Ah yes, the long awaited final chapter in our quest to spend the day eating barbecue. If you would like to recap or get aquainted with Part One, do so now.
Onward …

The time? About 3ish on a warm July afternoon down in Oakland’s Jack London Square. We’d just walked out of Everett & Jones and gathered round to regroup and get our bearings. We weren’t hungry anymore, after starting in Lafayette at Bo’s Barbecue for a late breakfast and then a hefty lunch at E&J’s. Jim was done for the day and headed back to Los Gatos, bye Jim! After Jim departed we decided it was time for a cool refreshing beverage in a dark bar somewheres, we were off to the Toronado in San Francisco on Haight. As you can see in the image above, it was bumper to bumper getting across the bridge. Paul was a real trooper and kept on driving, no matter how slow it was. It only took us an hour or so to make a 15 minute trip, no big whup. AND, we found a place to park right out front. Personally, I thought that was pretty amazing considering the parking situation in this area.

We plunked in several dollars worth of quarters and received our 1 hour limit, seemed like a lot to me. Oh well, this is the big city you know. After a load of meat, hot weather and a long drive I was looking forwards to a drink in a dark, crowded, loud bar. What with the gout and all, I ordered a water. They didn’t have ice and made that perfectly clear. Apparently, the Toronado is world famous for their selection of fancy beers and a once a year event, The Barley Wine Festival. Henry Joe could tell you all about it, for sure. I’d been resting and collecting my wits for a few moments when Henry Joe pulled me from my seat and said, “YOU JUST GOTTA COME SEE THIS SAUSAGE PLACE NEXT DOOR!” Oddly enough, I wasn’t flinging myself in that direction. Sure enough, Rosamunde Sausage Grill was right there where H.J. told me it was. A very clean, white & shiny little sausage factory and grill. What struck Paul and I right off was the Wild Boar Sausage with apple and spice, then the Duck with Fig sausage. Oh man, they have Weisswurst, a veal, onion and leek sausage. Mark this one down for another trip for sure. But I wanted to back and sit down for a moment, we had time to come back later.

We sat around for a bit, staring at the stuff around the bar and listening to Henry Joe, Scott, Paul and Rick talk about beers and countries, I was spacing out a bit. Until I feel a BAM, BAM, BAM on the wall I was leaning against. Rick gets up, leaves the bar and returns with some grilled Duck Sausage with Figs, Pepper Salsa and Grilled Onions. Good thing cause I was feeling a bit peckish. And what a sausage it was, succulent enough to hold through a decent grilling. The texture was fine enough to make smooth, but coarse enough so you could taste the duck and get feedback on the fig as well. The pepper salsa was equally as tasty, but I was too wiggy to be a foodie about it. It tasted real good in my mowf, that’s all that needs to be said about that. The onions were fine, just onions. The boys polished off a few pints and it was time to walk across the street to Memphis Minnie’s for something to eat, we were famished!

Memphis Minnie’s is a cool little place owned and run by Bob Kantor. He’s an older gentleman with a quiet careful way about him. His bushy gray mustache and his glass of sake are hard to miss. He was gracious and showed us to our table while he ushered over a comped bottle of cold sake. Oh yeah, this day was looking up, finally. Thanks Bob! We stood around and exhanged words and then, the dreaded question I refuse to ask, “So, what’s good today? What do you suggest we get?” Okay, so it’s kinda two questions, but you get my drift. And surely you know what the answer is right? That’s right, “It’s all good.” Sigh. However, as we were standing there, Bob’s eyes lit up and he mentioned that he’s now serving beef ribs. He hadn’t in the past because he couldn’t find fresh ones, decent ones from his local supplier. He’d never really been a fan of the beef ribs, but he remarked several times that these were really really good. Okay, we’re in! Pork butt was ordered because none of the other two places offered it. And you just can’t forget about the brisket, no way.
Alright, we gathered around the table, got the sake open and poured. This took about 2 minutes and we were still looking around … when … our food arrived. I did a double take, we’d just ordered it. Now that right there is how things should be done.

Happy staff means good food.

This is how your table should look when eating barbecue. Funky, sauce is in the bottle, not on the meat. But they did have sauce, Texas Red Sauce, North Carolina Vinegar Sauce and the South Carolina Mustard Sauce, excellent all. Oh and don’t forget the alcohol, oh yeah.

Wanna guess how it tasted? At first bite everyone rocked back in their chairs spewing expletives. This went on for a few minutes, until they had so much meat in their mouths all they could do is eat. As everyone was talking and eating Bob stayed at the table and talked about barbecue, his life and the business. “Real barbecue is a dying business,” he says, “it’s just too darned expensive these days to do it right.” Bob and his staff cook 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Every pie, ever side is made by hand using fresh scratch. Even the delightful sounding Chili Cheese Hand Pie. They burn about a thousand pounds of green white oak a week (never any other type of wood). That’s right, green wood. Now ain’t that a hoot. I ain’t never heered of that before. He talked about cumbustion and creosote and things everyone at this table had heard before. But he said the green wood combusts better than seasoned wood. Seasoned wood burns too hot and too fast. The green stuff just sizzles right along. And if you don’t have a white smoke tinted with a brown puff, no creosote and all is golden. I wasn’t sure about using green wood, but the man has been doing this for 26 years, enough said.
He talked on as we ate, he reached in and grabbed a piece of brisket, wanted to see how the product was today. I was impressed by that, the man spends the entire day doing nothing but cooking and he’s willing to, at the end of that day, have a slice of meat. You go Bob, right on.
As you can probably figure out, the food was fantastic right down to the Banana Puddin’. Unfortunately, something we weren’t able to check out is their new Brunch menu, available in the mornings on the weekends. Check out these fine eats, Red Beans & Rice, Andouille with Fried Eggs and Cornbread. Or, BBQ Pork Hash with Sweet Potato and Tart Apple. Topped with Poached Eggs served with collards and cornbread. OH YEAH !!! I’m going back for sure.
I’m tellin’ ya, Memphis Minnie’s is a slam dunk. And with Rosamunde and the Toronado across the street? How can you lose?
To sum it all up, Bo’s was fine but can’t think of any reason to return. E&J’s of Jack London Square is a pass and the winner? Hah, you know that one.
,
Thanks guys and thank you Bob for a Grand Day Out.
Biggles

Bo’s Barbecue & Catering
3422 Mount Diablo Blvd.
Lafayette, CA 94549
(925) 283-7133
Everett & Jones Barbeque
126 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94607-3716
(510) 663-2350
Rosamunde Sausage Grill
545 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Memphis Minnie’s
576 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 437-6851