Originally, the plan was to dispel the myth that small-town barbecue joints are automatically better than their city counterparts. It would have afforded me the chance to write that the only two things that are better in the country are traffic conditions and deer-processing butchers.
But I changed my mind because making that comparison between Bunkhouse Barbecue in Clifton and Franklin in Austin would have been unfair. So I'll just tell you what happened.
My friends Monike, Kaley, Lauren, Marcus and I decided to make the short trip to Clifton to dine at Bunkhouse on Saturday evening. Monike in particular has been promoting the idea of a multiple-week barbecue tour of the state that is supposed to include Austin and Lockhart, I think. She reiterated that desire as we were chatting at the Waco Downtown Farmers Market on Saturday morning.
I attempted to argue that I needed to watch the Ravens-Broncos football game that afternoon and that would keep me from joining them. But ultimately I couldn't resist making the barbecue road trip with good friends. Even though the Broncos-Ravens game went to double overtime, I don't regret my decision. I perhaps regret my decision not to ask the folks at Bunkhouse to change one of their two televisions to the NFL playoff game. I have no idea why I was shy about that at the time as I have asked many a restaurant manager to change the station to the sports game I wanted to watch.
But I take responsibility for my choice, and I feel good about it. Traveling to another town to dine with friends is always a good decision, especially since I have plenty of chances to sit on my couch and watch football. That's what I'm doing right now as I type this.
I wrote all of that to avoid writing something else. Here's what I'll say about Bunkhouse: the staff was more than friendly, the fried okra was as good as any I've had, and the sauce was delicious. Here's what I won't say: that you need to drive to Clifton to acquire ribs, sausage and brisket as good as the offerings at Bunkhouse.
And one more thing I won't do: compare it to Franklin in Austin, where I plan on eating on Tuesday. It wouldn't be fair.
