Texas BBQ

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

  Franklin included.

I’m old enough to remember when that was Ben’s Long Branch. 
Ben used to have a lunch special: two meat, two sides and tea for like $7.99 or something like that. 
You could also watch the prostis walk up and down the street. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by JerrysJheriCurl

[Texzilla58 4744]

There was a guy in front of me at the Abilene joint that made the 2017 TM Top 50 who insisted on having all of the bark and outsides trimmed off of his brisket - tasted like an ash try to him.  He was not pleased when they weighted all trimmings with the meat he ordered.  

Why not just go to Arby’s?

[DalTxHornFan 3117]

26 minutes ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

I’m old enough to remember when that was Ben’s Long Branch. 
Ben used to have a lunch special: two meat, two sides and tea for like $7.99 or something like that. 
You could also watch the prostis walk up and down the street. 

Mutton and collard greens was my normal order at Ben's, along with a Big Red, of course.  Not easy to find mutton lately.

[dcbc 14509]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

There's an article in Texas Monthly about how pretty much all of the good bbq spots use Lawry's seasoned salt.  Franklin included.

They may have it all figured out, but I tried it once (using the measurements from that old John Lewis interview) and concluded that it made my briskets not as good, like they actually needed salt.  We've always been a Nature's Seasons family anyway.

[kevwun 15897]

I know they have to add pepper, so they probably add kosher salt also.  I'm gonna buy a bottle to see how salty it is.

[kevwun 15897]

I have to make a bunch of beef ribs next weekend for a party and I'm going to experiment with it on a couple of them.

[DalTxHornFan 3117]

17 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I have to make a bunch of beef ribs next weekend for a party and I'm going to experiment with it on a couple of them.

You can't go wrong when you follow Aaron Franklin's approach to rubs:

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/aaron-franklins-barbecue-seasoning-recipe#aaron-franklins-homemade-dry-rub-recipe

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

Yikes:

 

[tx 3 putt 77426]

JM seems to have some very serious issues 

[kevwun 15897]

They spent a lot of money on that building and pit room.  Wonder if they are about to go under?

[royiv 9355]

That’s really shocking. They have been putting out really good stuff. I thought Willow had an ownership stake in the place.

[dcbc 14509]

48 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I know they have to add pepper, so they probably add kosher salt also.  I'm gonna buy a bottle to see how salty it is.

[JerrysJheriCurl 977]

1 hour ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Mutton and collard greens was my normal order at Ben's, along with a Big Red, of course.  Not easy to find mutton lately.

I used to go to Sam’s for lunch in high school and get that mutton sammich. 
It was real solid. 

[tx 3 putt 77426]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

They spent a lot of money on that building and pit room.  Wonder if they are about to go under?

the ownership better be very very worried 

[NoName 16405]

17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

the ownership better be very very worried 

absolutely, that's basically un-recoverable from a restaurant standpoint

 

[mycox 582]

46 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

the ownership better be very very worried 

Sounds like ownership wanted to go a different direction based on the article. Toomey might is older than Armybrat so who knows what he's thinking.

J-Bar-M owner John Toomey, a nonagenarian who built the restaurant as a lifelong barbecue dream, said “While we had some operational differences with Willow and Jasmine, we are deeply grateful for the time and heart they’ve dedicated to J-Bar-M Barbecue.”

 “Our plan was always to expand the restaurant to include evening service and a more extensive bar program so we could offer guests more of a dinner experience,” says Toomey.

[Texzilla58 4744]

Sounds like ownership wanted to go a different direction based on the article. Toomey might is older than Armybrat so who knows what he's thinking.

J-Bar-M owner John Toomey, a nonagenarian who built the restaurant as a lifelong barbecue dream, said “While we had some operational differences with Willow and Jasmine, we are deeply grateful for the time and heart they’ve dedicated to J-Bar-M Barbecue.”

 “Our plan was always to expand the restaurant to include evening service and a more extensive bar program so we could offer guests more of a dinner experience,” says Toomey.

Circling the drain talk. When you see a mass departure it’s usually because checks are bouncing. Or Toomey is batshit crazy with some of his new shit. Working a pit for twice a day service is backbreaking and challenge to quality control. Folks get fucked in the restaurant biz probably more than any other. Willow can find a backer and set up anywhere.

[Da Fino 2784]

I have been wondering about J-M for a bit. They look pretty empty in most of their instagram marketing. That's a massive building and build-out for an area of town that most people don't consider driving to unless they live in the area. I'm only in that area for Astros games. Can't imagine I'll be back anytime soon now. 

[jimmyjazz 46130]

I often wonder why people fuck with a good thing.  I mean, if it's not providing a decent living, OK, I get it, but if it is, I have a lot more respect for those who just roll with it and keep the cash flowing.

The restaurant business is hard enough in small amounts, why make it more complicated?

[kevwun 15897]

We ate at Black's in New Braunfels for dinner last week because we were in town for a wedding.  The brisket was not great and I think a large part of it was because they had been holding it too long.  I don't think you can have bbq available to serve for for 12 hours a day without having 2 separate operations cooking it.  There's a reason it's always been a lunch thing beyond the tradition of meat markets serving bbq.

Edited April 14, 2022 by kevwun

[Jerry Callo 8727]

We ate at Black's in New Braunfels for dinner last week because we were in town for a wedding.  The brisket was not great and I think a large part of it was because they had been holding it too long.  I don't think you can have bbq available to serve for for 12 hours a day without having 2 separate operations cooking it.  There's a reason it's always been a lunch thing beyond the tradition of meat markets serving bbq.

11:00 - sold out is the best way to hedge against not having enough and selling day old food. There is a real gamble smoking a second round. The other option is holding too long - although a brisket kept in pink paper in a warmer should hold for half a day. Once it's pulled and sliced, it goes down hill in terms of drying out pretty quickly.

[Da Fino 2784]

1 hour ago, mycox said:

Sounds like ownership wanted to go a different direction based on the article. Toomey might is older than Armybrat so who knows what he's thinking.

J-Bar-M owner John Toomey, a nonagenarian who built the restaurant as a lifelong barbecue dream, said “While we had some operational differences with Willow and Jasmine, we are deeply grateful for the time and heart they’ve dedicated to J-Bar-M Barbecue.”

 “Our plan was always to expand the restaurant to include evening service and a more extensive bar program so we could offer guests more of a dinner experience,” says Toomey.

Just saw on a facebook post by a relative of the old man that his grandson and grandson's wife are out also. 

[DallasSooner 279]

JBarM only been open a little while, someone probably been looking at the financials and decided they could double profits being open at dinner as well; with little thought to how that impacts everything else.  

[tx 3 putt 77426]

sounds like the owner is a huge dick 

 

Quote

According to Barela, none of the accolades seemed to matter to the owner. “Every accomplishment that we made, we were never allowed to celebrate any of it,” she says.

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/04-14-22-jasmine-barela-willow-villarreal-chefs-leave-j-bar-m-barbecue-eado

Edited April 14, 2022 by tx 3 putt

[Tylerocks 2553]

Man, only got to eat over there once.  Great food and an awesome set up with indoor/outdoor space.

With the quality of food he was putting out, I expected more of a crowd.  Place was practically empty.

Oh well, they might be able to keep the doors open by turning it into something like Kirby IceHouse.

[DallasSooner 279]

47 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

sounds like the owner is a huge dick 

 

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/04-14-22-jasmine-barela-willow-villarreal-chefs-leave-j-bar-m-barbecue-eado

Well that sucks.  You don't lose that many people and have me believe this was all part of the plan.  That joint may be looked at as toxic moving forward. 

[Texzilla58 4744]

11:00 - sold out is the best way to hedge against not having enough and selling day old food. There is a real gamble smoking a second round. The other option is holding too long - although a brisket kept in pink paper in a warmer should hold for half a day. Once it's pulled and sliced, it goes down hill in terms of drying out pretty quickly.

Exactly. It’s near impossible to do lunch and dinner in barbecue. Complaints from folks that come in 20 minutes before closing about being out of brisket or turkey just need to be shown the way to Colters.

Barbecue overhead in food costs, labor, and fuel dictates low overhead in everything else. It’s why it was centered in shacks, juke joints, and butcher shops. These latecomers think this barbecue craze will make them rich when it’s more like being a cashier in a casino; you might handle a lot of cash but can you put any in your pocket?

The big reward is tough to pass. We sell out every day; let’s expand to dinner. Add a liquor license. Add 100 more seats. Another pit. Then a second location which just geometrically complicates the business. Let’s open a bunch of stores usually results in collapse, or at best being a Rudy’s, at worst Dickeys. Dickeys is to barbecue what Jerry Sandusky is to little boys.

[Gourmand 7774]

7 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

Mutton and collard greens was my normal order at Ben's, along with a Big Red, of course.  Not easy to find mutton lately.

Sam's BBQ usually has it

[Gourmand 7774]

Is Cobo's any good?

[Seasick Sailor 3747]

5 minutes ago, Gourmand said:

Is Cobo's any good?

To be fair, I haven't tried it, but from what I've seen, the actual BBQ doesn't look very good. It seems like the place gets by on birria tacos and brisket-boudain-mac and cheese quesadillas. It certainly seems popular with the Astros twitter crowd though. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by Seasick Sailor

[Gourmand 7774]

3 minutes ago, Seasick Sailor said:

It certainly seems popular with the Astros twitter crowd though. 

Yep, i was curious if it's a decent place for serious cue or more of a "get wasted while watching/pre-gaming the Astros beat the shit out of the AL" kind of place.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Well fuck J Bar M. I don’t care who they bring in. Willow is a friend of one my close buddy’s and he was always cool to me. Hell of a cook. I hope he lands somewhere else soon.

[Okie State 3848]

Well shit, I never made it over there to try it. No reason to now.

[tx ind 7013]

25 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Well shit, I never made it over there to try it. No reason to now.

Yup this.  At least I’m 15 mins from Tejas.

[Gourmand 7774]

I don't  know anything about J Bar M, haven't tried it or even heard of it until this thread, but judging just from the pics (food looks great btw) I see a restaurant destined to fail because it looks like it's trying to be too much too fast. The space looks massive and the detail of the decor looks way too polished and trendy for a bbq-centric joint. They certainly built out a great looking brick and mortar home but in my experience that kind of money shelled out early on for fancy architecture and design usually puts most restaurateurs in a bind within a year or two. 

K.I.S.S.!!!!

Do you really need a full bar when you're a bbq joint???? Live music? A massive outdoor space??? All of that space costs money to operate and the only way to make it work is to rebrand yourself as not just a craft bbq joint or dumb it down so you can run on high volume instead (see: Salt Lick BBQ). 

 

[tx 3 putt 77426]

It’s a great location for the venue. Shame they couldn’t figure out the bbq location 

[GreenspointTexas 9664]

If Papa charlies couldnt make it over there…

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

My dad and I stopped into Desert Oak in El Paso today (yes, just yesterday I was eating at Feges in Houston). 
 

Brisket, very good

sausage, just ok (was hot guts style, but needed to be hotter)

ribs, pretty good (but I am not a rib guy)

Beans, pretty good but nothing phenomenal. 

Annoyed there wasn’t any pickled red onions. 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Just now, GreenspointTexas said:

If Papa charlies couldnt make it over there…

Willow is/was better than Papa Charlies. 

[deadshank 24653]

8 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

My dad and I stopped into Desert Oak in El Paso today (yes, just yesterday I was eating at Feges in Houston). 
 

Brisket, very good

sausage, just ok (was hot guts style, but needed to be hotter)

ribs, pretty good (but I am not a rib guy)

Beans, pretty good but nothing phenomenal. 

Annoyed there wasn’t any pickled red onions. 

You are a true American hero and an inspiration to all cardiologists.  I’m going long on Lipitor based solely on your never-ending BBQ hadj across the fruited plains.  
 

Have a great trip.  I look forward to seeing the photos. 

[speed817 19464]

Meant to post in this thread....

This guy probably used those slicing videos above as his guide...

https://www.reddit.com/r/dallas/comments/u3qa32/_/i4rjr6d

[Jive Turkey 12644]

On 4/14/2022 at 12:00 PM, DallasSooner said:

JBarM only been open a little while, someone probably been looking at the financials and decided they could double profits being open at dinner as well; with little thought to how that impacts everything else.  

see Pecan Lodge.  quality went down when Pecan Lodge built a bigger space and stayed open late for dinner.

[mycox 582]

The latest J-Bar-M gossip
 

Spoiler

Acclaimed new Houston barbecue spot J-Bar-M loses ace pitmaster, sides wizard

 

Alison Cook, Staff writer

April 14, 2022Updated: April 15, 2022 8:08 a.m.

 

Comments

 

5

 

1of5

Pitmaster Willow Villarreal is out at J-Bar-M Barbecue.

Robert J. Lerma

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pitmaster Willow Villarreal and executive chef Jasmine Barela are leaving the palatial new J-Bar-M Barbecue in EaDo. 

The restaurant and beer garden opened in November. In the 5 months since, it has received glowing notices from the Chronicle and Texas Monthly. With its sleek modern quarters, memorable food and huge patio, J-Bar-M seemed on track to establish itself as one of the premier barbecue destinations in the city, if not the state.

 

 

The main dining room at J-Bar-M Barbecue, a barbecue restaurant at 2201 Leeland.

In recent days, J-Bar-M has also parted company with its general manager and a front-of-the-house consultant, and manager Michael Fulmer, a co-founder of the Houston Barbecue Festival, has also given notice. The circumstances are bound to send ripples through Houston’s close-knit barbecue community. 

The move comes just days after J-Bar-M and pitmaster Villarreal were featured in an episode of Top Chef Houston that saw the contestants learning how to use the restaurant’s gleaming Moberg smokers to prepare dishes for an elimination challenge.

J-Bar-M owner John Toomey, a nonagenarian who built the restaurant as a lifelong barbecue dream, said “While we had some operational differences with Willow and Jasmine, we are deeply grateful for the time and heart they’ve dedicated to J-Bar-M Barbecue.”

 “Our plan was always to expand the restaurant to include evening service and a more extensive bar program so we could offer guests more of a dinner experience,” says Toomey. “ Like many other area restaurants, we have struggled with labor shortages, food costs and supply chain issues throughout 2022. While we didn’t all agree on the operational changes we needed to make for the restaurant, we have a shared passion and commitment to Texas barbecue.

“The hospitality industry is like a big family, and while we are sad to see Willow and Jasmine go, we support their decision and wish them the very best in all their future endeavors.” 

Interestingly, Toomey’s grandson, Charles, who has been an active part of the J-Bar-M operation, is no longer there, either. The younger Toomey’s wife, Lindsi, commented on a Facebook post about the moves that, “Sadly Charles & I are no longer affiliated with JbarM as of earlier this week. We are heartbroken.”

For their part, Barela and Villarreal walked out Tuesday after a meeting in which consultant Chris Paul, who owns Rabelais French bistro in Rice Village and was given authority over the J-Bar-M operations, announced a new management lineup. They had just had their biggest sales week ever, and should have been on a high from the Top Chef airing the previous Thursday and their appearance at the Houston BBQ Festival on Sunday.

“There’s nothing left here for me,” Barela says she told Paul and Toomey, whereupon she was told by Toomey to clear her things out. She took along her “Bible,” which held recipes and systems for producing her remarkable side dishes and desserts at volume. Emily Ferrara, who worked the kitchen with Barela, walked out with them.

Toomey had brought in barbecue and industry pros like Michael Fulmer, J.C. "Chris" Reid and Jess Timmons, formerly of Cherry Block, to help get the restaurant on its feet. They’re all either gone or on their way out the door, too.

Villareal and Barela say they were bombarded with frequent complaints from Paul and Toomey that the restaurant was losing too much money, but they say they were never shown figures that backed up the claims. “They couldn’t show us the details” says Villarreal.

“It didn’t add up,” says Barela. "They never showed us where these losses were."

She and Villarreal questioned why a restaurant expressing worries about food costs and labor would want to switch evening identities to operate as a table-service steak restaurant, with higher-cost ingredients and more labor, which was Toomey’s and Paul’s plan. 

Villareal and some of the other industry pros Toomey had brought in questioned whether that kind of switch in the restaurant’s identity was wise with the restaurant still so young, and still growing its reputation in the barbecue world. Now it’s about to happen without them.

In the end, says Barela, “We put every ounce of our being into that restaurant. It was turning into something toxic and totally different.”

Adds Villarreal: “Working under Chris Paul was something we couldn’t do.”

 

[deadshank 24653]

There’s no gossip like BBQ gossip. 

As the rotisserie turns.  

[Texzilla58 4744]

As I suspected, losing their ass and too many chiefs. Toomey built this monument to overhead and he’ll never get back his investment. It’s hard to make any music venue work, but bolting on a huge barbecue operation just buries the balance sheet.

[jimmyjazz 46130]

Who the fuck slices a brisket without separating it first?

[dcbc 14509]

16 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Who the fuck slices a brisket without separating it first?

I slice the flat in a fan pattern to where it connects to the point, then rotate it 90 degrees and continue to slice the point/flatunderthepoint

Edited April 15, 2022 by dcbc

[DalTxHornFan 3117]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Who the fuck slices a brisket without separating it first?

People that know how to do it right (Aaron Franklin style).  Here is your tutorial:

https://barbecuebible.com/2019/05/10/how-to-slice-brisket/

1. Cut the brisket crosswise into 2 sections.

After the barbecued brisket has gotten its beauty rest, cut the brisket crosswise into 2 sections: the flat and the point. 

2. Trim any excess fat off the top of the brisket.  (Not needed if you properly trimmed the brisket before rubbing and smoking.)

3. Cut off the tip.

Cut off the hard, dry tip (often somewhat overcooked) and dice it to serve as burnt ends.

4. Slice the brisket flat against the grain.

5. Cut the brisket point section in half widthwise.

6. Slice the brisket point pieces against the grain.

 

 

 

[jimmyjazz 46130]

Aaron will tell you the meat below the deckle is the leanest.  I separate it from the meat above the deckle.  They're very different.

[Braff Zacklin 13662]

20 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

My dad and I stopped into Desert Oak in El Paso today (yes, just yesterday I was eating at Feges in Houston). 
 

Brisket, very good

sausage, just ok (was hot guts style, but needed to be hotter)

ribs, pretty good (but I am not a rib guy)

Beans, pretty good but nothing phenomenal. 

Annoyed there wasn’t any pickled red onions. 

Brisket looks finominle. And if that reddish gleam I see toward the upper left is what I think it is, you're becoming like Ramjet and his Bert.