Comments (0) Best Vintage Barbecue Restaurant - 2005
Reid's Barbecue
The wood parquet pattern on the linoleum floors is wearing off. The menu hanging on the wall has been slow-smoked to a light brown. Inside the old wall clock above the bar, the Budweiser Clydesdales have been frozen midstride since Reid's opened for business in 1968. Eddie Reid opened the place with her husband, James Reid, who passed away nine years ago. Eddie runs the place now, along with her son James, who learned to smoke meat from his father and has worked at the restaurant since the beginning. The brisket and ribs are smoked in the classic East Texas African-American style, so that the meats are moist and tender with a powerful, smoky aroma. And in keeping with the style, everything is drenched in a barbecue sauce that's a tad sweet (ask for it on the side). The mashed potato salad is homemade and seasoned with a little pickle juice. The pinto beans are plain. The "sandwich" is actually a generous pile of falling-apart brisket with a couple of slices of white bread on the side. You put it together when you get home. That way it doesn't get all soggy.
