SKINNY'S BARBEQUE - MUSCATINE, IA4/28/2022 I've found myself in the middle of a six day run. It started off with some excitement. I arrived to the first venue and asked about live music for the evening and the person I had inquired with let me know they weren't having any live music that night. An answer that caught me off guard, being I was scheduled to work that room that night. In the last show of the run, I was given an introduction after my set break. In an attempt to help shift focus back on me for this listening room experience, one of the employees nearly demanded that everyone stop talking and listen, stating that they work hard to bring in great artists that deserve to be listened to. Great artists and not just, in his words, "Joe Schmoe and the Dick Suckers" before promptly walking away from the microphone and leaving me in the wake of this...most aggressive introduction. To cut the tension in the room, I reintroduced myself into the microphone at the beginning of the second set. A reintroduction as, you guessed it, Joe Schmoe of Joe Schmoe and the Dick Suckers. Fortunately, that got a laugh and allowed everyone to relax a little. Six shows in just as many days, bookended by two very memorable experiences. I believe that to be the longest streak of shows I've had. When Casey Joe Collins and I did the "Western Dust" tour in May of 2021 we played eight shows in nine days with the day off being after the fourth show. This personal best won't last much longer. In June I've got a tour out to North Carolina and back which will provide me with nine shows in a row, and a total of twelve shows in thirteen days. This job looks fun, but it's not for the faint of heart. But, I digress. I'm working towards the tail end of a longer run of shows. I've been able to drop in at home from time to time, but there's been a fair amount of time spent in hotels and killing time in coffee shops. With scattered focus, I'm continuing to write each of the five novels I've got in the works. I hope they become novels, anyhow. I started writing a trio of western novels ten years ago, none of them are anywhere near completion, but I feel an obligation to write them as my home office is filled with my grandfather's collection of Louis L'Amour novels and novellas. I'm also working on a crime drama, tentatively titled "Devil's Den" which also has some elements of horror. Lastly, is "Cross Family Colors". Another crime-driven-family-drama that I am wildly excited about and can't wait to share it once it's completed. I just have seven chapters left. Then rewriting, proof reading, edits, proof reading again. It's going to be a while. Coupling that with writing songs as often as I can, I am happy that coffee shops across the country allow for such freeloading. In my defense, I do get an oat milk & honey latte and some sort of baked good at each one I visit. Though that's more of a fuel and less of an impulse buy. This transaction of a few dollars worth of much needed caffeine and sugar for hours of WiFi and seat occupation doesn't seem to end in anyone's favor but my own. There was a Caribou Coffee in Rochester, Minnesota. On the same day, and just a few hours later, it was Jitter's in Mason City, Iowa. A couple of days later, I'm at The Coffee Belt in Muscatine, Iowa. However, these aren't the beans you're here to read about. I didn't realize until now how bean-centric my life has become... Skinny's Barbeque is a great little joint. It's inside of the Pearl Plaza in downtown Muscatine and it's operated much like the traditional barbeque joints of the south. You place your order and it's plated as you stand in line. You pay. You get your tray. Fill your own drink. Get your own sauce. Find your own seat. It's a small prep kitchen and a smaller staff, but the three people working that small kitchen have barbeque figured out. The brisket nachos were delicious, as seen in the picture below, but again, we're talking about the beans. To start, this was a serving size I can get behind. No small Styrofoam cup. Not a dollop on the corner of your plate. This dish was served up hot in a cardboard boat filled to the brim. The "Pit Beans" were made up of at least three different types of beans and all of them were cooked to a perfect consistency. They were cooked in a sweet sauce that had a slight tang on the back end and hint of smokiness. This bean recipe had plenty of sauce to keep the dish from being dry, but not so much that they became sloppy or soup-like. You could eat these things with a fork and not spill. If there was a downside to these beans, it would be this. While the beans were cooked down well, there was no additional meat or vegetables to be found in this side dish. With all of those beans cooked to tender, the complexity of the dish was...uncomplex. Having the chew of some hunks of pork or brisket would have gone a long way to making this dish more dynamic. The addition of cooked bell peppers or onions would have also helped in this regard. That isn't to say these ingredients weren't in the "Pit Beans", I just didn't find any in my serving. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 4 Flavor: 4 Mouthfeel: 3 Total Score: 11 For what it's worth, Cheese Delight from Awe'z Sandwich Shop in Mason City: 5 
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Kansas City has been a spot I've longed to play for some time. My current circumstances allow for a simple trip. I-35 South for 2 hours 45 minutes and there you are. The first 45 minutes of my trip were driven through a torrential downpour that had the interstate slowed down to about 45 miles an hour. The windshield wipers couldn't keep up. Fortunately, there were enough "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" podcasts to keep me occupied for the near 6 hour drive. To be frank (Reynolds), there was something in the neighborhood of 25 emails sent to venues throughout the city. Two responded. Two were booked. It's...not a great percentage when you look at the overall numbers, but a booked show is a booked show. That's the job I've signed up for, and now I'm fortunate to find myself in Kansas City. Making friends and playing songs. Cinder Block Brewing was a packed house. I think that was due to the ambience in the taproom and the great beer they had on tap. Being honest, as I always try to be, it was almost too busy for me to have an impact. I was nervous to play in the larger Kansas City market, but it turns out they'll ignore you down there just like they sometimes do around here in these smaller markets. Talking honestly. Now, I hadn't realized until the weekend was over that it happened to be the weekend of the Iowa State Girl's Basketball Tournament. Famous in my home state for cultivating some of the worst weather we see during the year. Saturday brought higher than average temperatures, thunderstorms, hail, and, most unfortunately, a deadly tornado. It looks like Iowans are responding to that tragedy, the way Iowans always do. I arrived home after midnight and didn't know anything about what occurred until I woke up Sunday morning. To below freezing temperatures and pancakes, thanks to my wife. That cold weather gave way to snow on Sunday evening and over night. Snow that is melting away quickly on this warmer, sun-filled, Monday. Weather as unpredictable as can be. What was predictable? Great BBQ in Kansas City. The North Kansas City neighborhood that I played in also had four BBQ restaurants within a couple of miles from one another. I picked Hawg Jaw Que & Brew based largely on their name. But I was also drawn in by these loaded, pulled pork french fries. Pictured below with the beans. Of course I got a side order of beans. This side dish was served in a small white styrofoam cup. The industry standard. They were also served up steaming hot. Not always the industry standard, but it should be. It is a warm side dish, after all. These beans made contact with multiple senses. You could feel the warmth. You could smell the tangy sauce. You could see the single bean profile of the dish. One type of bean, but they were cooked to near perfection. With a side dish that likely sits in a warm pan or pot throughout the day, you run the risk of the ingredients breaking down and losing consistency. That did not occur here. There didn't appear to be any vegetables in this offering, but there were small pieces of smoked meat mixed in. They were too small and infrequent to determine if they were pork of beef. I would posit the assumption it was pork. I would have preferred to see a second type of bean or a meat or vegetable to give the bites some variety. Overall, though, the beans had a good consistency. There were stew-like. Enough sauce, but not too much to make it runny. These could have been eaten with a fork. The sauce itself was a great mixture of sweet and tangy flavors and there was a mild heat backbone to the dish. It worked great in concert with the other flavors. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 3 Flavor: 4 Mouthfeel: 3 Total Score: 10 For what it's worth, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: 5  ShortE's BBQ - Johnston, IA1/26/2022 I have been living in our state's capitol city for about a year and a half now. To my shame, I've only had BBQ at three establishments. All of them have been great, but I've only had beans at two of them. The last post being the first, and this post being the second. I am fortunate that so many rooms in the metro area are hosting live music and I was able to catch a show at ShortE's BBQ in January of 2022. We had been having pretty great winter weather down here. Warmer than I'm used to, and certainly mild. Only a couple of measurable snowfalls. However, this day, it was brutal cold. The kind of cold that makes having "auto start" mandatory. The kind of cold that requires you to use that "auto start" more than once before you head out to your vehicle. Something I absolutely would not have gone out in, save needing to go to work. Upon setting up, I was happy to see a few familiar faces that came to the show on purpose. That's been happening lately, and I can't hardly believe it. It was less common in the smaller towns of northwest Iowa where I had been living previous to this. Though, maybe I've just gotten better. A week before this show I was back in one of those towns playing a set at a nice little festival with Boone County's second tallest guitar player, Matt Woods. That sound check went smoothly, as did the show. However, after sound check we ran across the street and grabbed dinner before the show. Upon returning to the venue and preparing to start playing, I discovered that the battery in my guitar's pick up had gone dead. Even in this small town, we were some distance from any place that would be open this time of night and sell batteries. Being the consummate professional that he is, Mr. Woods retrieved a used, but functioning, 9 volt battery from one of the pedals on his board. A pedal he wasn't going to use, or so he said. I slipped it in my guitar and we were ready to go. Disaster averted. Now, I'm back at ShortE's. All plugged in and getting ready to sound check. Twenty minutes to show time and what happens? My borrowed battery fails me and I'm hung out to dry. Despite the cold, I run to the nearest gas station and buy a supply of 9 volt batteries so this won't happen again, and returned to the show. I had learned my lesson. I keep that first, spent 9 volt in my guitar case as a reminder. A reminder that you're here for beans. Not boring stories. Part of my compensation for the evenings show is a meal from ShortE's BBQ. By the time I am finished, I'm delighted to learn that they still have burnt ends left and I had to have baked beans as a side, of course. I took this order to go and the crew at ShortE's provided me with 4 different sauces to try. Without me even asking. Going above and beyond. Naturally, this side was served in a Styrofoam to-go cup and they were still warm by the time I got home. For a side, this was a healthy portion. There were at least two different types of beans in this dish and they were all cooked up perfectly. They were served up in plenty of sauce. Not too dry and stew-like, as many places are. The sauce. Oh, the sauce. It was a delicious smoky sauce with a pronounced vinegar kick. A smoke flavor that is so often missed in BBQ baked beans. There was a mild brown sugar sweetness to bring the sauce back towards "balanced", but they weren't overly sweet. These beans had to have been made from scratch. In addition to the perfectly cooked beans and the delicious sauce, these were served with large chunks of diced white onions, cooked to perfection. They were also cooked with hunks of beef. Brisket, I assume. The white onion, brisket, and beans were all provided a variety of mouthfeel that kept the side dish interesting. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 4 Flavor: 4 Mouthfeel: 5 Total Score: 13 For what it's worth, Matt Woods: 5  Smokey D’s BBQ - Des Moines, IA5/18/2021 It was a stay at home weekend, but we weren’t without plans. Some friends were returning to town. Among the several things we planned to do was dinner and a show. We were able to score a table at The Funny Bone in West Des Moines for a Nate Bargatze stand-up show. It has been years since I’ve seen a stand-up show, even though I love it...and not-so-secretly want to be a comedian. We had beautiful weather at our home base. A walking tour of Gray’s Lake. A handful of beers on the patio at Confluence Brewing. Some of the best Des Moines has to offer. All of this was met with a much needed post-activity nap. After that we headed to the highest rated BBQ restaurant in the metro area. The weather turned and we had a brief rain storm, but we were sheltered in the safety of Smokey D’s BBQ. A multi-award winning pit master and he even has an appearance on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives under his belt. A potential Guy Fieri sighting wasn’t the only chance celebrity encounter to be had that Saturday night. Back at The Funny Bone Justin Smith kicked off the show and put together a hilarious feature set. After that was the real treat. For the last several years Nate Bargatze has been my favorite stand-up comedian. He caught my attention with a 30 minute set on the Netflix series “The Stand Ups”. After that, I found his live albums “Yelled At By A Clown” and “Full Time Magic”. Netflix wised up and he has since released two new hour-long specials “Tennessee Kid” and “Greatest Average American”. He absolutely crushed his hour at the Funny Bone and it was all new material he was trying out. I can’t wait to see how much of it makes his next special. What a way to spend a Saturday in Des Moines. My favorite comedian preceded by my favorite side dish. Smokey D’s Whole Pit Family Platter. Feeds 6 to 8. Or the 4 of us that came to eat. It was a sampling of every meat they smoke and every single one of them was good. Especially good sausage and burnt ends. But you’re here for the sides. It’s what makes or breaks a BBQ joint. This platter gave us the option of 3 pint sized sides. One of those had to be their beans. A large portion served up in a clear plastic container. This particular dish did appear to be from a can. It was a small, single-bean variety. But these small beans were cooked to near perfection. To help with the consistency of the dish, there was finely chopped onion and bell pepper added in. Those, too, were cooked down well. There was still some substance to the vegetables, but were easily consumed and their flavors contributed to the dish nicely. In addition to the vegetables the creatives in the kitchen had added meat to this side. As far as I can tell, it was bacon. A classic addition to baked beans. The mouthfeel suffered a point in it’s overall consistency. There was too much liquid in the dish and it bordered on too soupy for baked beans. The sauce that they did come in had a nice sweet flavor to it that also packed a touch of black pepper heat. I am not making the definitive statement that these were premade beans from a can, with some minor adjustment, but their consistency appeared to be more manufactured than a scratch made baked bean. Canned or not, these were better than average beans that coupled well with their incredible smoked meat. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 3 Flavor: 3 Mouthfeel: 4 Total Score: 10 For what it's worth, Nate Bargatze’s stand-up: 5  Highside Brewing & Kitchen - Frisco, CO5/17/2021 It took two years, but I was able to embark on my first tour. My good friend Casey Joe Collins and I started planning a 10 day run out to Wyoming and Colorado in April of 2019. An unfortunate thing or two happened in 2020 which led to us having to postpone the tour until this year. We were very fortunate that most every venue was able to hold the dates for us and we were able to book fill-in dates for almost all of the ones that couldn’t. Despite our best efforts, we ended up with one free day in the middle of the tour. We found ourselves in Colorado at that time, and ended up grabbing a motel in Frisco to relax for a day. We stopped in Denver for supplies and then headed up into the mountains. Upon checking in at the Snowshoe Motel, I was greeted by a front desk clerk who was having an...allergic reaction. I know that he was, because he told me so. Unprompted. I asked if he needed help, but he confirmed that it “will pass”. Almost as if it wasn’t an allergic reaction, or his first one. To the best of my knowledge, it did pass. Fortunate for him. We got checked in and wandered all over this picturesque town. Bars, a brewery, and restaurants. Letting our supplies do the heavy lifting. There was one brewery, and due to various circumstances, we ended up there three times. The third time was for lunch the next day. That’s where the blog comes in. The next day This order was a small serving, dished up in a little black bowl. This was a single bean concoction and those beans were cooked to pretty near perfection. The mind(s) behind this side included pork fat and onions to improve the consistency of it. Having varied textures in the beans made it much more enjoyable to eat. In terms of mouthfeel, the consistency of the beans lost a point because this dish was a little more soup-like than I had hoped to see. There was plenty of sauce to this dish, and it had a unique flavor to it. There was a fair amount of smoky flavor in the sauce. One of, if not the most, prevalent smoked flavors I’ve encountered thus far. Unfortunately, there was no sweetness to it. No brown sugar. No honey. No syrup. This sauce was straight up tang. Vinegar based baked bean sauce was a first for me. I love it in a BBQ sauce, but I wasn’t crazy about it in beans. There was a generous spice note to this sauce that helped work in concert with the tangy flavor to keep it from being a one note dish. How about that? Ended on a musical metaphor. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 3 Flavor: 2 Mouthfeel: 3 Total Score: 8 For what it's worth, Dixie Citrus Blast Gummies: 5  Cornbred Barbecue - Ames, IA4/26/2021 Saturday, April 24th 2021 was the first live show I’ve had since the summer of 2020. There was only 4 shows, to my memory, in that entire year. I was playing in Ames, Iowa as a part of the Goldfinch Room series. It was my third time playing their great songwriter’s showcase and the third location they had hosted me at. The same went for Casey Joe Collins. He was completing the cycle as well. Together, we played on the stage of Stephen’s Auditorium on the Iowa State University campus. We had a lighting tech, a sound guy, and a wonderful green room. They had just gotten everything finished in this new backstage space. A green room that wasn’t complete when the Tedeschi Trucks Band played the auditorium a while back. Hard to believe we followed in their footsteps. I can’t imagine a better way to jump back into things than with how we were treated that night. Everything went smoothly and the crowd of concert goers were so receptive to our performances and stories. Though, I will admit, that I was a ball of nerves before the show, having not played for close to a year. I had to get my hands on some comfort food before the show. Boy, did I find it. That’s what I’m doing here at The Baked Bean Blog. Talking comfort food. The entire meal was served family style on a tray lined with butcher paper and sided with sliced white bread. This was an authentic BBQ experience, right in the middle of Iowa. This little blog is dedicated to baked beans, but I feel obligated to say that the brisket and ribs were the best I’ve ever had. Their housemade sausage was also to die for. Authentic BBQ. We got two sides with our meat. The “Hallelujah Potatoes” which are aptly named. The other side was “Apple Pork & Beans”. Being family style, these beans were served up in a large enamel dish. This was a multi-bean concoction that was cooked to perfection. Aside from the beans, there were several additions that really set this dish off. Best I could tell, there were bell peppers and onions in the mix. A great textural addition were tender chunks of pork shoulder. There’s the pork of its namesake. In an unexpected, and yet unseen, addition to the dish, Cornbred included diced apples for a great sweet addition. The first part of their name. The vegetables, pork shoulder, and apples were all cooked to perfection and created a fantastic mouthfeel with different additions to this dish. All of these were served in a mild, sweet sauce and there was a noticeable smoke presence in the dish, as well. This thing was perfect and then some. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 5 Flavor: 5 Mouthfeel: 5 (Perfect score!) Total Score: 15 For what it's worth, Tedeschi Trucks Band: 5  Jones BBQ - Kansas City, KS4/14/2021 My wife and I recently moved to Des Moines, Iowa and being this close to Kansas City, I decided to head down there to celebrate my 35th birthday. We have hardly been out of the house in the last year, especially compared to how we traveled prior to the pandemic. We were excited to be traveling somewhere that neither of us had been to. We booked a hotel, and a few weeks later, we were southbound down I-35. We visited the Kansas City Zoo. It was incredibly impressive. We walked 5 miles, under full sunshine, going through the entire facility. After that was over, we headed up to the Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City. A decent hotel in a wildly unique section of the city. Murals all over. Independently owned shops. This was my kind of place. There were 5 breweries within about a half mile of each other. Some around the corner from each other. We started on one end and drank our way down the stretch. It was a fantastic way to celebrate turning 35. Animals, great beer, and the food. Great food. That’s what you’re here for. The food. We like to watch the Netflix series “Queer Eye” and in the first season of the show, they go down and “zhuzh up” a family bbq joint called Jones BBQ. Ever since watching that episode, we had a plan to make sure and visit it. I’m so glad we did. Phenomenal homemade sausage, perfectly smoked ribs, and great sides to boot. Especially their beans. I’ll start with it’s biggest, but maybe only, downfall. The serving was much too small. I know it’s only a side dish, but no serving could be too large with flavor like that. These beans were served up in a small, lidded, styrofoam cup and paired with plastic silverware. As far as I could tell, this dish was a single bean variety. Those beans were cooked to a near perfect consistency. You knew you were eating beans, but it wasn’t a chore. The sauce they were served in had a sweet sauce that had a slightly tangy backbone to it. There was a presence of smoke in the dish. The exact trio of flavors I look for in baked beans. The genius behind this recipe decided to throw chunks of brisket into the dish to help lend some layers of texture. A great move. Beans and brisket are a fantastic combination. In addition to the meat and beans, there was a nice vegetable addition with white onions and bell peppers. These, like the beans, were cooked to a great consistency. Jones BBQ has become famous for their sauce and all the great smoked meats. I think they deserve a little more credit for this side. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 4 Flavor: 5 Mouthfeel: 5 (Top score so far) Total Score: 14 For what it's worth, Kansas City Zoo: 5  The Pit - Durham, NC1/28/2020 A mid-January vacation put my wife and I in North Carolina. The weather was agreeable for the most part. Low to mid 60's and plenty of sunshine. A nice reprieve from the cold Iowa weather we were experiencing before we left. Aside from the beautiful views, North Carolina also has a lot of interesting historical spots. It's no wonder Jonathan Byrd pulls such great songs out of the air of his inspirational homeland. There was a coastal Civil War fort and a museum housing a collection of items that were recovered from the wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge. Yeah. Blackbeard's flagship. What really brought us out there? The North Carolina Rare and Vintage Beer Festival. Yeah. We flew halfway across the country to drink. The festival was fantastic and so were the 6 additional standalone breweries we visited out there. There were Girl Scout Cookie flights at Fullsteam and oyster infused offerings, among other great beers, from Ponysaurus. Unlike me, you aren't here for the beer. Beans, man. Beans! This side dish was served up in a modest white, ceramic cup. Served with the meal, I had the proper silverware to devour these things. It was a small serving, but there was already too much food on the three meat platter I had ordered. When they came out of the kitchen the top layer of the beans were well on their way to being dried out. That leads me to believe they were dished up much earlier and likely left under a warmer, or worse yet, microwaved. Breaking through the top layer revealed a multi-bean combination that was, otherwise, cooked down very well. I didn't take the time to suss out which beans were thrown into the mix. My apologies. I've let you down as a food blogger. The beans had been cooked with white onions and green peppers Both of the vegetables in the concoction were a near perfect consistency and added a nice additional flavor to the dish. Both vegetables and beans were served up in a flavorful sauce. There was no heat to it, but there was a solid base of brown sugar sweetness coupled with strong smoky notes. The first time in, a reviewed dish, that this smoke flavor was present. Unfortunately, the dish itself was very dense and dry. This offering could have been near the top of my ratings, if only there was a little more liquid in the sauce. (See above assumption about dryness) Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 1 Flavor: 4 Mouthfeel: 2 Total Score: 7 For what it's worth, North Carolina beer scene: 5  Counterfeit Curbside - Yankton, SD6/16/2019 My 3 day/3 show sojourn into South Dakota continued on Sunday. That morning I met with Ben Hanten, owner of Ben's Brewing & The Copper Room, at the historical Cramer-Kenyon House. While there, we shot a couple videos for my songs "27 Feet" and "Sweat Equity". Singing songs about my home in a beautiful place like that? It just felt right. To kill time in the afternoon, I returned to the house with my wife and were given a private tour by the resident care taker. That or we followed a ghost around. It made the house that much more interesting to know the story behind it. For the remainder of the afternoon, we hit several other landmarks and had, I think, a pretty authentic Yankton experience. Last year was my first time performing at 6th Meridian Hop Farm and I believe it to be one of the first that they had. It has been great to watch them grow and succeed. Upon arriving on the scene this particular afternoon, the first thing I saw was the new stage they had built out of an old deck. It looks cool out on that hop farm, and it's especially nice when you're performing on a sunny day. I'm really looking forward to being back at this place two more times this summer. Once to open up for Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band (7/28/19) and a second time as a part of the Swing Cat Festival (8/10/19). Come on, man. They can see those dates under the "Shows" tab. Get to the beans. Counterfeit Curbside is an upscale food truck that, lucky for me, was on site for the entire weekend. They had "Ancho Libre Baked Beans" on the menu, and I just had to dig in. The order of beans was a large serving, handed out in a cardboard dish. I didn't see a spoon available, so I had to use a fork. That didn't stop me from shoveling these down. This offering was a 3 bean variety. Dark, and light, red kidney beans as well as black beans. If I'm not mistaken. There was a decent bean-to-sauce ratio, but since I'm being picky, that many beans could have used a touch more sauce. Those 3 different types of beans had been cooked very well, resulting in a perfect consistency. There were large chunks of bacon in the dish to provide a nice change in each bite. The brains behind this dish included some nicely cooked down green peppers, plenty of minced garlic, and fresh green onion as a garnish. This added a depth of flavors that I've yet to encounter in any of the dishes I've sampled. There was a mild sweetness to these beans and it was balanced well with a smokey, spicy flavor. This was no doubt a result of the dish having been simmered in Lost Cabin Beer Company's "Ancho Libre" ale. Had I not needed to get up and sing my songs, I'd have had a couple more bowls of these. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 4 Flavor: 4 Mouthfeel: 4 Total Score: 12 Tied for the highest score. For what it's worth, Tastee Treat Drive Inn's Hot Fudge Shake: 5  Backyard BBQ - Sioux Falls, SD6/15/2019 This weekend I had a nice, 3 show run set up around eastern South Dakota. Friday night was Yankton. Saturday was Sioux Falls. On Sunday, well, I went back to Yankton. I had an early show on Saturday at The Source. An automated self-pour tap wall. I was in heaven. Had a nice show that afternoon, and some Sioux Falls friends I hadn't seen in a while even showed up. Anyway, I had headed to the city with my wife after we determined Backyard BBQ was the place to go. We met some friends there. It was in the downtown Sioux Falls area, and it was packed. The downtown area, I mean. They had, what I'm told, is their first sanctioned PRIDE parade. It looked like supporters showed up in full force. Inside The Backyard BBQ was a different story. We were the sole patrons in the restaurant when we sat down. I would have guessed that they hadn't been busy for a while, as the two fellas there were more preoccupied with the college baseball game on TV than with taking our orders. Took some time to even get a drink order in...they could have used an automated tap wall. To make matters worse, we were subjected to a sound track of awful contemporary country music. Imagine my surprise when a couple Tyler Childers and Jason Isbell songs managed to make it in the mix. You want the beans, not the noise. At Backyard BBQ, their "Molasses Baked Beans" were a side option and I coupled it with a good pulled pork sandwich. The beans were served up in a black plastic cup. That cup was awfully small for my liking. They did manage to provide me with a spoon. I got all the utensils rolled up in napkin. Classic. There were two different types of beans in this dish, and they were cooked to a great consistency. Those two different types of beans were drowning. The bean-to-sauce ratio skewed high towards the later. There were no vegetables or peppers mixed into this dish, though the beans were accompanied by chunks of bacon. This added a nice textural component to the dish. The beans did have a nice sweetness to them, but it wasn't over the top, as one might expect with "Molasses Baked Beans". In not allowing the baked beans to be too sweet, they were balanced nicely with a good smoky flavor. Did I mention the serving size was too small? I could have had a lot more of these. Ratings (On a scale of 1-5) Appearance: 3 Flavor: 3 Mouthfeel: 4 Total Score:10 For what it's worth, The Sioux Falls community supporting PRIDE: 5  Recipes? Recommendations?Fill out the form below to let me know! Archives
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