Hi Hugh! Thanks for reading.
We do not subscribe the the “3 tries” rule for a couple of reasons:
- There are just too many barbecue restaurants out there to try to visit a joint three times to judge it.
- If we don’t like a place, we don’t want to go back.
- Conversely, if we do like a place, we don’t necessarily write about it every time we visit. For example, Monk and I are regulars at both Queen City Q and Midwood Smokehouse in Charlotte, but I think our original reviews sum up our feelings pretty well. If something major occurs to affect our thoughts, we’d definitely post it.
- When possible, we like to eat/rate barbecue together. This is a little difficult with Rudy since he lives in Austin, but Monk and I eat barbecue together pretty regularly. Not often at the same place three times, though.
- When we travel, we like to check out the local barbecue, so eating at a place three times in such situations may not be feasible.
We also have been “saving” some of our favorite places – Red Bridges, 12 Bones, Lexington #1 (our all-time fav) – either because we haven’t been in a long time or because we would like to go with at least two of us. Hopefully we’ll get them knocked out soon.
So if we caught your favorite barbecue restaurant on a bad day, sorry – chances are we won’t be going back.
-Speedy