Percy Street Opens Tomorrow

[Holly Moore]

Percy Street, serving Texas style barbecue, opens for dinner tomorrow at 900 South Street, same block as Whole Foods.

Haven't been there yet, but I am already frustrated. Everything is priced individually meaning a half pound of brisket with small sides of beans and greens will cost me $19 plus drink, tax and tip.

This link goes to a Grubstreet slideshow on Percy Street. First slide is their menu.

I was at Kreuz Market in Lockhart TX earlier this year. Here's their menu with pricing:

Pricing is pretty much the same all through Hill Country. Yeah, I know Philadelphia operating costs are higher - especially when a place spends as much for their barbecue machinery as a Texas pit-master spends for his new pick-up truck.

I'm just saying, work with me. Let me get a quarter pound of brisket, a sausage and two sides for between $10 and $15. Some of us don't have an oil well in our back yard like JR.

[mrbigjas]

Pricing is pretty much the same all through Hill Country. Yeah, I know Philadelphia operating costs are higher - especially when a place spends as much for their barbecue machinery as a Texas pit-master spends for his new pick-up truck.

I'm just saying, work with me. Let me get a quarter pound of brisket, a sausage and two sides for between $10 and $15. Some of us don't have an oil well in our back yard like JR.

i think you're pissing in the wind, there, holly.

after all, this is the same crew that charges $8 for a dish of hummus over at zahav. doubling standard hill country prices strikes me as pretty much par for the course, if not relatively inexpensive.

gonna have to be a sausage flown in from smitty's or kreuz's themselves to be worth $11, tell you what. and even then it won't be.

otoh, i miss that stuff, a lot. and i might indulge myself. and i am prepared to be disappointed, and feel ripped off.

damn you, food memories.

[Old Man Jenkins]

Whether the people involved in Percy Street want to admit it or not, chances are the place is going to be closer to Fette Sau in Brooklyn than anything south of the Mason-Dixon. Independent beers by the gallon? Check. Young, urban chefs imitating (albeit respectfully) southern tradition? Check. Higher prices? Check.

So you can't compare the prices to the deep, deep south. It's another country, and one that doesn't have the overheads of South Street.

At Fette Sau you'd get a half-pound of brisket, half-order of baked beans, and (shock!) not have the choice of greens. You'd pay almost the exact same amount before drink and tip. Plus you don't have to pay for the round-trip bus to NYC and back.

Expecting disappointment begets disappointment. Will I eat there? Yes. I will eat there and will make a complete mess of any shirt I dare wear to the table. If the food is good, I will eat there. If it's too expensive, I won't eat there as often. The more barbecue the better, I say.

[Bluehensfan]

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

[mrbigjas]

Expecting disappointment begets disappointment. Will I eat there? Yes. I will eat there and will make a complete mess of any shirt I dare wear to the table. If the food is good, I will eat there. If it's too expensive, I won't eat there as often. The more barbecue the better, I say.

very good point.

and really, making brisket, ribs and sausage a little more prohibitive, price-wise, is probably a good thing for all of our cholesterol. i sure hope it is good. you can't get sausage like hill country sausage anywhere else. in some ways i like it almost as much as the brisket.

[Mummer]

Texas is beef country. Pork chops, yeah, but no pulled pork. I dunno if they include pork scraps, but I think of the sausages as beef products, also.

As an aside, Smitty's blew Kreuz away during both Lockhart visits in the last two years. Worlds apart in moisture and taste of the brisket. And Smitty's prime rib is to die for!

[Jaymes]

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

As others have pointed out, Texans very much prefer an expertly smoked beef brisket to southern-style pulled pork. And you very rarely (if ever) find sweet baked beans with that brisket. It's soupy pintos for us, spiked with jalapenos or other chiles, and slurped up from a bowl or cup with a spoon. Our sauce isn't particularly sweet either. We do like smoked ribs and pork chops, but as far as flavors go, think more about chuckwagons and cowboys out on the open range and less about brown sugar and molasses.

[Bluehensfan]

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

As others have pointed out, Texans very much prefer an expertly smoked beef brisket to southern-style pulled pork. And you very rarely (if ever) find sweet baked beans with that brisket. It's soupy pintos for us, spiked with jalapenos or other chiles, and slurped up from a bowl or cup with a spoon. Our sauce isn't particularly sweet either. We do like smoked ribs and pork chops, but as far as flavors go, think more about chuckwagons and cowboys out on the open range and less about brown sugar and molasses.

I guess Texans aren't big on cornbread (or sweet potato fries...chuckle) either? And I was born in Texas...you'd think I'd know these things having lived there the first few months of my life.

[Jaymes]

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

As others have pointed out, Texans very much prefer an expertly smoked beef brisket to southern-style pulled pork. And you very rarely (if ever) find sweet baked beans with that brisket. It's soupy pintos for us, spiked with jalapenos or other chiles, and slurped up from a bowl or cup with a spoon. Our sauce isn't particularly sweet either. We do like smoked ribs and pork chops, but as far as flavors go, think more about chuckwagons and cowboys out on the open range and less about brown sugar and molasses.

I guess Texans aren't big on cornbread (or sweet potato fries...chuckle) either? And I was born in Texas...you'd think I'd know these things having lived there the first few months of my life.

Texans are very big on cornbread as long as it's not sweet. Often served as a side with a bowl o' red (chili). Or with those Mexican-style soupy pinto beans I mentioned. Or with stewed greens. Or stewed okra and tomatoes. Or gumbo. Or black-eyed peas, especially on New Years Day. Or mixed with seasonings and stuffed into our Thanksgiving turkey. Or crammed down into a glass with cold buttermilk. Or crumbled into a bowl with milk poured over and eaten as a morning breakfast cereal. Or as a side to the 'blue plate special' at a meat-and-three home-cookin' restaurant.

Oh yeah, we're plenty big on cornbread.

And sweet potato fries are available everywhere in them trendy restaurants. They're pretty good, so I'd say we're 'big' on them. But I'd be surprised to discover that they're considered traditional Texas food.

________________

Edited November 18, 2009 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

Wow...no baked beans (pinto beans?) or pulled pork? Yikes!

As others have pointed out, Texans very much prefer an expertly smoked beef brisket to southern-style pulled pork. And you very rarely (if ever) find sweet baked beans with that brisket. It's soupy pintos for us, spiked with jalapenos or other chiles, and slurped up from a bowl or cup with a spoon. Our sauce isn't particularly sweet either. We do like smoked ribs and pork chops, but as far as flavors go, think more about chuckwagons and cowboys out on the open range and less about brown sugar and molasses.

I guess Texans aren't big on cornbread (or sweet potato fries...chuckle) either? And I was born in Texas...you'd think I'd know these things having lived there the first few months of my life.

Should add a caveat here. Texas is such a big state that the style of barbecue does vary. As you get more east, and closer to Louisiana and Arkansas, you'll find the barbecue changing along with the scenery. It's very likely over there to find more typically "deep south" style barbecue, which is sweeter. So you'll get sweet baked beans instead of western-style cowboy pintos, sweeter sauce, ribs and pork.

And for dessert, sweet potato pie instead of banana pudding.

[philadining]

So, there are indeed pinto beans on the menu, although we didn't try them, so I can't describe the style...

We dropped by really late on their first night, so we couldn't be completely surprised that they'd run out of a lot of the meats. I'm sure they'll eventually be able to estimate how much they'll need on any given day. So our assessment of the the brisket, ribs and pork belly will have to wait but we did get to try the chicken and the sausage.

Both were good, if not mind-blowing. I enjoyed the juiciness of the coarse-ground sausage, but couldn't help wishing for a deeper smokiness, and maybe a little more spice. Still, it was good, and it will be interesting to see whether they continue tweaking the recipes and smoking procedures, or if they've settled on how they want to do it.

The chicken had many of the same attributes: nicely moist with a prominent smoky flavor, but one that didn't seem to penetrate too deeply into the meat. That said, it had a nice chicken-y flavor - you know how some restaurant chicken doesn't taste like anything? I would have loved the skin to be crisper, or drier or something, it was a bit rubbery in some sections. The smoke flavor itself is not what one usually finds around here from Hickory or fruitwoods, it has a sharper, edgier twist. That might just take some getting used to, or might just be a matter of personal preference, I haven't made up my mind yet...

The collard greens were quite good, in fact some of the most skillfully-cooked that I've ever had. The texture was just about perfect: tender without becoming mushy.

I enjoyed the German Potato Salad too, especially the forkfulls that included some bacon. The warm, tangy potatoes were falling-apart soft, which is how I've always had it, so it was comfortingly familiar, as well as being a good accompaniment to the meats.

Pecan pie was spectacular. Really, really good. The nuts were chopped, which we prefer to intact halves, despite how attractive that is. There was a toffee/caramel/praline toastiness to the filling, not just nuts and syrupy sweetness.

So... I certainly can't make any grand pronouncements before trying the ribs and brisket, something I hope to rectify soon. What we had was certainly enjoyable, but I'm not sure whether it would draw me back again and again. We'll see - it's too early to say for sure.

If the brisket and ribs are good, I'll be there all the time, regardless of the prices.

[Rico]

Could the smoke flavor be from mesquite instead of hickory? I know that's my favorite for brisket ...

And I look forward to the brisket verdict! I always feel as if it's the red-headed stepchild of barbecue meat. I mean, of course, outside of Texas.

[Holly Moore]

Most of the places in the Hill Country around Austin seem to use post oak. One neat thing about taking the "tour" is that every place has different style sausage and all are great. There were a few coarse ground sausages. Was that the half pound portion of sausage?

[philadining]

Was that the half pound portion of sausage?

Yes.

I also forgot to mention that the meats are served with some raw onion, a few slices of pretty ordinary pickle, and some dense, but pleasant-enough white bread. I could definitely go for some more interesting pickles...

We had a half pound of sausage, a half chicken, two small sides, two draft beers and one slice of pecan pie. A little over $50 for a decent amount of food for two people, in the future I might get more sides, or larger ones.

And I had heard that Percy St uses Oak in the smokers, but that is second-hand info, or third hand, so I'm not completely sure that is correct. But I believe that would indeed be authentic for Texas barbecue, many different kinds of wood are used in that style, but as Holly says, Oak is common.

Edited November 19, 2009 by philadining (log)

[Carlson1105]

Went last night, and I have to say it was great! Never had real Texas Brisket, but this was the best I ever had. Simply rubbed with salt and pepper and an outstanding smokey flavor. The sausage was really good as well. Tried the pintos, collards, german potato salad and the mac and cheese, and they were all very tasty too. Mac and Cheese was one of the best versions I've had. Three of us had a pound of brisket, half of sausage, half of ribs, a large side and 3 small ones, as well as 4 beers and the check was about $70. Very fair in my opinion.

We went early, so everyting on the menu was available, very organized for the 2nd night open. I'll be back soon for sure.

[philadining]

Do you remember how many ribs a half-pound was? And how were they?

[Carlson1105]

3 very large pork ribs for our half pound. I found them a little chewy, but I'm more of a baby back person. Great smoke flavor though. Don't miss the brisket.

[Holly Moore]

Chewy often comes from pushing the ribs, cooking too fast. Probably one of the toughest challenges for any new bbq place is scheduling production to demand. Percy Street's menu doesn't seem to have any go-to's for meats unsold at the end of the day so assume they will under produce and run out rather than over produce and toss (or reheat).

Carlson, did you get the wet (moist) or lean brisket?

[Jaymes]

Probably one of the toughest challenges for any new bbq place is scheduling production to demand. Percy Street's menu doesn't seem to have any go-to's for meats unsold at the end of the day so assume they will under produce and run out rather than over produce and toss (or reheat).

Well, that's certainly typical of the best Central Texas meat markets. They smoke the meat overnight and then the next day, when it's gone, it's gone. You have to get there pretty early - at least no later than 1pm, and preferably closer to noon, if you want to be absolutely positive to get your favorite cuts.

[Carlson1105]

Got the wet brisket, nice and juicy and hardly any fat at all.

[philadining]

Interesting mixed experience at Percy Street:

First, wow! the brisket was awesome. We tried both the "moist" and the "lean" and while different, they were both delicious. The names are a little deceiving: we didn't find much difference in tho moistness or leanness between the two versions, but they are quite different. The "moist" seems to be cut from the point of the brisket, and therefore has more internal fat, as opposed to the layer of fat cap that adjoins the "lean" cut from the flat of the brisket. It's hard to make any broad assessments of the relative moistness or fattiness, because the long, slow smoking has rendered much of that fat out, but certainly some remains, which gives this beef its luxurious flavor and texture. It's not a lean cut of meat...

Paradoxically, the "lean" cut looks fattier at first glance, due to the more obvious strip of fat along the edge, and I suppose if one were trying to avoid it, one could easily not eat that part, although you're losing some serious flavor if you do that... The point is more irregularly-shaped, so you don't get the lovely slices, but the internal layers of fat and connective tissue make it more unctuous.

Percy Street's "Moist" Brisket:

The "Lean" Brisket:

We didn't try the "extra lean" because that just seems perverse when you're talking about brisket. If your preference is for lean meat, brisket is not what you want, and this restaurant probably isn't the place for you. But if you are a fan of brisket, they're doing a really nice job of it here.

On the down-side, we didn't like the ribs at all.

They're nice and meaty, and quite tender, but a few things bothered us. First was the texture. Rick Nichols reported in his Inquirer piece that Chef O'Shea is brining them, which is seen as heretical in some circles. As a result, they do indeed maintain a certain juiciness, but at the cost of an odd, hammy, squishy texture. Between the brining and the long slow cooking, they also become tender to the point of the meat pulling cleanly from the bone, which some people like, but I prefer a little more resistance.

But the bigger problem was the smoke flavor. While the oak they use seems to accent the brisket very nicely, for these pork ribs, the smoke seemed to leave a sharp, acrid, burnt overtone that we did not enjoy. We noticed a bit of that effect on the chicken as well. This could very well be a personal preference, but I'm not feeling inclined to get the ribs again.

We accompanied the meats with the German Potato Salad again, it's really good. We also tried the green beans, which we actively hated. I'm sure it's not the case, but they tasted like canned green beans like we used to get in the school cafeteria. And there was a tomato component that felt really out of place too. Perhaps we were just having disturbing flashbacks of traumatic childhood meals, but we couldn't eat them. We chatted briefly with a manager, who mentioned that Chef O'Shea is not really happy with them, and now that the place is up and rolling, she may change them. I certainly hope so!

We were too stuffed for dessert, which is too bad, because I've been craving that pecan pie, and I seriously need a root beer float. The Yard's Root Beer, brewed specifically for Percy Street, and available on tap, is delicious. We just sampled the straight-up root beer, but a scoop of ice cream in there would surely be a beautiful thing.

I'll try to save room next time, which will probably not be too long from now, because that brisket is calling to me...

Edited December 3, 2009 by philadining (log)

[boggah]

Been here twice. First time i enjoyed the brisket. GF got the pork belly, i didnt like the texture and thought it was bland. Sides are ok, neutral i'd say. Interesting note, the first time i went sausage was $11 for 2 links. Last night i recieved 3 links similar sized links for $9, so it seems for that item at least the price isn't too far off of texas pricing. I like the sausage but wish it had more spice to it.

[Andrew Fenton]

I really wanted to love Percy Street. It's only a couple of blocks from my house, and a first-rate neighborhood BBQ joint would be as good for my piece of mind as it would be bad for my arteries. And I really enjoyed Erin O'Shea's cooking at Marigold and looked forward to seeing what she'd do in a new location.

Unfortunately, it's not only a new location but a whole new genre-- less Bertolucci and more Leone-- and I found Percy Street to be a mixed bag. So in true western style, cue up the Ennio Morricone soundtrack:

The good. The brisket is excellent: rich, smoky, not afraid of fat. Really, it's the best thing on the menu and there's no reason to order any other meat there. Some of the sides stood out as well, including the pinto beans. I liked the green beans, and I think they've probably improved from Phil's visit: not a trace of tomato, for one thing.

The bad. Some of the dishes were pretty mediocre. The smoked pork belly was a little bland; it could have improved by being cured, cold-smoked, cut into thin strips and fried until crispy. (Hey, somebody ought to try that some time!) The BBQ chicken had excellent flavor, but was overcooked and a little mushy.

The ugly. The sausage was pretty foul stuff: loose, crumbly and extremely greasy. From what I've read, that's representative of Texas-style BBQ sausage; if so, they can keep it, because it's awful.

The bottom line for me is that the quality just isn't where it ought to be, especially at the prices. Better to walk a few blocks south, pick up some 'cue at Bebe's for a few dollars less, take it home and enjoy it with a Clint Eastwood movie.