Reviews

Bringle’s Smoking Oasis – Nashville, TN

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Name: Bringle’s Smoking Oasis
Date: 2/19/22 and 3/5/22
Address: 4901 Centennial Blvd, Nashville, TN 37209
Order: Beef rib, smoked turkey, beef brisket, pork ribs, collard greens (link to menu)
Pricing: $$$

Speedy: As you dear readers know, Peg Leg Porker has been one of my favorite Nashville joints since I moved here in 2017. The ribs and wings are both some of the best you’ll find in Tennessee, but the menu limits itself to Tennessee style barbecue – basically all pork and chicken. So when owner Carey Bringle announced he was opening a Texas-style barbecue joint, well I was interested. Bringle’s Smoking Oasis opened in December 2021, but I had not had a chance to go try it until a friend visiting gave me the perfect excuse to head over for a Saturday lunch.

First things first – the space is awesome. Bringle’s Smoking Oasis is right in the heart of the Nations – an up-and-coming neighborhood in Nashville – as is walking distance to several breweries and other restaurants. For anyone planning a visit to Nashville, this is a popular Airbnb location, with lots of new “tall/skinny” houses popping up, and several condo complexes. In addition to being in a nice neighborhood, Bringle’s Smoking Oasis has a huge outdoor area with a large bar section. In the summertime, this will be the perfect spot to enjoy an outdoor beverage or two. The inside is small but functional – a cafeteria-style line and around a dozen four-person tables.

The cafeteria-style line works a little backwards, as you first grab dessert (I opted for apple pie), then hot sides, cold sides, and ended with the meat. I was initially planning to order some the brisket, but as I got to the meat station, I saw one lonely beef rib just calling my name. Usually reserved as a Sunday special, I was told that they had a couple extra beef ribs this week and made some for Saturday as well, and there was only one left. So of course, I had to go for it, along with a bit of turkey. Friend of the blog Nate ordered pulled pork, brisket, and pastrami (on recommendation from the slicer), so I knew I’d get to try most of the meats. One small complaint here – as someone who has been to a fair share of ‘cue joints in Texas, the line, in comparison, moved very slow, with the meat station generally slowing things up. Meat slicers in Texas are artists, and move with both grace and quickness. I’m hopeful this process will speed up in the future at the Smoking Oasis, but there was a bit of a backlog at times.

All that said, we were through the line and it was time to eat. I don’t want to bury the lede, so I’ll just say the beef rib was my favorite part of the meal. The cook on the rib was perfect – it was incredibly tender pulling right off the bone, and there was just the right amount of bark outside. There could potentially have been a little bit more seasoning (I’m a pepper fiend), but that’s nit picking. I’m glad I ordered the rib, though in reality it’s probably best to be shared with 3-4 people (the rib weighed in at 1.8 pounds, bone included). My turkey was also very flavorful with great smoke. It was just a tad dry, but I also got the end of the breast, so a cut off a freshly unwrapped cut would likely solve this. The flavor was great and I will be ordering this meat again.

As for the brisket and pastrami, I really feel like I didn’t get enough to judge, so I ended up taking a solo trip back two weeks later for another go. This time I went with brisket and pork ribs. The brisket ended up being better than I remembered, with good flavor and moistness; however, it was not as tender as the top briskets I’ve had and couple probably use a little more bark. Still, a fine effort and a meat I would order again. I expected the ribs to be exactly like the ones at Peg Leg Porker, but they were instead also cooked Texas style. The flavor was excellent, and the meat was tender, so no complaints. Based on memory, I would give a slight nod to Peg Leg ribs because of the rub, but I plan to side by side them in the future. 

Overall, I can’t recommend Bringles Smoking Oasis enough, especially on a nice day where the outdoor space can be utilized. I had high expectations going in, but they were all exceeded and Bringles will be my go to spot to bring visitors and vaults to the top of the Nashville rankings.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 5 hogs
Beef rib – 4.5 hogs
Brisket – 4.5 hogs
Turkey – 4 hogs
Pork ribs – 4.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs

Fresh Air Bar-B-Que – Athens, GA

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Name: Fresh Air Bar-B-Que
Date: 3/5/22
Address: 1110 Hull Road, Athens, GA 30601
Order: Sandwich plate with Brunswick Stew and slaw, single rib (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: Of all the regions of barbecue in the southeast, Georgia barbecue is probably the one I’m least familiar with. When I have visited the Peach State and tried barbecue restaurants (primarily in Atlanta), they are either heavily Texas-influenced (Fox Bros, DAS BBQ), a fusion-type place (Heirloom Market), or in the case of B’s Cracklin’ Barbeque, Carolinas whole hog. But, as friend of the blog Grant has passionately defended multiple times on his excellent food blog Marie, Let’s Eat!, there is certainly a Georgia style of barbecue with many sub-regions of its own. On a recent Monk family trip to Athens for a gymnastics competition, I purposefully sought out a more traditional Georgia barbecue joint in Fresh Air Bar-B-Que.

The original Fresh Air Bar-B-Que is in Jackson, about an hour’s drive south of Atlanta, and first opened in 1929. It is (according to their website) “the oldest pit-cooked barbecue restaurant in Georgia still in its original location,” and since that original location was opened by Dr. Joel Watkins they have expanded to Macon as well as a couple of locations in the Athens area.

Fresh Air has a simple menu of chopped pork, ribs, and chicken that comes in sandwich, basket, or plate form. I went with a sandwich plate with stew and slaw.

Fresh Air’s chopped pork was on the leaner and drier side (as can be the case in this part of Georgia according to the article from Grant above), so I added some vinegar sauce, slaw, and hot sauce. The sandwich was good, if a bit average.

I bought a single rib bone to try it out and it was well cooked with a slightly sweet sauce. I would have gladly had a couple more.

What really set the meal apart was the Brunswick stew, which was in the upper echelon of stews I’ve tasted. I’m by no means a connoisseur of Brunswick stew, but Fresh Air’s was a thicker stew as opposed to a runnier soup. The greenish slaw was made of finely diced cabbage but I’d take a Lexington-style red slaw over it any day of the week.

Unfortunately, a lot of the classic barbecue joints in the Athens area have closed in the past few years: Bill’s Bar-B-Q in nearby Hull, Paul’s Bar-B-Q, and Hot Thomas Barbecue. Of the ones still open, I would have loved to have also checked out Butt Hutt or Zeb’s or Bar-B-Que Shack and tried this chicken mull dish I’ve yet to have. Even after a visit to Fresh Air Bar-B-Que, it’s pretty obvious to me that I’ve barely scratched the surface of Georgia barbecue. Next time.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 4 hogs
Overall – 3.5 hogs

College Barbecue – Salisbury, NC

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Name: College Barbecue
Date: 2/21/22
Address: 117 Statesville Blvd, Salisbury, NC 28144
Order: Small chopped barbecue tray, Cheerwine (link to menu)
Pricing: $

Monk: Reviving an old pastime of mine, I used a banker’s holiday as an excuse to try out a new barbecue restaurant out of town. Looking to stay within an hour or so, I realized that Salisbury had another True ‘Cue-approved joint besides Richard’s an pointed my GPS to College Barbecue.

As I parked, I exited the car and got whiffs of wood smoke in the air. Good start, to be sure. Luckily, at this lunch hour the youngest Monkette and I found the last booth and as is the case with a classic NC barbecue joint had a drink and our order with the waitress within minutes.

As we waited for our food (chopped tray for me, kid’s cut up hot dog for her), the sounds of cleavers slamming down on a wood barbecue block filled the restaurant. Great sign number two.

Unfortunately, that optimism was quite met by the barbecue itself. I ordered extra brown but even still did not detect much wood smoke on the chopped pork. Or flavor, if I’m being honest. Only after a few dashes of the table dip and Texas Pete did I feel that the pork started to come to life. Even the red slaw was a bit on the bland side. puppies

The small tray only came with two hush puppies, though they were on the larger side to the point of splitting one with the Monkette. They were fresh but more on the savory end of the savory-vs-sweet spectrum.

College Barbecue has been smoking barbecue over Hickory wood coals since 1965 just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from nearby Catawba College where they presumably get their name from. If you’re in Salisbury, you couldn’t be blamed for going to there but next time my money would be going to Richard’s.

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 3 hogs
Pork – 3 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs

Noble Smoke – Charlotte, NC (Rudy’s take)

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Name: Noble Smoke
Date: 2/12/22
Address: 2216 Freedom Dr, Charlotte, NC 28208
Order: Little bit of everything (link to menu)
Pricing: $$

Rudy: It’s not every day that some of the Barbecue Bros are able to get together and eat barbecue.  Nowadays there has to be a big event to cause it and a couple weeks ago we had a big event! Monk was turning 40 and becoming a man, which gave us a great excuse to get together and celebrate that momentous occasion with some great food.  I had heard lots of great reviews of Noble Smoke and was looking forward to trying it out. So upon landing in Charlotte, I headed straight for the restaurant to meet up with Monk and others. In full disclosure, I worked at Jimmy Noble’s restaurant in High Point back in high school, but they didn’t give me an employee discount this day. 

Reading the website before I came, it said to make sure you arrive early because they can have long lines, so I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as space. We sat outside, which was a fantastic set up after flying in from snowy Michigan. I am not sure if they have expanded since putting that on their site, but it looked like there was plenty of seating inside and outside and plenty of parking.  I was really impressed with their setup.

Monk: I was honored that Rudy made the trip, though it made a lot more sense when he said it hadn’t been above freezing in Michigan in about a month. Regardless, we were treated to clear sunny skies and a high of 69 the day of my 40th birthday party, so it was a nice and perfect day to eat on Noble Smoke’s huge patio. 

Rudy: We had a large group so we ordered a little bit of everything from the menu. My main dish was a chopped pork sandwich with western slaw. I added their Lexington style sauce to get a traditional sandwich feel. I really liked the fresh bun and slaw but thought the best part was the barbecue (as it should be). Very traditional barbecue with great flavor and plenty of moisture.  It was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for.  

Monk: Unfortunately, we ran out of time for me to show Rudy the Lexington-style brick pits in the smokehouse where they smoke the pork shoulders in but I’m glad the sammie hit the spot. 

Rudy: The brisket was next and it was a good effort for brisket outside of Texas but wasn’t what I was used to after living in Austin for so many years. I like having more flavor on the bark and would have preferred for it to be trimmed a bit more than it was to remove some of the excess fat that did not render all the way down. Similar review for the sausage, good effort but didn’t get all the way there for me. Again, I would have preferred a bit more flavor, but I was also glad that I tried it and it was better than average.

For me, the best part by far was the sides. Normally when you say that about a barbecue place, it is usually a slight to the meat but that is not the case here; the sides are just that good! We had hushpuppies, mac and cheese, collards, pickled veggies, and brussel sprouts. Any one of them would have been a great side that would have stood on their own, but by far the brussel sprouts were the best. Not only were they cooked perfectly, they also came with a great dipping sauce, and there were a ton of them in an order. Great value and great food.

Monk: We may have gone a little overboard on the sides but I agree that Noble Smoke executes all of them at an extremely high level. Next time I’d recommend Rudy try the creamed corn but honestly I’m just happy that I got to share a barbecue meal with Rudy for the first time in a couple of years. And also that it was significantly better than the last two times we had barbecue in Ohio in 2020 at Ray Ray’s Hog Pit and Rudy’s Smokehouse.

Rudy: Overall I was very pleased with my experience at Noble Smoke. I don’t have the depth of experiences with Charlotte barbecue that Monk does, so I don’t know how it compares or ranks with other places around the city. But I thought the atmosphere was great, the food was great, and most importantly, the friends were great!

Ratings:
Atmosphere/Ambiance – 5 hogs
Pork – 4 hogs
Brisket – 3.5 hogs
Sausage – 3 hogs
Sides – 5 hogs
Overall – 4.5 hogs