Get Stuffed: Brother-in-law's BBQ
So we promised to eat non-latino this week, and we came through. There was a long moment of indecision, as we could have easily started on a string of our favorite asian eateries. But we decided at the last minute to write about the only good ribs we've ever found in San Francisco. There's all sorts of places over in Oakland, and we know for a fact that there are some gems over on the east side of the city south of Mission Bay. But once you land in a strange city and find good barbecue, you're tempted to stop looking.
We've told the story again and again -- it's kind of our personal losing-our-heart-to-San-Francisco genesis myth -- about how we found Brother-in-law's BBQ on Divisadero and Grove. We were record shopping at Open Mind, and afterwards were decidedly hungry. So walking up Divisadero to Fulton to catch the bus, we caught a whiff of meat being smoked. You can tell a good barbecue joint pretty much by how far away you can smell it. We weren't even to Hayes, so that was more than a block. When we saw the rather dismal building, and the aged sign, we said "Hey, this is the place our friend recommended before we left Brooklyn!" And a regular pilgrimmage was born.
Why are there so few decent 'Q joints in The City? Well, we'd like say that it's an accident of architecture -- starting with what HUD did to the Fillmore. We should rephrase -- we hope it's an accident of architecture. The other architecural anomaly that precludes making good barbecue in EssEff is that you need a good smoker. A good smoker is the heart of good barbecue, and it's a hot, smelly thing to put in the middle of a neighborhood. Brother-in-law's has a smoker that looks like it can hold at least half a ton of meat over a slow-burning wood fire in it's spacious brick walls. Try to grab a glimpse when they open the door -- it's hog heaven (literally) in there.
A half order will run you anywhere from half a barbecued chicken at $6.75 to a pile of the best brisket in town at $10.00. We got the ribs at $8.00, and the total was $8.65 with tax. Half orders come with a side of potato salad, beans or coleslaw, and two slices of bread -- which are surprisingly handy as napkins. Do not bring your vegetarian lover. Repeat: Do not bring your vegetarian lover. We'd argue that you shouldn't be going out with them in the first place, and that your relationship is doomed to failure anyway, but it's not going to help when he or she sees that their choices range from potato salad through coleslaw and end at sweet potato pie. Go with your fellow carnivores and bring them back a piece of pie. They'd just be uncomfortable, anyway.
Brother-in-law's is the kind of place where they have tables, but kind of look at you funny if you actually eat at them. It's pretty much a take-out joint. So we usually get our order and then grab a soda at the corner store on Fulton. With a bottle of coke, our meal came to exactly ten bucks, on the penny. We hauled our BBQ booty up the hill to Alamo Square Park, where we enjoyed six meaty ribs with smokey pork that literally fell off the bones when we picked them up. You can choose hot, mild or mixed sauce, and your meat comes pre-slathered (which may bother some traditionalists -- ask for it on the side if you have to). Ribs are always a messy proposition, and we use the "Morroccan Technique," eating with the first three fingers of our right hand, to reduce the surface area of our skin exposed to sauce, and the number of fingers we need to remember to lick. After stuffing ourselves, we had a cigarette and took in the view. Delicious.