3621 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95817.
(916) 739-1669

I'll let you in on a little secret, you probably won't see a whole lot of BBQ joints reviewed on A Girl and Her Fork. I'm not so much of a BBQ girl. Now before you launch into a giant diatribe of how there's a hundred different types of BBQ- I know. In fact, my parents live in one of the biggest BBQ capitals of the US (Kansas City) and I used to be married to a Texan. I've been exposed to all kinds of BBQ- Carolina, Texas, Chicago, KC, Deep South, you name it....and they're ok. I'm just not gaga over the stuff like most folks. Now Mr.S. and the kidlets LOVE the stuff, especially Kidlet #1. He's a die-hard BBQ rib fanatic and in hog heaven anytime we have BBQ. So every so often, I'll cook up some ribs or pulled pork - or even better yet, get some BBQ takeout...which is how we stumbled upon T&R Taste of Texas BBQ this summer. Yeah, I'm a bit overdue in writing this review....

T&R is located in Oak Park, just past the "Welcome to Oak Park" sign. Just look for a modest, mustard colored building proclaiming "BBQ," in large red lettering. The restaurant is clean but small, much more suitable for grabbing takeout then for leisurely dining.


I had Kidlet #1 in tow so we grabbed a menu and a seat and perused the offerings. T&R's menu is simple and does a good job of covering all your BBQ basics- ribs, pulled pork, wings, hot links, chicken...and even fried bologna sandwiches. We decided on two racks of ribs, 1 hot link sandwich (for moi) and a mish-mosh of sides (tater tots, cornbread, corn, baked beans, coleslaw). Hey- go big or go home, right? We placed our order with a stoic-looking but polite gentleman at the front desk and grabbed some wood in the dining room. Some sort of baby mama drama reality TV show was playing on the TV in the background, so Kidlet #1 and I took the time to discuss the interesting artwork adorning the walls. I, myself, was kind of partial to the portraits of Elvis and Tupac...the King of Rock 'n Roll and The King of Rap hanging in harmony--love it! (Being 14, Kidlet #1 didn't really have a clue to who either of these two music legends were nor did he really care. He did recognize the painting of Tiger Woods though and excitedly pointed that one out to me.) Our order was up pretty quickly, which was good because the sultry scent of BBQ wafting from the kitchen was making our mouths water (and was beginning to permeate our clothes and hair).


When we got home, Mr. S. and I unpacked the goods while the kidlets descended on the BBQ like a pair of starved wolverines. Everyone agreed that the BBQ ribs were top-rate. In true-Texas style they were predominantly smoky flavored with a hint of tanginess and the sauce was thick and sweet. The meat was tender, moist and just fell of the bone with a poke of the fork. According to the restaurant, they slow cook their meat over a mixture of woods (apple, mesquite, hickory and cherry) to achieve their deep smoky flavor. Our ribs were smothered in a sweet molasses-type sauce, which the kidlets licked off their fingers in lick smackin' appreciation. (Yes, we did have to hose off the BBQ-sauce covered gremlins after dinner. How they are able to get BBQ sauce all over their face, hair and even in their ears, I'll never know!) The one thing I would have liked to have seen was a little more char on the ribs, I tend to like some crunchy bits on my ribs- but they were still delicious. Now the tater tots were scarfed down in seconds but not before I received the thumbs up for crispiness and being well seasoned (maybe next time we'll try out the candied sweet potato tots). The kidlets were on the fence with the baked beans though. Kidlet #2 loved the smoky flavor of the beans and dived right into the bowl, Kidlet #1 was slightly turned off as he prefers his beans to be on the sweet side. The kidlets also demolished their corn on the cobs. On the other side of the table, I enjoyed my juicy hot link sandwich with spicy mustard (I opted to get it sans grilled onions). The porky goodness hit the spot but I found the accompanying coleslaw to be a bit bland. The slaw was nice and crispy as though it had been made fresh, but it was really dry. The square of cornbread was ok and no one touched the aluminum foil package of sliced white bread that was included with our order.


Based on their reactions, I'm pretty sure the kidlets and Mr.S. would most definitely welcome more takeout from T&R. The portions were Texas-sized (big), the food's reasonably priced and the ribs were tasty-- an overall good value. Being that it's not too far from the Grid, I could see it becoming a popular place to quench our BBQ fix on family dinner nights.