If you can see this sign, then you can smell the BBQ!

Now, if you are going to be a good BBQ joint, you have to just have that smell as you walk into the restaurant.  Let me assure you, the BBQ Station has that smell, that special combination of meat and smoke when combined with a little bit of love and a whole lot of time makes a wonderful plate of food.  To top it off, three simple letters “B-B-Q”, were painted along the side of the building.  Right then and there I knew that I was in for something good.

The inside of the BBQ Station.

For one summer, I was a resident of Memphis, TN for a college internship; those three months taught me an appreciation of pork ribs and pork BBQ.  I have had a love for them ever since, and I have always been on the lookout for good pork BBQ in Texas.  For this reason I decided to get the two meat plate with pork ribs and brisket along with potato salad and beans (which have unlimited refills) on the side.

The beans were really good (you need to add some salt) and the potato salad was excellent.  Recently, I have grown to like potato salad more and more, but I particularly like the kind that isn’t too “mustardy”.  Instead of potato salad, my friend got the cream corn which looked equally awesome (he assured me it tasted as good as it looked), so I think it is safe to say that the BBQ Station has its sides on lock down.

The brisket was good and had a nice smokey flavor.  I dressed it up with a little of their house BBQ Sauce and make a brisket sandwich that was pretty good.  I liked their sauce a lot as it wasn’t too sweet and had a good tang.

2 Meat/2 Side combo; the pork ribs are the real deal.

The pork ribs were exceptional and had a great smokey taste to them.  They were very tender, but weren’t just falling off the bone; personally, I like the type of ribs that have a little bit of pull to them.  The rub on the outside gave it a good flavor and I didn’t really even need to use any sauce on the ribs at all.  With the two meat plate, I got three really big ribs and one smallish rib, so they took care of me with regards to the portions.  I will tell you what though, I will definitely just focus on the pork ribs the next time I go back to the BBQ Station because they were that good!

If you are looking for some good BBQ, *choooo*choooo* baby, because that train keeps a rollin’, on down to the the BBQ Station in San Antone.

Value: 8.5/10 (I got the 2 meat/2 side plate with pork ribs that ran $9.50 with tax which might be a little expensive for lunch, but for dinner is not all that bad; they do have cheaper options, but the pork ribs are the most expensive (and worth it))
Atmosphere: 9.5/10 (Nothing fancy, but there is charm in the fact that you are in a BBQ joint that looks and smells like it should be a BBQ joint)
Service: 8.5/10 (Friendly, but really not a whole lot of frills; go up, tell the man your order, and eat!)
Taste: 9.5/10 ( One of the better BBQ restaurants in town; the pork ribs are delicious and so is the potato salad!)
Website: http://www.barbecuestation.com/
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So Broadway 50/50 opened a new location at the Colonnade off of Wurzbach and I-10 and a group of us from work decided to go visit it.  As we were entering the restaurant, we encountered a pair of coworkers, one of whom was a guy named Will.  I asked Will, “So is the food any good?”  Will responded, “I would love to tell you but I really don’t know; we sat at our table for 15 minutes without getting any service so we got up and walked out.”

Now this is kind of funny, because if you have ever met Will, you will know that this is a man that is not easily overlooked.  He is a pretty tall individual who is built like a rugby player; in fact, his stagename in some of our Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament is El Gigante.  We should have just listened to the man and not gone in, but we were stubborn and decided to give it a try.  Let’s just say that Will was a harbinger of what was to come…

We ended up sitting down and waited like 15 minutes before anyone talked to us.  Doing a little math, this would have amounted to like 30 minutes that the staff ignored this table.  When someone finally did talk to us (I think it was the manager), he asked if we had been helped.  When we said “No,” he left and it took another 5 minutes to actually get our waitress.

We all realized that there are two types of people, the quick and the hungry, and we vowed to place our order as soon as the waitress asked us for our drink order.  We did so and had to wait another lengthy amount of time to finally get our drinks and later our food.

Now, I am all about giving food a fair shake; some of the best food that you can get comes with the slowest service.  But by and large, it is service that engages and talks with you (we haven’t even got this at the Broadway 50/50).

I ended up getting the Pulled Pork sandwich. Yes, I know, I know, I know.  I have vowed that I would not order pulled pork outside the state of Tennessee ever again (I ordered pulled pork in a previous post).  However, having lived a summer in Memphis, I have quite the inclination for pulled pork and just the thought of the possibility of getting a pulled pork sandwich that could be on the same level as Memphis is always enticing.  Quite frankly, can you blame me when the menu even states that, “We put a little homemade coleslaw on the sandwich just like they do in Memphis.”  This one line suckered me in…

The waitress dropped off the plates, said the obligatory, “Can I get you anything else?” but scurried off before hearing a reply.  Yes, as a matter of fact, I did want a side of ranch dressing.  I finally caught her and asked for it, but never ended up getting my side of ranch dressing.  This normally would not be a problem, however, while the waitress forgot to bring out the ranch she was able to remember to charge me for it — I paid $0.50 for my phantom ranch dressing.

Note to Self: When you aren't in Tennessee, do not order pulled pork.

As you can probably tell by using your context clues, I was disappointed in the meal.  Again, I probably shouldn’t have ordered it in the first place as it is probably impossible to meet my expectations.  It definitely wasn’t bad, but after all the bad service that we had received, it was not good.  The other thing that stunk was that the lunch with a tip (yes, I still gave a tip) ended up being $12.50.  I don’t know about you but that is pretty sorry considering it is mediocre food and terrible service.  For that price, I would rather go build an insane Order Up burger and have $5 left over…

Finally, I would like to say that while the service was terrible, I don’t particularly blame any of the waiters.  They are just in a situation where they are destined to fail so no matter what they do, they are not going to succeed.  There were not enough waiters for the amount of tables and they all seemed a little green.  Granted, I shouldn’t have been charged for something I wasn’t given, but most anyone starts to make mistakes when they get flustered.  If I were them, I would definitely look for a new job.

Hopefully you heed Will and my advice and don’t bother setting foot in this restaurant.

Value: 3/10 ($12.50 with tip for lousy service and a mediocre meal)
Atmosphere: 7/10 (pretty neat atmosphere with TVs and bar games)
Service: 1.5/10 (pathetic)
Taste: 5.5/10 (mediocre at best)
Website: www.five0five0.com
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If you are having a hard time finding the restaurant, look for the smoker.

I went to the restaurant with a couple of friends and upon walking up to the restaurant you get hit with that BBQ smell of smoked meat. It is one of the best smells in the world, and is the litmus test of all great BBQ restaurants. Willard was behind the counter, and the man was very outgoing. He engaged us from the moment that we came in, and told us all kinds of stories about how he was a personal chef for two of San Antonio’s great families – the Holts and the Midcaps. Willard is quite the talker and full of stories.

When I found out that he had pork ribs, I knew what I had to get; having lived in Memphis for a summer, I was educated on the positives of pork and always seek that out. I decided to get ½ pound of pork ribs, potato salad, and beans. Additionally, since this was not one of the specials so I was also going to have to pay extra for BBQ sauce (more on this in a moment) so I was going to be out about $7.50; there were specials for brisket and sausage that would be in the $6 range that included the two sides and sauce.

Willard asked me which sauce I wanted (a hot jerk sauce, a medium jerk sauce, or the BBQ sauce), and I told him to give me his favorite. He is quick and said, “No, this is not about satisfying me but satisfying you; I am gonna be satisfied when I get your money, you need to be satisfied when you get your food.” Point taken.

Willard came out with three of his concoctions and set down a napkin and poured a dab of each of the sauces down and asked me to taste them as he described their qualities. Being a fan of more traditional BBQ sauce, I opted for that one, but I really liked the kick of the hot sauce. Not really thinking it through, I asked him if I could have a container with the hot and BBQ mixed; that was a mistake because Willard prides himself on creating the sauces and said, “Well, I could do it this once, but then everyone will come in and start customizing their sauces and this and that.” I told him that I understood, and just opted for the BBQ sauce.

We paid for the order, and as he gave us the receipt he said, “Now, I do guarantee my food and here is the guarantee – if you don’t like what you eat, then bring back the receipt. You will get your money back, but you are never allowed to come back.” At this moment, I knew this was going to be good.

After paying for our order, it took quite a while to get the food. If you go there, don’t be in a hurry, you will only frustrate yourself. The one friend who had been before and also to an event that Willard catered told of how methodical he is with the preparation. He makes sure there is exactly the right quantity of meat, sides, and sauce and painstakingly measures to ensure this.

The ribs were absolutely amazing and made me recall living in Memphis. They were really moist and had a nice smoky flavor (I believe that Willard mentioned he smoked them for 28 hours); the BBQ sauce complimented the meat nicely, but didn’t overpower the flavor of the meat. The beans were delicious, but I would have liked to have added a little bit of salt to them. The potato salad was interesting but something that I didn’t care for; it was just a different tasting potato salad than what I am used to and will pass on it next time. But those ribs… oh my goodness… they have to be some of the best bones in the state; I am really looking forward to taking my friends to this restaurant whenever they come to visit me.

Mmmmm.... ribs.

While I definitely recommend you check out Willard’s, I was to summarize the things that you need to know before you go:
(1) Be sure to interact with Willard and hear his stories.
(2) Don’t be in a hurry – talking with Willard can take 10-15 before you order and the food takes a while to come out.
(3) Be sure to call ahead, 210.736.5375, because if he has a catering gig the restaurant will be closed.
(4) Don’t ask to mix sauces.

Value: 9/10 (if you opt for the special, you can get a dang good deal considering how much time it takes to prepare and the flavor of the food)
Atmosphere: 10/10 (total dive with pictures of family and patrons all around the inside; I completely love it)
Service: 10/10 (I love the service, because I really felt that I got to connect with the person who prepared the food; other people might not like the fact that it takes a long time)
Taste: 9/10 (The meat was amazing; the sides were good)
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