BigHoss
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*BUMP*
Well, after way too long of a delay, I finally made it to Martin's BBQ joint this afternoon. If you get a chance to be anywhere around the Nolensville area of Nashville, you should definitely go there!
It's in a rather unassuming location, but that could also be part of the charm. It's not in the middle of the city...the section of Nolensville Pike where his restaurant is located is pretty rural (nothing like the other parts of Nolensville Pike that most around here call "Little Mexico"). When you pull up, you see the front porch and rocking chairs and you can smell the smoke. I had a feeling this would be a good lunch...
When I opened the door, a wave of bbq goodness hit me. Yes, this place would work. The decor is kinda country kitsch, with various license plates and southern cultural icons all over the walls (think Dukes of Hazzard). You pick up your menu and order at the window. You have the all the basic options: pork or brisket sammiches in regular or jumbo, platters of the same, ribs, smoked turkey, bologna, wings and chicken. Sides include baked beans, green beans, cole slaw, cornbread, fries, etc.
I went with two other people, and we had a good sampling of the sides. The pulled pork is very good. For comparison, I'd put it above Smokin' Ed's in Smyrna and Hog Heaven near Vandebilt. The brisket was very well done (read: tasty, not overcooked). It's definitely better than Texana (Hickory Hollow area); I haven't gone to Judge Bean's yet, so I can't say whose is better. I was fortunate to try both the hot and mild sauce. They're not kidding about the heat - you notice it. My girlfriend's mouth was on fire for a good five minutes after having sampling it. The mild sauce was the favorite of the table - it has a hint of sweetness that paired nicely with the pork The cornbread, about the size of a large pancake, was also quite notable as it was the closest my future mother-in-law has found to how her mother used to make. Next time, I think I will try and get the pork on cornbread. Oh! the smoked wings were phenomenal - even after three sandwiches and a giant piece of cornbread, I was so impressed by them that I just kept eating and eating. I didn't try the slaw, but it got high marks as did the coconut cake. I only had a bite because I was stuffed...thanks to Pat.
Once I introduced myself, I was given a tour of the restaurant and smoker setup. Despite being on the way out, he was very friendly with me, and was happy to talk shop for a while (I'm a bit of a BBQ nerd). I got a bit of a scoop on some future dishes and big picture plans, and based on what I had today, I am positive he has the skills to do very well in this town. After we went back inside (it was darn near 100 today), he brought out a bunch of other things for me to sample before he left. I have to say, it was not expected and very much appreciated.
Final thoughts: great food and atmosphere by a guy who clearly has a passion for his que. I hope you'll get a chance to try it next time you roll through our great city.
Thanks so very much for the kind remarks carpetbagger.........i really appreciate it! we're working our tails off and tryin' hard. We've had a lot of success but we are far from being out of the woods yet. We've only been open for 10 months, Lord willing we'll be successful at this thing. Keep coming out and tell all your friends please, I GOT KIDS TO FEED! keep me posted on that Cornell chicken! If any of y'all are ever in the area please come out and see us. check the blog for constant updates/humor
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Tracey,
How in the BLUE HECK did you know we're supposed to head down that way this coming weekend?
VERY quick trip, as this came up just yesterday. I'm still cravin' the real pit-stuff, and hope to get to meet the Boss Hoss.
And are you SURE you took that picture THERE? That's a mighty fancy-ass bottle sittin' next to that beautiful sandwich. Truffle oil, indeed!! Do I need to watch out for arugula in the slaw, as well?
tracey...thanks for reading my blog and posting this here on eGullet. Lord knows I have no idea as to how to post pics etc. here. racheld........please email me and let me know when you will be in, i'd love to meet you. i wont be having the fois gras/korobuta pork sandwich this weekend. but we are getting shrimp in from LA tomorrow and will be having shrimp po-boys this week with a lime/tobasco aoli. we also are going to be doing some of Bo's (my kitchen chef) jerk chicken with the 1/2 chix I smoke in the pit. He got the recipe from some really old balding "rasta" man down in the islands several years ago when he live working at Alexandria's. of course you can only have that after you have had our "Q". look forward to seeing you.
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Does anyone know where to find a manufacturer of tin tackers/tin signs for small microbreweries?
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i am so sorry i missed you......we're closed on sundays for church/titans games and mondays we're closed for prep. please come back as soon as you can! things are going pretty well for the 1st two and a half months. this has been learning experience like you would not believe!
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what are some of your recommendations? user friendly? interact with other programs, etc.? ProChef, iCook, etc...............
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oh yeah.....the phone number is 776-1856. the address on carpetbaggers post is correct.
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hey y'all sorry i've missed the posts here and holly im sorry about the lack of info. i have not had time to take a breath and because of that have not updated my blog or checked in with egullet. we are open everyday of the week except sunday (church & titans) and monday (prep day). saturday nights we have songwriters come out. things are going really well but almost too well. we were not prepared for all of the people that came opening week and therefore had some long wait times and even ran out of food at lunch on thursday. i think people understand that this was our first week but it kills me to inconvenience anyone. the feedback on the food has been awsome. this past weekend and this week have been very, very smooth. we still have some kinks to work out but for the most part those kinks are inventory, etc.. please come back by when you are in town again!!!
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my advice to you is to stay at it. try it again soon with a 6-7lb butt. when you get a butt thats almost 10lbs you might as well cook a whole shoulder (skin on ALWAYS). we cook shoulders 22 hours, sometimes longer than that in the winter. stay in your temp range around 225 and figure 2 hours per pound. flip half way through and flip again at the 3/4 mark. baste if you like the last few hours but your best bet is to have your butcher give you some hog skin with at least an inch of fat on it. lay it on your butt like a blanket during the last 4-6 hours of cooking for your baste. your life would be easier if you had a weber smokey mountain, green egg, or small off-set......it can be real frustrating when that internal has been sitting around 165* for what seems like a week, but just open another pabst and let it do its thing.
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thx racheld for the comments.......we are opening a week from today and i am getting a little excited and a little nervous about it all. i hope "they" come.....Lord knows i need it. i am running well over budget and am opening about 6-8 weeks later than i wanted to. i really, really need the cash flow. my short order cook is a life saver. we are doing prep tomorrow and wednesday. health dept is coming thursday. some of you have posted on the blog (http://martinsbbq.blogspot.com) and i want you to know i really appreciate it.........i need ALL the support i can get! Lord willing this coming sunday after church ill load that cooker up with shoulders for mondays lunch, that will be a good feeling.
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I have the answer for what you need. Great BBQ, don't go to Whitt's, it is a chain. You need to go to a little place called West Side Ribs in Franklin, TN just south of nashville about 20 min on old Highway 96. You could take the Natchez Trace from Bellevue (which is west Nashville).
west side ribs has been closed for a while (almost 4 years).......its now BB's BBQ. I would also encourage any of y'all to come out to my bbq joint I'm opening in Nolensville (15 miles southeast of Nashville). We'll be opening in about 3 weeks. It will be cooked every day fresh.....shoulders, briskets, etc..
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speaking of etoufee' how long is too long to keep in the fridge?
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I'm getting a "cannot be displayed" when I click on the blue above. I did go in through the one up earlier---what a tag team you had going...sledgehammers and toolbelts---beats a Porsche and lotta money in the appeal department.
Glad you can take your time---in your part of the country, Summer is almost everlasting, anyway. I used to live WAY South of there. And BBQ is NEVER out of season.
sorry.......i forgot to add ".com"...........here it is: http://martinsbbq.blogspot.com
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Is it THIS weekend? I lost track of the schedule. Anyway, best wishes for good smoke and great food, kind weather, sweet tea and a BIGGGGGG crowd.
ha.......racheld i wish it was. the town of nolensville screwed up a planning commission meeting for a variance i am seeking to enlarge the area off to the side where i will be cooking. that has pushed me back about a month!!! i could actually be open the 3rd week of this month if i wanted to but figured if its pushed out that far i might as well spend labor day with my family in corinth, ms and open up on sept. 7th because Lord knows i wont have much time with them after i open for quite a while. its actually taken some pressure off and givin me time to make sure things get done right the first time. we did all the demo work this week and will start construction this coming week. im also going to pick the cooker up this week. check out the blog.....it has really taken off, especially over the past couple of weeks. remember....there is NO "www" in the address. thanks for checking in with me though.....i really appreciate it!
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got 5 rows of corn this year......2 rows of "silver queen" and 3 rows of "peaches-n-cream". bought a brown bag of seed this past spring at a place in Corinth, MS., but i know a guy was selling it at the franklin (Tennessee) farmers market this past spring also. If you can't find it next year and want to grow it ill buy it and send it to you!
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Great day yesterday at the Music City Brewers Festival in Nashville, TN............If you ever have a chance to go please try, Nashville is really making some serious strides locally (local brew pubs etc.) and with this festival. 38 breweries were there.......there were like 6 in year #1! Check it out next year!
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yesterday i received word that the blog had a won a "best blog in tennessee" award at tennesseebloggers.com........it was very encouraging and i wanted to thank all of you who have kept up with it and posted! please keep posting if you can.....the more posts on the blog the more popular it will become. trying to steadily get it closer to "the front" or top of the page when someone does a search instead of being buried way down the list. below is a link to the site and again i thank all of you for your support.........its been a big help! http://tennesseebloggers.com/archives/2006...martins_bbq.php
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bookmarked.
have you been reading the mothership bbq blog?
carpetbagger......i hit the wrong reply button and replied to your post with lan4dawgs content. sorry about that.
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Good luck w/ it. I am very happy not to be in the restaurant business any longer but I did enjoy it while I was doing it. Of course owning the business changes your perspective of things (and I marked your blog to keep up w/ your progress).
Unfortunately I do not foresee us heading in that direction in the near future which is too bad as I really want to try it out. If we do ever get in that direction I will definitely darken your door way.
yeah its funny because a buddy of mine told me about that on sunday as i was telling him about the blog i had set up. i took a look at and its a very nice blog, i'd like for mine to be similar. i ate at the place about two weeks ago to try it out.
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over the weekend i started a blog of my new endeavour of opening up a bbq joint around nashville (nolensville to be exact). this blog is going to be as honest and open as my pride will allow it to be. i plan on showing the ups and the downs of this thing and eventually whether or not it succeeds or fails. youll read my emotions, the language and content might be funny or abrasive but rarely boring! i would be lying my ass off if i told you i wasnt scared. common sense says there is no way in hell i should be doing this but i am.......just a typical food lover following a dream. i try to ease my worries by telling myself that a) if it makes it ill be living my dream, or b) if it doesnt then at least i can say i didnt sit on the sidelines of life watching it roll on by. i would like to invite any of you that read this to follow along with me and read my daily posts, and please post comments of your own when you have them! -Good Lord knows i need the support and/or the advice! thanks!
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hoss,
i hate to say it, but whitt's, mrs.s winner's and loveless have some of the best sweet tea locally, if you were looking for ideas as to how sweet it should be. imho, the best is when you can pretty much just call it sugar water. the aforementioned places certainly take their sugar dial to 11!
for non-traditional teas, the fruit tea at green hills grille and peach tea at sunset are damn good. will you be offering fruit tea at your restaurant? if so, the fruit tea recipe in the nashville junior league cookbook is a pretty good place to start.
i'll ask my gf how she makes her tea, but i have a feeling her answer will be pretty much "by feel." i know she uses lipton family size tea bags and white sugar, but doesn't add lemon or let it sit in the sun.
c-bagger i dont mind that they have good tea.....hell i buy it there too! -and it is dang good tea. i wasnt asking in reference to my joint opening up because i'll be using my grandmothers process. if i didnt she would have a major problem with me. in her eyes, im still not too old at 34 for her to tell me to go out back and cut her a switch to whip me with.....and it better be a green switch!. anyway, ive got this newfound fascination with truly homeade tea and how it differs in the south. some folks swear by differnt brands of sugar, brands of tea (i like luzianne), the process of it etc............i thought becca porters post was very cool! i agree with jason perlow that folks that sweeten tea too much will have to answer to the lord about it one day............but tea thats made just right is straight out of heaven. -and unsweet can not be sweetened at the table and get the same results. id rather drink it unsweet if i need to do that. the tea at my joint will be semi-sweet.
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whats the best sweet tea you ever had? what brand or how it was made or what it was made of? do you use the sun? do you use fresh mint? brown sugar or white sugar? etc., etc., etc..
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i gotchya........i saw that close-up pic on your thread and thought to myself "ga-dang thats the biggest damn butt i've ever heard of". seen them 12-13lbs but never one 15lbs. that explains it! we are rolling along right here in arrington.....trying to stay cool. im in the barn with the fan on, ipod going (waylon jennings), feet in my little boys pool and 12-pack (minus 5) of P.B.R.. all that and im still sweatin' like a whore in church! temp is at 216*.......planning on taking them off and wrapping in a towel in the cooler about 9:00 or so tomorrow.
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nice job c-bagger................sounds like you had fun. the larger butt was a little too big. sounded like your "smaller" one was the right size. you should be looking for a butt in the 8-10lb range. as large as that butt was (15lbs) you might as well had cooked the whole shoulder like you were originally planning to do. glad that brinkman worked out for you....with it being in the 90's saved you a little anger. in the fall/spring (and of course winter) or very windy days you have to really work hard to manage your heat. in 57 minutes ill be cracking open a pabst blue ribbon (waiting till 9:00 am......and no i dont do this often but im looking forward to doing it today!). 1 sholder going on at 12:00. 8 slabs of spares going on early tomorrow morning.........have a good 4th!
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c-bagger, post us with your progress/end result when you get time...........
Martin's Dixieland BBQ Joint blog
in Southeast: Dining
Posted
carpetbagger & lan4dawg.....thanks for coming by the joint and thanks for the kind words about the food. in the next few days i may post an update on the joint and my experience since its inception. we're not out of the woods yet but we're trying hard, just serving the best and most consistent bbq/food we can.......the latter i have learned is one of the HARDEST challenges in the restaurant biz. y'all come in and eat anytime you can, i got kids to feed!