“Barbecue in Madison, Wisconsin”

For Gretchen

My son, Ben, moved to Madison, Wisconsin this past week to start a new job.  I joined him for the ride up, about 17 hours driving on the road in a U-Haul van with a car carrier attached.  It is truly remarkable that a person can move half way across the country, luggage in tow + car in less than two days.  Gone are the days of the covered wagons…go north, young man, go north!  Those wonderful folks we met in Madison were very friendly.  It reminded me of South Carolina!

Our first day, as good tourists often do, we picked two of the best restaurants in town.  I did this, knowing I was visiting for only three days.  Our first night we ate at Swagat Indian Restaurant, for Indian cuisine.  I had lamb, my son chicken all served with rice and wonderful Indian flat bread.  Truly it was a culinary delight!  This restaurant received the 2017 Best Cuisine Award, which is well deserved.

The second day, I craved something more traditional for my southern taste, so in a travel magazine I found an article on Brickstreet BBQ.  Perusing the menu, which included mac and cheese, barbecue beans, and slaw, I found things familiar to those of us from South Carolina, as we are used to mustard or tomato base pork barbecue.  Brickstreet BBQ serves both pork and beef, which gives plenty of options.  My son found the restaurant on Google Maps, so we set off for lunch.  I did not know at the time it is very close to the center of the University of Wisconsin, and that we had arrived on the first Saturday before fall classes.  Students were seen everywhere!  We found Brickstreet BBQ and a place to park right in front of the restaurant.  After determining we needed eight quarters for parking we went happily inside.

The main dining area was not busy for lunch, so we sat in a booth near the front window, with an excellent view.  Gretchen and her compatriot in training, another tall young woman with an equally infectious smile, served our table.  My son ordered the pulled pork sandwich with fries, which were cut in a waffle fashion.  I ordered beef brisket, a specialty of the house, with barbecue beans and slaw.  Gretchen made some real sweet tea, using honey.  I told her I needed sweet tea to compare their barbecue to my southern experience, and she was gracious to oblige.

To my surprise, Clemson University was playing Kent State on the overhead TV, beating them quite badly.  I could have easily been sitting at home in South Carolina!

When our food arrived, I was quite pleased at the generous, but not overwhelming portions.  After grace, my son ate his pork sandwich, while I studied my plate of beef brisket, beans and slaw, and one small piece of cornbread, debating where to start.

I first tried the barbecue beans. Immediately, I tasted a mixture of three or four flavors superbly blended.  These were not typical southern barbecue beans, they were better!  The brisket, I tried next.  It fell apart as soon as my fork touched it, served over Texas Toast, full of gravy.  I once had beef brisket in Texas, which is known to be the best in the country.  This beef brisket was better!  I was dumbfounded.  This beef brisket was better by a whole lot of better!  Yes, I was hungry.  I poured the coleslaw from its container and mixed it with the beef, taking a bite of beans every so often.  The fragrance moved me to tears.  The combined tastes swirled around in my mouth and transported me back to a time and place I remembered from my childhood.  I found myself sitting with my dad at Black’s Barbecue in Gastonia, North Carolina.  Then it was lean sliced pork on a bun covered with hot slaw.  I remember washing it all down with Cheerwine, along with my tater tots.  Until this past Saturday, I had found no barbecue anywhere to compare with that experience.  I have eaten mustard base pork in Columbia, SC and tomato base pork in Charleston.  Once I have vinegar based pork barbecue in Laurinburg, NC.  Nothing in any of these places compares with Brickstreet BBQ!  I gave my compliments to the chef.  Gretchen said, “I am from Texas and I like this barbecue!”  If fact, she said, “I would not work here if it were not so good!”

So, in conclusion, I find I am still surprised, amazed and in a true state of disbelief.  Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia all have amazing barbecue, and I have loved them all.  But if you enjoy good barbecue as I do, and if you ever visit Madison, Wisconsin, go try the Brickstreet BBQ.  I promise, you will not be disappointed!

I slept easy Saturday night in a hotel a long way from home, still so full from lunch, I did without supper.  God, it was good!  I will be back again, just as soon as I can persuade Dorothy it is not as cold as she thinks in Wisconsin in September and they really do make good barbecue up there.

BW