SNOHOMISH – OK. Now that the TV lights are shining on other stories, we decided it was time to write about the food at The BBQ Shack in Snohomish.
| 130 Ave. D, Snohomish; 360-568-7222, www.bbqshackonline.com
Specialty: barbecue Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday Price range: inexpensive Liquor: none Vegetarian: side dishes only Reservations: not available Disabled accessibility: easy access Credit cards: MasterCard, Visa |
In case you missed the earlier coverage, which included local print and broadcast stories plus a visit from CNN, Steve and Janelle Carpenter opened The BBQ Shack in 2004. First, the restaurant was in a concession trailer with outdoor seating. Then, they moved into a former Dairy Queen and started decorating, using a ’50s theme of black and white with red vinyl upholstery.
They added a mural outside of five dancing pigs, sans clothing, which is pretty typical for pigs.
The city’s design review board opposed the mural, they said, because it didn’t preserve the integrity of the historic downtown district.
Hence the news coverage of The BBQ Shack, “where the only thing covering our pork is sauce.”
Eventually, in the spring of 2005, the city council allowed the pigs to be “undraped.”
Through all this, the Carpenters were smoking – meat, not their tempers. In fact, their meat smoker sits at the south end of the restaurant facing the street.
My friend and I visited The BBQ Shack on a recent Friday night. Steve was handing out football candles prior to the big game, and Janelle was waiting tables.
Between orders, Steve appeared from the kitchen, selected a tune from the lava-lamp jukebox and disappeared into the kitchen. The night we visited, selections included “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.” Interestingly, the “hallelujahs” in this song came at about the same time as our order.
The ’50s decor and statues of pigs continue to be the theme of the restaurant, which has room inside for only three booths and three tables. A steady stream of customers kept this small eatery busy.
For dinner, my friend ordered the beef tri-tip barbecue sandwich ($6.95) and selected baked beans as his side dish. I picked the nightly special: grilled pork loin with garlic mashed potatoes ($8.99) and added a side order of coleslaw ($1.25).
The menu includes pork, chicken, links and ribs as a sandwich or a plate. Sandwiches have one side dish, plates include two. Sandwiches cost between $4.95 and $6.95, while the plates run $8.95 for the links to $23.95 for two large racks of ribs. There are also combo plates: two meats and two sides for $13.95 or three meats and three sides for $15.95.
The children’s menu lets youngsters chose between mac and cheese or a hot dog plus Jell-O, applesauce or chips and a drink for $2.95.
Speaking of drinks, The BBQ Shack serves sweetened tea, which is a favorite in Southern states. My friend ordered strawberry lemonade, and felt it lacked the lemony tang and was too sweet. Unfortunately, I ordered a diet soda before realizing I would have to referee this part of our meal.
My dinner included three juicy slices of pork tenderloin that had been smoked earlier. From a squeeze bottle at our table, I added a puddle of barbecue sauce to the flavor mix. The pork came with a hearty serving of not-too-finely mashed potatoes that included bits of potato skin and lumps. There’s no better way to let customers know they’re eating real potatoes than to do just this. The potatoes were topped with a tasty gravy. A hint of horseradish gave my straight-from-the-refrigerator coleslaw an extra zip.
At one point during our meal, my friend was holding the brown crock his beans came in to his mouth and tapping out the last of the beans and sauce. Steve, the owner, took pity on him and brought out another serving of beans.
I liked my dinner, but my dinner companion, who didn’t say a word while eating, had lots to say about his tri-tip sandwich. Barbecue is something few restaurants get right, he said, because the sauce is too mild, and even fewer places get beans right. The BBQ Shack does both just right.
Contact Anna Poole at features@heraldnet.com.
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