BBQ and an official blog announcement

I enjoy BBQ.   Something about slow cooked meat served with slices of bread and various potato dishes (mainly potato salad and fries) makes me act like Pavlov's dogs.   This enjoyment has led me to on a minor quest to find the best BBQ in the Twin Cities.   Thankfully I have someone else who shares my passion for the pig and is willing to barter beer for BBQ as we did this past Saturday when we added another place to our list.   This place was Pastor Hamilton's BBQ in St. Paul, MN and the ribs lived up to their hype.  If I was visiting the Twin Cities looking for BBQ this would be the order of placed I would go:

1. Ted Cooks - Still the best in my opinion.  I love the ribs, the unique sauce and the pulled beef.   One note of caution is that if you have an aversion to spicy foods then don't get any other sauce besides the mild.   I made the mistake of getting medium for M and she barely could eat any of the ribs because of the spice.   Personally I think the spice makes the beer colder and better.
2. Pastor Hamilton's - The ribs were literally fall off the bone good and while the sauce might not of been God's gift to BBQ it still was above-average.   Note that the pork is much better than the beef if you do go.
3. C & G's Smoking BBQ - Of course a BBQ places opens up within 50 yards of my former place of residence the month after I move out.   I mean it probably is a good thing since I would probably lose a lot of money and gain a lot of weight, but still I wish I would have had that chance.   I have only been to this place twice and both times I was welcomed with surprisingly good BBQ.   If this were M's rankings in fact I am pretty sure she would put this as her #1 place.   The brisket and the rib tips were both solid and while they didn't inspire the same level of passion as Ted Cook's they were very tasty.   I would say that you could do a lot worse than C & G's when looking in the Twin Cities.  Based on the small sample size it is kind of like a Jeff Hornacek type player.
4. Cap's Grille - I have only been once and honestly I don't really have much more of a desire to go back.   The food was fine, but why waste my time on this when I know there are other options better in the same area.   
5. Famous Dave's - The local chain that is all over Minneapolis serves  your standard BBQ for the suburbanites.   It is an all ways it is nonthreatening, but what else would you expect from a publicly traded company.   The BBQ sauce tastes like the generic brand you buy in a store and the meat isn't much better.   Of course it isn't terrible and in terms of service it is definitely more clean and more standard.   Really, it is just not my type of place....but that doesn't mean it isn't yours.   
6. Scott Ja Mama's - I loved the twice baked potatoes at this place.   In fact I wish I could get the twice baked potatoes at all the above mentioned places because it would go really well with good BBQ.   If you go please get the twice baked potato partly because that is the best thing about this small, hole in the wale BBQ shack with the friendly owner.   The meat itself is charred to the point where you just wish they would have given you more twice baked potatoes.   

And if this isn't enough BBQ reading I suggest your read the following manifesto of a place that I will be trying during my next trip to the 2nd city.    And of course this has me thinking about the dream purchase of a smoker, so that I can start my own operation.  

And now for the official blog announcement.   M and I will be getting married on June 5th, 2010.   The date has been set and the countdown has begun.   I am starting to rally the troops in terms of friends and the bridal party.   A website will be coming later, but all relevant information will probably be shared through this blog.