One of the things our friends with the Rocky Mountain Barbeque Association came up with was a “Bucket List” of local Barbeque joints here in Colorado. So every few weeks, we chose one of these locations and met up to sample the foods and see how their food is. Now we know it isn’t near what we feel would be competition quality Barbeque, but we have all ate enough food that people where calling Barbeque to know what is good and what isn’t.

In this review, I’ve decided to write on our experience in eating at Big Papa’s BBQ. In the State of Colorado, Big Papa’s has three locations, two in Littleton and one location in Denver, we ate at the Denver restaurant located at 6265 East Evans Avenue.

What I remember as my first empression walking through the door is how the smell of smoked food was in the air. This alone can get the taste buds going!

 A couple of members from the RMBBQA had started things off with an  appetizer of Catfish Nuggets that was shared with the group. Now I’m not a huge fan of Catfish, and its not something I go out of my way to eat or order at a restaurant, but I made an exception because of the smell and apperance of the nuggets. I found the Catfish Nuggets to be very moist and tender with a wonderful breading that wasn’t gressy or over fryed. So far so good!

One of the main reasons I was interested in eating at Big Papa’s was due to a review of if it that I read in a recent book written by both Ardie Davis and Paul Kirk entitled “America’s Best BBQ”.

One of the dishes they featured were Big Papa’s Bison Ribs. I love Buffalo and knew right away what I was ordering! I  chose their maccoroni and cheese with pit beans as my sides.

My AWESOME wife was with me for this lunch date and she ordered Big Papa’s two meat combo having Pulled Pork and Chicken The sides she chose were sweat potato casserole and coleslaw.

When my food arrived it looked great. The Bison Ribs were tender and moist with very good flavor.My only complaint, with most Bison Ribs there is not a lot of meat on them, but what meat their was it soon disappeared. The maccaroni and cheese was very good, the pasta was not over done and the cheese sauce was very good with a mild chedder taste. Like most Babeque places, Pit beans can make are break a good Barbeque. The Pit Beans at Big Papa’s were full of flavor. Light smoke flavor with a sweet tangie taste that made you want to just keep eating them and wanting more. Out of five stars, one being the absoulute worst Barbeque known to man and five being the best I’ve ever ate , I would give my meal a 4

My wife’s combo plate was delivered and found to be very appealing to the eye as well. The pulled pork and chiken were both very moist and tender with a light smoke flavor to our surprise the meat was not over done and was actually very good. The coleslaw was good with a vineger type coleslaw dressing. Next she ate the Sweet Potato cassarole. I knew right away that it had to be good when she looked at me and said “ you have got to try this!”

I thought it would be the average Sweet potato cassarole I’ve had before and choked down in some cases, MAN WAS I WRONG!! This Sweet Potato Cassarole was nice and fluffy had a nice blend of brown sugar and a hint of orange juice. It was so good, I had to go and order another side of it because my wife’s side just wasn’t enough for both of us! For this combo out of five stars this also received a 4

After you look at the menu for Big Papa’s I think you will see that the prices are real resonible considering the quality of food and the customer service you receive.

We plan on returing to Big Papa’s when we are in the area, and we will continue to recommend it to friends and family from out of town looking for a good place to eat Barbeque. You can check out Big Papa’s locations and menu at www.bbqdenver.com Thanks for reading, and as always Smoke ON!

We went to the Sacramento California location due to the Santa Rosa location being closed for remodeling. When you first walk through the door the first impression I got was the feel of a sports bar, open atmosphere, friendly and relaxed. You also can’t help but see the giant statue of the restaurant logo welcoming you as you enter the establishment! Remembering that this is a “Rock and Roll Sushi and Barbecue” establishment, I felt we would be in for a treat.

Now I don’t know or care much for Sushi, but barbecue on the other hand, that is my thing. But to be fair to Tex Wasabi’s, I brought my brother in law with us who lives in Sacremento and let him order the sushi while my family and I ate some barbecue!

When looking at the menu we did as many of you do, looked at the prices to compare with other barbecue places we have been. The feeling I get is with Tex Wasabi combining both Sushi and Barbecue there trying for a more upscale type of eating experience. Glancing at the menu you will notice the appetizers are pretty well mixed with traditional appetizers such as Onion Rings, Buffalo wings and also a mixture of barbecue inspired dishes.

I looked at the Barbecue section of the menu and have to tell you that I was a little disappointed in the limited selection offered. In a nut shell the Barbecue selection consisted of Smoked Pork Ribs, ½ Barbecue Chicken, Ribs and Chicken Combination, Barbecue Brisket platter and Barbecue Pork platter and that was all! Then you find a couple of pages of the fresh California Style Sushi they have to offer. At the end of the menu you find that they offer sandwiches which are mostly Barbecue inspired, just confusing if you’re looking for Barbecue to find it in two separate places on the menu. If anything I would recommend re-thinking the way the menu is set up now so if someone looking only for Barbecue or someone only looking for Sushi would be able to find what their looking for instead of going on a menu search and destroy mission!

We decided to start off with an appetizer of Pork Slyders (3). Which when it arrived was three dinner rolls split with Pulled Pork stacked high, topped off with coleslaw. I was happy to see they included slaw on their sandwiches, to me if you’re eating a pulled pork sandwich it has to include coleslaw! If you haven’t tried fresh slaw on a pulled pork sandwich, you don’t know what you’re missing!! The pork was very tender and flavorful with a hint of smoke. Out of 5 stars 1 being the worst and 5 being out of this world, the Pork Slyders gets a solid 5

We decided on trying a variety of items from the menu. Of course my brother in law ordered the sushi, deciding on the California combo. I ordered the Chicken and Ribs combo, my wife decided on the Brisket platter and my son tried the Pulled Pork platter with an order of onion rings at the suggestion of our waiter, and our youngest son, trying to be different ordered an Udon Noodle bowl topped with Grilled Teriyaki Chicken.

Starting with the Brisket Platter our only complaint was the Brisket being topped off with Barbecue sauce. It looked Great but we wanted to eat the brisket without the help of the sauce! The Brisket was melt in your mouth tender and had a great flavor with a hint of smoke smell and taste ½ pound of brisket came with this selection. The sides my wife chose was the Coleslaw and Barbecue bacon baked beans both sides were good with good flavor. All in all out of 5 stars we would give this dish a 5 the cost of the platter is $15

My son Zack has a HUGE appetite which I think comes with the territory when dealing with the hunger pains of growing 17 year old. The Pulled Pork Platter came with Barbecue sauce on it as well. The taste was great with a hint of heat which was hard to tell if it came from the sauce or rub. The sides my son chose were Onion Rings (Which we HIGHLY recommend) and Barbecued Bacon Baked Beans. The Onion Rings are made fresh and was a delight to find was NOT all batter!  Out of 5 stars we would give this a 5 as well. The cost of the pulled pork platter was $14.25

My son Ryan ordered the Udon Noodle bowl. Now it’s not exactly Barbecue, but with the Grilled Teriyaki Chicken we thought it would qualify for an honorable mention! The soup had a great flavor with the Grilled Chicken being tender and moist. Out of 5 stars we gave this a 5. The cost of this was $10.95

The Chicken and Rib Platter arrived and didn’t disappoint. The plate consisted of a leg quarter and ½ rack of spare ribs. I was pleased to see that unlike the Brisket and Pulled Pork Platter, the Chicken and Ribs were not doused with Barbecue Sauce. They were mopped with it during the smoking process but not drowned in it! I ordered the Barbecued Bacon Baked Beans (See a pattern here….) and potato salad. The Beans are very good with a definite pepper and molasses’s flavor and smell to it. The potato salad has a homemade taste with dill pickle pieces in it that just adds to the entire side.

Smoked Chicken is one of my favorites and to be honest here, the smoked chicken at Tex Wasabi’s was AWESOME! Real good flavor, moist and a definite smoke flavor that was not over powering. The ribs were very good with excellent flavor as well. They weren’t as moist and tender as I would  have liked them but I also was looking for contest quality ribs which isn’t exactly what they are promoting. The ribs were still very good. Out of 5 stars we give this platter a 4

As you can see from the pictures we have included in this review Tex Wasabi’s is making Barbecue an upscale eating experience. Does it need to be? My feeling is no, but does it mean that what they are doing is wrong? I think with the quality of the food, the atmosphere and knowing that you’re going into an extreme Sushi and Barbecue place tells you that this will be a different Barbecue experience then what you may normally be used or accustomed too.

What about the Sushi? Well, my brother in law liked it and said it was very good. Then asked the more important question if he would come back again for it, he responded that he would! The presentation on his plate was very nicely put together, but as far as taste is concerned I have to rely on his saying it was very good. Sorry but Rock and Roll Sushi Barbecue joint or not, I just can’t eat Sushi.

So if you’re ever in Northern California and are curious if Guy Feri puts out a good product or not, I would definitely recommend experiencing the food at Tex Wasabi’s. I think that even the more seasoned Barbecue competitor and Backyard chef would appreciate and enjoy the experience of eating in a Rock and Roll Sushi and Barbecue joint and trying a different type of Barbecue eating experience! Let them know you read this article and that the Bossman sent you!

If you’re interested in reviews of other Barbecue joints in Colorado or in other parts of the country please give us a shout. Were always looking for new Barbecue places to review and experience. Smoke On!!