Danny's Little Taste Of Texas

Met up with BBQ reviewer extraordinaire Gary Goldblatt of Pigtrip.net Thursday night for a little BBQ at Danny's Little Taste of Texas in South Windsor, CT. Was a good time, and we had some pretty good Q for the most part.

The place was empty when we arrived at around 6:00 PM. It seems to me that they probably do a lot of takeout there, and are probably busier for lunch than for dinner. We took a booth in a more isolated area. The country music was pretty loud, and the decor featured all kinds of pictures, plates and other assorted trinkets with a Texas theme.

We started out with the smoked BBQ wings and a deep fried buffalo burger. The wings were ok, pretty dry but they tasted good. Half were sauced, the other half not.

I didn't like the deep fried burger at all. It was well done, and as a medium rare guy it just didn't taste right. I'm sure a lot of people would have really liked it, but it just wasn't my thing.

We got buffalo chili as the side order with the burger. I liked the chili's flavor, but it was loaded with large tomato pieces and beans, with very little meat. But don't get me wrong, it tasted good, and I ate most of it.


Sidebar: I'm sitting in a coffee shop called Phoenix Coffee in Canandigua, NY writing this. I came here because the place has a big Wi-Fi sign outside designed to lure people like me in. The owner of the place just came over and told me and a guy at the table next to us that in order to plug in our laptops, we have to pay a one-dollar "electric use fee." People never cease to amaze me. The place is also blaring some kind of religious chamber music. I know it is Palm Sunday but come on...

Back on topic: For the main courses, we ordered a special of a half rack of ribs and fries for $10, along with a combo of pulled brisket and pulled pork. The ribs were baby backs, and were clearly the best thing I had all night. They had a strong smoke flavor, were very tender and meaty. There was sauce, but just enough to compliment the rest of the flavors.


The beef and pork combo, the meat tasted ok. However, I honestly could not figure out which one was the beef and which one was the pork. Gary says the beef is the one in the cup, but I still believe they could have been interchanged and nobody would have noticed. But overall, they didn't taste bad. But I doubt the beef was brisket, was probably some other cut of beef, pulled.

Towards the end of the meal, owner Dan Ford came over and said hello. Nice guy, still hasn't lost his Texas accent, despite living in the middle of Yankeeland. Waiter must have tipped him off to the guys in the back booth taking pictures of the food.

Another sidebar: They just turned the chamber music off. Thank god (no pun intended).

Overall, the food was ok. They clearly make an effort to cook BBQ they way it is supposed to be done. They missed the mark in some places,and I personally feel the menu is way too big. I would scale it back a little and focus on their BBQ core. But I understand why they offer so much. They probably feel that in the CT suburbs, you have to appeal to the masses. They have been open for some time, so it is a formula that seems to be working.

I had a nice time with Gary talking about Q and competing. He is considering taking the leap into the competition scene, and I think he should do it. He has eaten enough Q to know the difference between good and bad. I think he will do well.