The second half of this BBQ Week has been an education.
At the beginning of the week, I perhaps planned to start with Tony DeMaria's and work my way through barbecue joints I had already tested and approved. From Tony D's to Vitek's to Uncle Dan's to Michna's and perhaps finish with Rudy's.
But somewhere along the way, I ventured off my beaten path and, to my benefit, experienced a slice of Waco barbecue I had missed until now.
It began with Jasper's on Wednesday and continued with Mama and Papa B's on Thursday and finally finished with Rusty Star on Friday.
My friend and "In Defense of Chains" rival Cameron Weed suggested that we try Rusty Star. Well, actually, he dined there previously and recommended it. But it sounded good and "new for me" has kind of been a developing theme, so we went for it.
Cameron informed me, as we were driving out to China Spring around noon today, that one of McLennan County's most famous residents, the Motor City Madman Ted Nugent took Anthony Bourdain to Rusty Star during an episode of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations."
This brings up an interesting question. Does Nugent like Rusty Star because it features mounted deer heads on the wall or did Rusty Star put up the deer heads to lure Nugent to the restaurant? I don't know the answer, though I will add that I prefer the version of Nugent that wields a guitar rather than a rifle.
And though I find Nugent's post rock-n-roll aesthetic kind of ridiculous, I agree with him about Rusty Star.
Cameron endorsed the jalapeño potato salad and, as usual, he was right on the money. It was delicious.
While Cameron and I each chose three-meat plates, the third member of our party, WacoFork creator Cory Webb, went for the chopped barbecue sandwich, which he seemed to enjoy as well.
Cory and I grew up on Uncle Dan's barbecue because it's good and it was accessible for us to eat during lunch period in high school. Cory said today that in his view of things, Uncle Dan's is Waco barbecue.
No doubt many people in town have the same perspective and it's a legit one.
But as I discovered this week, Waco offers many varieties of top-shelf barbecue.
