Porky's Smokehouse & Grill

When we're traveling in this part of the country and it gets around lunch time, we keep our eyes peeled for barbecue.  Around here, you don't have to look that hard, as the number of little shacks that you'll pass offering delectables of the smoked variety is quite astounding.  Drive from Little Rock to Houston on Route 59, and you will have your choice of barbecue places to choose from.  Our only lament was that it just wasn't lunch time when we passed most of them.  No worries, though, as just about noon I spotted Porky's Smokehouse and Grill coming up fast on the right.  I braked hard, which would usually get me some guff from my driving companion, but this time he was understanding, appreciative, even, of my quick thinking.  We brake for barbecue.

Porky's is in Marshall, TX, which is in eastern Texas, where you'll still see pork barbecue.   The parking lot was busy...good sign...so we went in and grabbed a  table. People were eating all kinds of things here, as they have a big menu, and offer fried catfish, burgers and sandwiches as well as pork ribs, chopped and sliced beef, turkey, sausages, chicken and pulled pork.  Doug went for the ribs, and I had the rib/pulled pork combo plate.  We both got potato salad and beans.  These ribs are truly great...perfectly smoked and falling off the bone tender, with no sauce, but a well balanced and tasty rub, just how we like them.  We wanted more, as the rib plate comes with only 4, and I got 2 on my combo plate, and they're not all that big.  The pulled pork was not such a huge success.  We both like Carolina chopped pork, wherein all of the meat gets chopped up well and mixed with the fat and juices.  Porky's pulls their pork in large ribbons, big enough that you have to cut it up yourself, and you only get meat from one part of the animal, so it's not as interesting as the whole hog mixed together.  They bring 2 sauces to the table, both traditional and equally delicious, one a rich tomato based sauce, and the other a thinner vinegar and spice sauce.  The beans are pure Texas... cowboy beans that taste of chile powder, very good if you like that style, which we do, and the potato salad was also good, so only one misstep for us with the pulled pork, which is odd, as they bill themselves as "Home of the Pulled Pork Sandwich".   We're OK with that, however, as the ribs made this stop memorable, and we'll go back for more when we're in the area again.