Bartley’s BBQ — Grapevine, Texas
Life is mostly about expectations. That goes double for smoked meat. When you walk into a strip mall in Grapevine at four in the afternoon to order barbecue and there is only one other person in the joint, it’s tough to expect a superlative experience.
It took a moment for an employee to appear, and when she did she summoned the meat cutter, a large man who pointed towards what looked like a salad bar full of meat that had clearly been on hand since lunch. Despite Daniel Vaughn’s strong recommendation of Bartley’s BBQ, I was skeptical to say the least. But that’s why he is the dean of BBQ journalism, and I’m just a novice.
I started ordering my typical ribs-sausage-fatty brisket combination, when the man with the knife recommended I go for the all-you-can eat plate for $20 instead. I obliged, ordering a health helping of fatty brisket, baby back ribs and sausage, as you can see below.
The meat was brown, evidence it had sat for some time, and the sausage seemed packaged. The ribs looked more promising, a nice deviation from standard St. Louis spare ribs, but at best I was hoping for an afternoon snack that would measure up my typical BBQ experience back in Michigan.
Turns out I had no reason to worry. What Bartley’s lacks in ambience or aesthetics, it more than makes up for in flavor. The brisket was great, much better than anything back home. Juicy, surprisingly flavorful, with tasty bark despite being chopped into small square slice. The ribs were even better, sweet, salty, and delicious. They were perfectly cooked, and like the brisket, delightfully moist and juicy.
The sausage was the one miss, just inoffensive and not worth the real estate. It’s one thing to make great brisket that is sliced, served and sold out within a few hours. Brisket that sits this long and still eats this good is something special. Given the painless access and the bargain basement prices, Bartley’s is the kind of place where I could easily become a regular, if I lived anywhere nearby.
If you go:
Bartley’s BBQ
413 E. Northwest Highway
Grapevine Texas 76051
(817) 481–3212
Hours
Tuesday-Thursday 10:30am to 8pm
Friday-Saturday 10:30am to 9pm
Closed Sunday & Monday
