ssweeney’s Review of Sheps Bar-B-Q

Main Fare:

• Brisket is firm, but sliced quite thin.  Some bitterness is present in the meat.
• Sausage is more salty and less sweet than the Hillshire Farms (Eckrich?).  Still, this is a commercial product.
• The hot link has a yellow/orange color to it… and a different flavor profile at work here.  Hmmm.  Similar in texture to the regular sausage, but with some heat on the finish.
• I get the knuckle end of a rib that is tough and chewy.  It does have a glazed exterior, but that is not enough to make this a good rib experience.  Has potential.

Main Fare:

• Brisket is firm, but sliced quite thin.  Some bitterness is present in the meat.
• Sausage is more salty and less sweet than the Hillshire Farms (Eckrich?).  Still, this is a commercial product.
• The hot link has a yellow/orange color to it… and a different flavor profile at work here.  Hmmm.  Similar in texture to the regular sausage, but with some heat on the finish.
• I get the knuckle end of a rib that is tough and chewy.  It does have a glazed exterior, but that is not enough to make this a good rib experience.  Has potential.

Other Fare:

• Another mashed style potato salad.  This one seems to be thinned out with water or vineager, but is quite bland.
• These are real pinto beans with a mild flavor.  Nice.
• Sauce is a traditional heavy worcestershire Texas brown.  Made for beef… not so much the pork.
• Peach cobbler is heavy on the cinnamon and cloves.  Texture is mushy, but I dig the bold flavors here!

Atmosphere:

• Very hospitable folks here.  East Texas sure is friendly!
• Fairly standard decor.  We arrive at 1pm and things are very quiet.
• Sheps obviously has some local history…  Unfortunately, its glory days would seem to be in the past.
• They have a J&R pit that doesn’t look like it is being used… but the Ole Hickory around back looks busy.