Recently a co-worker and I hit a new BBQ restaurant for lunch. Given the options of a pancake place or BBQ, the choice was easy enough. I was encouraged when I spotted a Southern Pride towable cooker in the parking lot upon our arrival and caught a whiff of hickory smoke coming from the building.
The restaurant is called Masterpiece BBQ. They have 3 locations and an apparently thriving catering business in the St. Louis area. I was hopeful when I entered the building. The atmosphere was consistent with most BBQ restaurants that are expanding into multiple locations these days. Red checkered tablecloths, corrugated tin on the walls, and lots of pig related paraphernalia scattered about the place.
The menu was clearly displayed on a large board at the front counter, so I ordered up a two meat platter (pork & brisket) with garlic cheese bread and BBQ beans. And no BBQ meal is complete without sweet tea.
However, this is where it began to go south for me. As I paid for my lunch I looked up in time to see one of the food prep employees dip a glob of saucey meat onto a slice of white bread, followed by a second dip of thinly sliced brisket out of a vat of au jus. I let out an audible groan before I could help myself and a second one when a ladle of thick brown KC style sauce was poured over the whole mess.
All my hopes were dashed by the time the plate arrived at my table, but I dug in and tried the BBQ. The flavor of the brisket was okay but frankly with the pork being pre-sauced and then ladeled with the sweet KC sauce, it was hard to taste anything but the sauce. The BBQ beans were really tasty as were the green beans that my co-worker had as a side dish. The garlic cheese bread was a disappointment however. It was nothing more than a slice of cheese over a piece of thick white bread. It was “toasted” just long enough for the cheese to get soft, but I certainly wouldn’t call it toasted.
BBQ is always better than pancakes, but I probably won’t eat there again. Here’s my report card for Masterpiece BBQ.
- BBQ – C
- Side Dishes – C
- Atmosphere – B
- Value – B
- Overall – C
Cheers,
Braddog
grillandbarrel.com 