country. There was a pretty big difference between our Top 5 and the rest of the field over those 3 years and several of those that made it were in there all 3 years. So there was some consistency there.

I also think OKC is severly lacking in good pulled pork. Too many places serve that chopped, folded, spindled, mutilated pork I complain about all the time but like the brisket it must be selling... Just not my thing.

The best thing about Maple's and Texlahoma is they are expanding our regional BBQ options some and as I've said, either in this thread or another, I would really love to see someone bring a Carolina style concept to OKC.

Russ Garret was making some killer Carolina style pulled pork when he was cooking at the Bricktown Coaches and there was a small place on N. Western that was knocking the Carolina style pork out of the park but both are gone now. I don't know what path Garret took after Coaches closed but the other people moved to the NE part of the country.

OKC has seen an explosion of different styles and ethnicities of cuisine in the last few years and really seems to finally be embracing it. Which is a really great thing in my opinion. I remember when the first Churasscaria opened up on NW Expressway and people really didn't seem to get the concept at all.

So I can't go along with believing that our BBQ being lousy is the reason for sauce. Yes there is lousy BBQ to be found here but there is lousy BBQ to be found in Central Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, etc... too.

[Mott]

Not so much lousy BBQ as much as sauce is a regional thing. Our local BBQ is more strongly influenced by Kansas City style BBQ (sauced) than it is Central Texas style (unsauced). In fact Central Texas is about the only BBQ I know of where sauce, and eating with utensils, is frowned upon.

I don't particularly care for the style of brisket served in our region but a lot of people must like it to keep all the BBQ places we have, just in OKC, going.

I'd put the ribs from The Flying Pig BBQ and pretty much any of the Top 5 from the 3 rib tours I did up against ribs anywhere in the country. There was a pretty big difference between our Top 5 and the rest of the field over those 3 years and several of those that made it were in there all 3 years. So there was some consistency there.

I also think OKC is severly lacking in good pulled pork. Too many places serve that chopped, folded, spindled, mutilated pork I complain about all the time but like the brisket it must be selling... Just not my thing.

The best thing about Maple's and Texlahoma is they are expanding our regional BBQ options some and as I've said, either in this thread or another, I would really love to see someone bring a Carolina style concept to OKC.

Russ Garret was making some killer Carolina style pulled pork when he was cooking at the Bricktown Coaches and there was a small place on N. Western that was knocking the Carolina style pork out of the park but both are gone now. I don't know what path Garret took after Coaches closed but the other people moved to the NE part of the country.

OKC has seen an explosion of different styles and ethnicities of cuisine in the last few years and really seems to finally be embracing it. Which is a really great thing in my opinion. I remember when the first Churasscaria opened up on NW Expressway and people really didn't seem to get the concept at all.

So I can't go along with believing that our BBQ being lousy is the reason for sauce. Yes there is lousy BBQ to be found here but there is lousy BBQ to be found in Central Texas, Kansas City, Memphis, etc... too.

Yes indeed, we have a less than a stellar food culture. There are bad croissants in Paris, but there are excellent ones if you make the effort to go to the right patisseries, likewise BBQ, and any other food group. Perhaps it's history, the daily Oklahoman with no food page for ever, no proper criticism, maybe food people just don't want to move here. It's not like it or leave it, I want to have better food choices...

[pickles]

Yes indeed, we have a less than a stellar food culture. There are bad croissants in Paris, but there are excellent ones if you make the effort to go to the right patisseries, likewise BBQ, and any other food group. Perhaps it's history, the daily Oklahoman with no food page for ever, no proper criticism, maybe food people just don't want to move here. It's not like it or leave it, I want to have better food choices...

We live in a place where people were fixated on mere survival for a long time. A desire to do everything on the cheap permeates our culture, and I think it is probably an echo of that old priority. Like other forms of cooking, most Oklahomans have only been exposed to the cheapest and lowest forms of bbq - overcooked, heavily sauced meats, which have often been cooked many, many, many hours before they ever hit a plate. That's because it is the easiest way to make money with this kind of food, and because we not only tolerate it but wolf it down. This is why we are the fast food capital of middle America. When it comes to food, we love the lowest of the low here. We are making gradual progress, but this is still a very provincial place. Sorry for the negative take.

[Roger S]

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.....

Maples got a mention by the BBQ Snob in his Weekly BBQ News for Texas Monthly linking to the article by Dave Cathey from The Oklahoman.

[2Lanez]

We live in a place where people were fixated on mere survival for a long time. A desire to do everything on the cheap permeates our culture, and I think it is probably an echo of that old priority. Like other forms of cooking, most Oklahomans have only been exposed to the cheapest and lowest forms of bbq - overcooked, heavily sauced meats, which have often been cooked many, many, many hours before they ever hit a plate. That's because it is the easiest way to make money with this kind of food, and because we not only tolerate it but wolf it down. This is why we are the fast food capital of middle America. When it comes to food, we love the lowest of the low here. We are making gradual progress, but this is still a very provincial place. Sorry for the negative take.

Not sure about all that. I think we just don't have a true style. Most places are trying to imitate another style, or aiming for something middle-of-the-road for mass appeal or commercial reasons.

Similar to what I've heard about why Chinese food here is lacking. Often it's Vietnamese families appropriating Chinese recipes, because Chinese food has had mainstream appeal here for decades, whereas Vietnamese cuisine has only become trendy within the past few years.

[TheTravellers]

We live in a place where people were fixated on mere survival for a long time. A desire to do everything on the cheap permeates our culture, and I think it is probably an echo of that old priority. Like other forms of cooking, most Oklahomans have only been exposed to the cheapest and lowest forms of bbq - overcooked, heavily sauced meats, which have often been cooked many, many, many hours before they ever hit a plate. That's because it is the easiest way to make money with this kind of food, and because we not only tolerate it but wolf it down. This is why we are the fast food capital of middle America. When it comes to food, we love the lowest of the low here. We are making gradual progress, but this is still a very provincial place. Sorry for the negative take.

Sorry for being off-topic, but this, yes. My family eats anything that's put in front of them, and they'll declare it "good" or "really good" no matter how crappy it is, especially if it's cheap or free, even if me and the wife are barely able to choke it down.

Planning on hitting them when the weather and their operation gets more stabilized...

OKBBQEA - where do you recommend for pulled pork (if anywhere) in the metro?

[tsou89]

Billy Sims has really good pulled pork. Yea I know that sounds weird. And I'd probably not get anything else there but their pulled pork is solid. They sprinkle a seasoning on it and maybe that's why it tasted good. Bash away. It's ok.

[Roger S]

Sorry for being off-topic, but this, yes. My family eats anything that's put in front of them, and they'll declare it "good" or "really good" no matter how crappy it is, especially if it's cheap or free, even if me and the wife are barely able to choke it down.

My wife's family does this exact same thing and it drives me crazy.... One of her uncles comes to town from Enid and he always wants to go to Outback or Red Lobster and he'll go on about how amazing something is..... I haven't had an amazing steak at Outback since I was about 16 and then it may have only been amazing because I had not had a truly amazing steak at that point in my life.

OKBBQEA - where do you recommend for pulled pork (if anywhere) in the metro?

The Flying Pig BBQ has been good recently. They have stopped chopping, folding, spindling, and mutilating it. So it's more like pulled pork. I will usually order it at George's Happy Hog BBQ too. Neither are amazing but both are good... George's can be a little inconsistent while Flying Pig is probably the most consistent OKC option going right now.

And oddly, even though it's been about 6 years ago when I was dragged there before a Thunder game, I had pulled pork at Earl's in Bricktown that was pretty good one night.

I've never had much luck finding it the way I like it around OKC and I've kind of stopped looking for it because pulled pork is the most requested meat I cook.... My family even requests it for holiday meals now instead of the traditional turkey or ham and I've picked up several caterings after serving it at one of my pool league awards ceremonies and at a friends Shriner party. My sister is a caterer and she uses me for BBQ and has had me cook pulled pork for a couple of weddings too.

[Roger S]

Billy Sims has really good pulled pork. Yea I know that sounds weird. And I'd probably not get anything else there but their pulled pork is solid. They sprinkle a seasoning on it and maybe that's why it tasted good. Bash away. It's ok.

I won't bash away because I have had some pretty solid Q at some Billy Sims locations.... I've also had some really bad Q there.... So it's like eating from a roulette wheel.... Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

[TheTravellers]

Thx for the pulled pork suggestions, been meaning to try George's, and Flying Pig is already on our to-try list, I Just need to move it up.

[gopokes88]

Had it today. It's delicious.

[OKCRT]

Is there any place in the city that serves burnt ends? I have never tried them but I hear the KC peeps talking about them all the time but I never see them on the menu at any of the regular places here..

[sooner88]

Is there any place in the city that serves burnt ends? I have never tried them but I hear the KC peeps talking about them all the time but I never see them on the menu at any of the regular places here..

Backdoor has them, but not on a regular basis. They're really good, not a fan when they are overly sauced. Butcher Stand has them also.

[Thomas Vu]

The line didn't seem nearly as long today when I drove by ~11:15

[DoctorTaco]

Backdoor has them, but not on a regular basis. They're really good, not a fan when they are overly sauced. Butcher Stand has them also.

George's Happy Hog has them as a regular menu item. Or at least they used to.

[whatitis]

Went by today. Bad weather I figured would help. It was around 12:30. No one was there. Walked up and talked to 2 workers who said they had no power and sold their BBQ through waffle champion this morning. Would have been nice if they had posted this on Facebook or Twitter (NVM finally found where they tweeted it)

[macfoucin]

They also posted on FB they were selling their uncut briskets at Waffle Champion. They said the lot was flooded out. They picked a bad week to open but looks like they did pretty good considering.

[FighttheGoodFight]

They also posted on FB they were selling their uncut briskets at Waffle Champion. They said the lot was flooded out. They picked a bad week to open but looks like they did pretty good considering.

Ya I almost went and bought a brisket to smoke. Didn't really want to pay 100 for one though. It is my mothers birthday next week but I'll stick to my choice brisket at 40 bucks. Sorry Mom.

[Roger S]

George's Happy Hog has them as a regular menu item. Or at least they used to.

Haven't been there in a few months. When did you see burnt ends as a regular menu item?

Back Door's burnt ends have been more like shredded beef in sauce the couple of times I tried them.

Smokey's had them but closed.

Closest place I know that for sure has good ones is The Butcher BBQ Stand.

[OKCRT]

Backdoor has them, but not on a regular basis. They're really good, not a fan when they are overly sauced. Butcher Stand has them also.

Have to drive out the Butchers and check them out. Also, wonder why there is not an Ok Joes place here? I mean the name and all.

[Timshel]

Tried Maples today. I got there a few minutes after 11:00 and there were probably six people in line. By the time we got our food all but about four tables were taken (though not all were full). I was able to have a few bites of all of the meats and my experience mirrored what a lot of others have said.

The good:
- The brisket was great. As others have said, the best I've had at a restaurant in Oklahoma, although the bar is not terribly high.
- The sausage was great. Although it may not be the type of sausage people typically expect from an Oklahoma BBQ place I thought it was very good, though tastes, of course, differ.
- The flavor of the ribs was on point (more on the ribs below).
- I liked the mac and cheese a lot. Had a good black pepper kick to keep it interesting.
- Their sauce was good, though not necessary with most everything I had.

The not so good:
- While the ribs had great flavor, they were still fall of the bone. Hopefully they'll continue to adjust/dial back their cooking times.
- The pulled pork was terribly dry. One bite was enough. I'm going to assume this was a one-off and that it will be better in the future.

Hard to find too much to fault for me as long as they get consistent with cooking times/doneness/etc. for their meats. Though it wasn't terribly busy the service was quick and they had someone walking around interacting with customers and cleaning up the tables. I look forward to seeing them succeed.

[sooner88]

We went today at 11:30 and there was a short line, but got out our food in 5 minutes or less.

We got 1 lb of fatty brisket, 1/2 lb of ribs and 1/4 lb of sausage, as well as pint of both mac and cheese and burnt end beans. The brisket was excellent, not over cooked and the fat had rendered really well. Next time we may try both fatty and lean just to compare. As said above, the ribs were slightly over cooked, but we thought they were still really good. Sausage was a miss for us. Not a big fan of the type that they chose, I hope they add options or change that as we won't order that again. Both sides were really good, but the mac and cheese was over the top good. We thought we may have over ordered for 3, but that ended up being the perfect amount. I tried the sauce and it was ok, but there was really no need for it.

[Pete]

Thanks for the reviews.

Sooner88, what was your total bill?

[sooner88]

Thanks for the reviews.

Sooner88, what was your total bill?

$50, ~$16/person. For the quality of meat and the amount we got we felt like that was a fair price. Not the amount I would typically spend at lunch, but we definitely felt like we got our money's worth. This is the time to go, as the weather continues to get better this place will be packed.

[Roger S]

- The pulled pork was terribly dry. One bite was enough. I'm going to assume this was a one-off and that it will be better in the future.

Sounds like they are consistent with both the good and the bad. Which is a good thing for the most part... Dry pulled pork is the only complaint I've really heard so far. Fall off the bone ribs has been mentioned to me several times but that may just be how they are going to cook them since it suits the tastes of most customers.

I'm going to go give it a try next week and I'm going to try everything but the brisket is what I'm really going to be the most critical of.