Que Whiskey Kitchen

I am a big fan of BBQ and old enough to remember when Connecticut was a vast wasteland for this cuisine. A time when if one wanted barbequed ribs or brisket we had to drive to Vernon and Little Marks Big BBQ. Then for a short glorious time they opened a second location in Avon and life seemed better. I am not sure if Little Marks has declined or if I was just so excited to have that option back then that it seemed much better than it was. But either way, I was damn glad to have it.

Bears vs Connecticut

But today things are much different, there are BBQ places everywhere, even in Torrington. I may be wrong, but it seems like Bears had a big part to do with this or else they just had great timing. Whatever, the reason they have been the measuring stick by what Connecticut BBQ is stacked up against. “Not as good as Bears” I have heard friends say more than once, or the much more desired if more rarely uttered words “they are as good as Bears.” I am not sure I have heard the words “they are better than Bears” except by family members or owners or best friends of whatever business is being lauded.

As Good as Bears?

So inevitably when I went out with friends to a new BBQ place in Southington, the bear in the room or not in the room came up. The person that brought us here mentioned that their favorite was Bears, but that they liked Que Whiskey Kitchen. He didn’t commit to liking it as much or better. I am not sure whether that was because even while in the BBQ church of Que, he couldn’t bring himself to utter blasphemy like that, or whether he hadn’t decided, or maybe as it was with me last night it didn’t matter.

BBQ Research

I am not sure if Que’s is as good as Bears, for that I would have to do substantial study, involving ordering all their various meats and trying them next to each other, over and over again for consistency. This is the kind of study that takes research. If any of you would like to finance such an in depth study I would gladly research it fully for you and after numerous meals of both, involving deep palate analysis, I would give you the results along with the bill for all that great BBQ. (Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying).

Burnt Ends Not Poutine

So, since I doubt my research proposal will get funded, let me just say it doesn’t matter. Que’s is very good and that is all that matters. Normally I don’t get appetizers at BBQ places because it’s all about the meat. OK maybe a little bit about the sides, but mainly it’s about the meat. But Que’s Whiskey Kitchen was smart and lured us in with their burnt ends poutine. Now there should be a disclaimer on these just in case any of our neighbors from the north come down and order them. They have about as much in common with poutine as Chicago Style Pizza has to do with pizza. The Whiskey Kitchen’s “poutine” starts with fries, ok that’s like poutine. But that is the end of it. Gravy? No check. Cheese Curds? Nope. So, it has 1/3 of the distinguishing ingredients in poutine. It is closer to Irish Nachos, or maybe they could call it Texas Irish Nachos, I don’t know. I mean Canadians are nice so they probably wouldn’t point out that it is not even close to poutine. And hell, if they taste it, they might even appreciate that it tastes better than poutine. Anyways, no matter what you call it, it is great. The fries are nice and crisp and flavorful. Instead of thick gravy soaking the fries and making them soggy, there is a cheese sauce that adds flavor without making the fries limp. The cheese curds have been replaced by breaded fried mozzarella, that are bigger than tater tots and just as crunchy on the outside. A few fried hot pepper slicers are interspersed just to make sure your mouth isn’t getting to relaxed from all the fried items. The best part, being a BBQ place, you can top it off with your choice of meat. We had the burnt ends. Now sometimes poutine has little slices of beef in the gravy, but I can assure you that is never as flavorful as those burnt ends. As a matter of fact, I take back about the Canadians being upset about the misuse of the poutine label. I think they should say that is exactly what meant to do and take full credit for it.

Three Meats, Two Sides

One caution about the appetizer, it is filling. Now there was three of us and we had a little over one and a third of these appetizers total (I got so excited upon seeing it I forgot to take a photo so had to order another one just to share it with all of you). You’re welcome. When the meal came around, I don’t think any of us ate over half our meal. I ate half my ribs, less than a third of my burnt ends, a quarter of my brisket and half of my two sides, and we didn’t have room for dessert. The burnt ends were even better as part of the meal than they were on the poutine, as they seemed even more tender and flavorful, without the interruption of the fries and cheese. The baby back ribs were just as you would expect from good BBQ, tender, fall of the bone, moist and flavorful. The brisket was lost compared to the two stars. Part of this was that the others were so good and rest due to the fact that brisket was sliced thin and got cold too quick. Still tasty, but not as good as the other two. I got the mac and cheese and baked beans as my sides. BBQ mac and cheese are one of those dishes that always lures me in with the fantasy and promise of its potential, only to let me down in the end. The baked beans were a little dry, but loaded with flavor and meat, which for a lesser BBQ lover might have been overload, but for me I just gave a big growl of “meat” and smiled. In hindsight the only thing I regret is falling for the false promises of the mac and cheese instead of going for the tried and true corn bread. Normally BBQ places give you a small piece of corn bread, that makes you feel like you have to ration it to make it through the meal. But when I saw the two large bricks of corn bread my friend got as one of his sides, versus my little cup of lying mac and cheese, I knew I took the wrong date to dinner. I think I would have had to have had between 5 and 10 orders of the skimpy cornbread you get at most BBQ’s to match up to these loaves that came as one side. I guarantee you, the next time I go there, I will be leaving that mac and cheese alone and going right to the corn bread.

Final Thoughts

In closing if I had to choose between going to Bears and Que’s Whiskey Kitchen, all things being equal I am not sure which I would pick. In fairness to Bears, I haven’t been to their New Haven or Hartford restaurants and am most familiar with their Windsor location, which is cafeteria style and not a full restaurant, so it has a little disadvantage in my mind there. But for shear food, they both are worthy of going to if you are a BBQ fan. And if you aren’t, then at least at Que’s you can drink plenty of Bourbon to drown your sorrow for not having good enough taste to like BBQ.