Here's What A Chef Orders To Test A New Barbecue Restaurant

From side orders of golden brown mac and cheese to thick, juicy slabs of chicken, pork, or beef, barbecue restaurants have plenty to offer their hungry patrons. While those generous offerings can be a welcome sight to the eyes, nose, and stomach alike, the vast array of choices can be just as overwhelming.

This is especially true when it comes time to test out a barbecue restaurant you've never been to. So, to help ease some of the anxiety with choosing the perfect barbecue meal, Rich Parente, chef/owner of Clock Tower Grill in Brewster, New York, shared his thoughts on the best order for testing out a new spot. A competitor on the Kansas City Barbeque Society circuit, he has a pretty good idea of what choice might best represent most barbecue joints. His pick? One of the boldest, beefiest cuts around. "My personal go-to order is brisket — if that's good then usually everything else is going to be a winner, too," he said in an exclusive interview with Chowhound.

Brisket is meat cut from a cow's breast or lower pectoral muscles. The animals use these muscles when moving around, so the meat is usually very tough. So, to get brisket ready to eat, pitmasters must cook the meat low and slow to break apart all those tough connective tissues until it finally reaches the beloved tender and juicy texture beef brisket is known for.

Aside from being a good choice of meat to order when judging a new restaurant, Chef Rich Parente also thinks brisket is one of the best things to get at any barbecue joint. One of the reasons for his passionate recommendation of this particular cut might be that its fattiness allows it to easily take on the flavor of whatever wood it's cooked with. That's important, and here's why.

Because the meat tends to be tough, quality brisket is wasted on a grill. Instead, chefs usually braise or smoke it, which requires plenty of time and attention. So, a flavorful brisket could mean that a barbecue restaurant adheres to a quality smoking process, which might be a sign that the rest of the restaurant's menu will be pretty good, too.

Another reason brisket is an ideal test order is because it's one of the barbecue meats that takes the longest to cook, so it will likely be one of the most tender and flavorful options on the menu. A tough or otherwise lackluster brisket could suggest a potential lack of experience or patience from the restaurant. Since those qualities may also extend to the rest of the menu, ordering the fatty cut makes for a great initial screening.

Regarding other things to pay attention to while at a barbecue restaurant that can tell you if the place is any good, Chef Rich Parente admitted that it can be hard to determine. To him, you often just have to dig into the menu and let the food speak for itself. "Honestly, I don't think you can judge a book by its cover. Personally, I think the way to truly tell you're at a good barbecue restaurant is by understanding the quality of the product and the ability of the team, and to do that you'll have to just try the food," he said. 

For some other options to try beyond brisket, Parente claims that beef ribs are another solid meat choice. Still, he admits that brisket reigns supreme. So, whether you're looking to dip your toe into this fiercely regional and quintessentially American style of cooking for the first time or you're just looking for ideas about what to order at a barbecue joint that you're setting foot in for the first time, all signs point to brisket.