I’ve heard some whispers, mostly coming from the art department, that my blog has been too burger-heavy lately. Fine. Who wants barbecue?!
After a nearly 40-minute car ride into the heart of Waukesha, we pulled into a small parking lot of what appears to be an old bank. After growing impatient waiting for our fourth to show up, we decided to go buffet style, ordered ourselves a small feast and headed to the picnic table out front.
Surrounded on all sides by houses, the location is a bit strange. But, man, property values (not to mention cholesterol levels) for the adjacent area must have skyrocketed once this place opened. Personally, I can’t imagine living next door to a barbecue joint. I’d be dead within a month. The interior is rather stark. A lot of white from floor to ceiling punctuated only temporarily by black and white photos of war planes and 
other similar trappings. But who really cares what it looks like, right? I’ve eaten great barbecue out of the back of a motor home. Let’s get to the food.
People throw around the term “fall off the bone” a lot when talking about ribs. But, seriously, this meat fell off the bone. Kathryn Lavey went to pull up a rib and the bone pulled clean out. So, yeah, they’re pretty tender. At $12 for a half slab (plus a side), I don’t know if they can be considered cheap, but they were definitely fantastic. I don’t remember if we specified a level of sauce (hot, medium or mild), but of all the items we ordered, the ribs had the biggest burst of heat. Nothing overpowering or even sweat-inducing, but just a little kick in the back of the throat to let you know it’s there. Pitch perfect for me and easily the winner of the day.
The pulled beef and pork sandwiches ($5, plus a side) were both close runners-up – tender meat coated in a thick and sweet sauce with the perfect amount of tang to balance everything out. The chewy bun was gently toasted, which may seem like a minor point but it made all the difference to the integrity of the sandwich. Without it, the onslaught of sauce would have turned the bun into wet tissue paper. We ordered the pork with hot sauce and the beef with medium, and while both were well-balanced and tasty, we honestly couldn’t tell them apart from each other.
We also ordered some fried blue gill ($12, plus a side). The dredging was light and crispy – perhaps a tad greasy – and didn’t overpower the flavor of the fish, which was nice. Two of my dining companions complained that it was “fishy.” To me it tasted how fish tastes. Of the four entrees we ordered, it was easily our least favorite, which says more about the other three dishes than it does about the blue gill.
When we got to the sides, though, things started to fall a little flat. Although the sweet potato fries were thick-cut and subtly sweet, the regular fries were, well, regular – crispy enough, salty enough, but really just fries. The coleslaw, which was crispy and fresh, was lacking in seasoning – a simple dash of salt and pepper would have really brought it to life. And the macaroni salad seemed nothing more than plain noodles with shredded carrot and cheese tossed in. The entrees were so good that I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume the dressing was simply forgotten in this batch. I just can’t imagine it was actually a finished product.
Overall, Brown Bag BBQ was a great pleasure. Although the drive might be a tad long for an East Side homebody like me (especially when the venerable Speed Queen is so close), I couldn’t recommend it more for people who live out there or happen to find themselves out there doing whatever it is people do out there.
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