Doug's BBQ - Best in East Bay
Written: Nov 04 '01 (Updated Feb 04 '03)
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Pros: Intense, smoky, tangy BBQ.
Cons: No cons at Doug's - just serious BBQ.
The Bottom Line: Mouth-watering smoky beef brisket. If anyone ever tries the barbecued goat, let me know what it's like.
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| megugrrrl's Full Review: Doug's BBQ |
When I used to work at AskJeeves, some of the most difficult decisions I had to make centered around where to go for lunch. It would all start at around 10 am with the Instant Messaging about lunchtime plans. We couldn’t really drive anywhere because the parking lot valets would bite our heads off after they spent so much time and effort placing each car with careful precision centimeters away from the next car. Our building was right across the train tracks from the Emeryville Public Market, which was just mall food without the mall. After about a month we had already exhausted all our options which all led to dead ends. Subway, Lyon’s, Denny’s, and even Andronico’s grew tiresome. I was about to resort to bringing lunch from home until we discovered the perfect place for lunch. Doug’s Barbecue on San Pablo Avenue proved to be the tastiest, cheapest, and most adventurous lunchtime spot.
Doug’s Barbecue is located on the exciting street of San Pablo Ave. in Emeryville on the corner of 36th right next to a freeway overpass. Don’t let the slightly sketchy neighborhood deter you; most of the people we run into give us the chin nod or even a ‘hello’. There’s a small parking lot in front (three car) which is a bonus for the Bay Area, but we were able to make the trek on foot from work.
Doug’s is a serious ‘cue joint – there are no waiters, no tables, and no ambiance – unless you count the giant wood burning ovens that dominate the space or the guys chopping or scooping food behind the counter ambiance. Like other serious barbecue places, it’s small, smells wonderful, and you line up to get your food to take home in styrofoam boxes. There is nothing fancy here, just good barbecue.
There’s usually a line of people standing around watching the guy hack the meat with his cleaver or his buddy scoop coleslaw. The line moves rather quickly and I’m thankful no one ever complains or seems agitated like they are in at fast food lines.
My favorite thing to get is the beef brisket with two sides. ($8.92 – or something funny like that) The brisket is super tender, super smoky and slathered with an intensely spicy and slightly sweet sauce. It's so tender that it just starts to fall apart once you touch it. There’s this nice tangy blend in the sauce that makes me just feel content. And it has this wonderful pinkish hue - proof that it's been sitting in the smoker for ages. The barbecue baked beans and potato salad sides I always get are perfect companions. I’ve also sampled the smoky roasted chicken (around $7) which was also unbelievably tender and slightly addictive, but I’m a big fan of the brisket. The ribs (pork and beef in full and half orders) are packed with flavor and succulent but have a tad too much fat on them for me – some kids love that though.
There are three levels of intensity for sauces and the medium is enough to leave a little tingle on your lips after lunch. I like the sweet and spicy flavor that dominates the sauce. Doug’s also has hot links and a few strange things on the menu – which lead me to believe that this is a serious rib joint: barbecued goat, lamb, boudin sausage, and hog head cheese, for example. I don’t think I’ll ever muster up the guts to try hog head cheese.
Even though I don’t make it to Emeryville as much, I always stop for some Doug’s when I’m in the East Bay. For me the quality of meats and pack of the sauce are much better than Flint’s or Everett and Jones.
Oh – and the homemade sweet potato pie is a must.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: No
Best Suited For: Friends
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Epinions.com ID:
megugrrrl
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Location: Oakland
Reviews written: 147
Trusted by: 317 members
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