Gates Kansas City BBQ, Put to Music

Editor's note: Barbecued Adventures will be relaunched in early 2014 with new posts about barbecue, pitmasters and related travel. This post dates back to Jan. 24, 2011. Thank you for reading and please come back often.




“Blues, brews and barbecue”

It’s a common refrain for barbecue lovers and the theme for many festivals and cookouts around the country.

Good barbecue is a celebration, especially when it is shared with family and friends.

Why even Shakespeare said, “If music be the food of love, play on.”

Bet this is the first BBQ blog to mention the Bard.

IU’s Archive of African American Music & Culture each month produces Black Grooves, which features reviews of new releases and quality reissues of great black music. I’ve had the privilege of writing for it on occasion.

I want to bring your attention to editor Brenda Nelson-Strauss’ review of The Gates BBQ Suite (2010), featuring Bobby Watson and the University of Missouri at Kansas City Concert Jazz Orchestra.

Brenda writes, “For most of us, the mere mention of Kansas City conjures up visions of two things: live jazz and barbeque joints. Preferably together. On multiple nights. Obviously, native son Bobby Watson agrees. ‘Smoking meat remains near and dear to me,’ he recalls, ‘either a beef sandwich or short end!’ And Watson, a former member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, knows how to serve up some smoking jazz as well.”

 The jazz certainly is smoking in the video below of Watson and the ensemble performing "Wilke's BBQ:"

Rudy's: The "Worst" Bar-B-Q in Texas

Editor's note: Barbecued Adventures will be relaunched in early 2014 with new posts about barbecue, pitmasters and related travel. This post dates back to Jan. 23, 2011. Thank you for reading and please come back often.


While Frommer’s says there are more than 90 barbecue restaurants in the greater San Antonio area, you’ll want to head several miles north to Leon Springs, at the edge of the Hill Country, to Rudy's, where you can fill up your gas tank, pick up a gallon of milk and find some of the best beef brisket and pork ribs for miles.

Even if the people at Rudy’s say it’s the “Worst Bar-B-Q in Texas.”

It is hard to believe that this place only has been serving barbecue since 1989. The environment at Rudy’s Country Store has a nostalgic feel about it, from the hot, freshly hand-sliced meat served simply on brown paper placed inside soda delivery trays to the large ice buckets that keep the beer and sodas cold.

Thankfully, the nutritionists haven’t led Rudy’s to trim the blackened fat from the meat, which is so tender that it melts in your mouth. My grandfather wouldn’t have needed his dentures to eat here.

A plaque near the entrance tells the story of founder Mack “Doc” Holiday, who died in 2007.

“Doc put his own unique touch into an existing neighborhood general store and gas station called ‘Rudolph’s’ and helped to create a true ‘Barbecue Joint’ like the roadside barbecue stands he used to frequent as a kid,” the plaque reads.

“Through the years and with the growth of additional locations, Doc continued to put his unique touch on everything, including our team members and guests that have been and continue to be a part of Rudy’s,” it continues.

“He believed that good barbecue is a celebration, especially when it is shared with family and friends. Doc always had a smile for everyone and his hospitality served as a role model for all of us. Doc will be missed but not forgotten by all those he touched through his words and barbecue.”

It is obvious that the people carrying on Doc’s legacy have taken these words to heart. I asked someone why they serve the “worst” barbecue and not the best. I was told that everyone else says they serve the best barbecue, but at Rudy’s they never give up on trying to make it better.

A sign near the fire pit says, “Don’t tell us how good it is. Just come back with your friends and family.”

I wish I could come here more often.

Be sure to try their creamed corn, which is made according to their own recipe, as well as their sausage. They use fresh peaches in their cobbler.

There are now nearly 30 Rudy’s locations across Texas and in Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico. I can’t vouch for any of the other locations, but if they’re half as good as the original, they’re worth stopping for.

Location we visited:
Rudy's Country Store

24152 W. IH 10
San Antonio, Texas

210-698-2141

Brisket, ribs and sausage. It's all good.