A-Town Smokeshack BBQ & Catering (Food Truck)

It's been about the only thing I've talked about all summer. The move to Minnesota. On Tuesday, September 9th we closed on our house in Des Moines and headed north for our new home state. It's about a six and a half hour drive if you don't stop or run into traffic...driving through the twin cities. Wednesday, September 10th we got to do a walk through of our new house. It was the first time I had gotten to see it in person. It's a good thing.I loved it, as we closed on the house the following day. I woke up that day and headed back down to Iowa for shows. My wife, and a few members of her family, headed to our new house to unload the truck. Being away for work while moving in wasn't all bad! It was the first of three weekends that I'd have to leave home, drive about 7 hours or so, and spend multiple days in a row in low budget hotel rooms to play shows. This first weekend included a double header on that Saturday. First one was at Anita Fall Festival. There were all sorts of booths set up, and food trucks. I searched for a bottle of water and accidentally stumbled upon a margarita smoothie. Good fortune. I also found a BBQ food truck. Now, I only had a couple of minutes until showtime. Not enough time for a full meal. So, awkwardly, I ordered just a single side of baked beans and I shoveled them in as quickly as I could. 

You were afraid I was going to get bogged down in my travel itinerary. We're to the beans now. 

You have to make certain allowances when food is coming out of a truck. Especially if it comes from presentation. These beans were served up in a small, white, styrofoam cup. I had seen better presentation, but I had also seen worse. From brick and mortar restaurants. In the styrofoam cup was an ample serving of baked beans. FIlled to the brim. This offering was, however, only a single bean variety dish and it was slightly over cooked. To my liking, that is. To help increase mouthfeel the addition of other beans, vegetables, or meats are included. This is especially helpful in a single-bean-slightly-over-cooked dish. The kitchen preparing this dish had included scraps of brisket in the dish. While still incredibly tender meat, it did help create some differences in the bites.  There were no vegetables, the best I can tell. Where the texture of the beans lacks, it is bolstered by a very tasty sauce. It was a thick sauce, likely because it had been simmering over heat for some time before being served. How, I'd assume, the beans themselves got as soft as they did. But, the flavor in this sauce was the highlight of the entire dish. It was a well balanced concotion. Equal parts sweet and smoky. It is the textbook flavor profile that you expect to find in baked beans.   

Ratings (On a scale of 1-5)
Appearance: 2
Flavor: 4
Mouthfeel: 3

Total Score: 9

For what it's worth,
Finding a small, quite piece of countryside to live with your family: 5