The Insiders' Guide to Twin Cities BBQ

RIB TIPS
Pork has always been inexpensive relative to other meats, and ribs have always been cheap pork. In St. Louis, they love to trim large ribs down, squaring off the rack and cutting off the gristly “knuckle” that some rib fans find fatty and difficult to eat, but many of us think contains some of the best-tasting and unctuous bites found on the rack. Considered poor man’s food before Applebee’s made them popular, great rib tips, like great chicken wings, are worth the work.

1. Ted Cook’s
Ted Cook’s tips are identical in preparation to their ribs, which is why they are so awesome. Big fat tips, crusty and loaded with fatty pork flavor, are two-bite babies, just the way God intended.

2. Lee and Dee’s
More oversized tips, with meat falling off the connective tissue and small bones, deep sweet, and smoky, served dripping in Lee and Dee’s sauce. The gritty urban vibe here isn’t for the Redstone crowd.

3. Famous Dave’s
Big tips, swaddled in Dave’s “Rich & Sassy” sauce, are crusty on the outside and melting on the inside.

Close Behind: Lou B’s BBQ, Market Bar-B-Que (tie)

COUNTRY- STYLE RIBS
We include these hugely popular little chops with some reluctance. Because they are really butterflied or split-blade chops from the loin, they contain meat from both the working and nonworking parts of the pig. This means the small disks of loin meat attached to the ribs don’t take to low-and-slow cooking, which is nonetheless a prerequisite for making the rest of the rib tender. Consequently, while popular for their meaty size, country-style ribs always are dried out on one end or not cooked enough on the other. They’re really more gimmickry than good food. The Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, the Academy Awards and Super Bowl of barbecue, will not allow them in the competition. Nonetheless, for the partisans:

1. Cap’s Grille
The best locally. Charry, meaty, in a sauce well suited to the cut. If you like country-style ribs, Cap’s is the place to enjoy them.

BEEF RIBS
In what seems like a search to find the next big thing, everyone seems to be adding beef ribs to their menu. Foot-long beef ribs are what’re left behind when the meat cutter bones a standing rib roast. Beef ribs are, you guessed it, most popular in Texas. Cooked well, they are a transcendent experience, tender and crusty, with vastly more intense flavor than pork. Beef ribs are the perfect mate for a tart-sweet sauce. Cooked poorly (most are) with inferior beef (ditto), and you have a greasy, coppery tasting product that is distinctly unpleasant. No barbecue restaurants in our neck of the woods really nailed this one, but ribs at a couple were worth a taste if you’re in the neighborhood.

1. Ted Cook’s (tie)
Cook’s ribs, crusty and smoky, with decent beef flavor, were the favorite of the majority of our tasters. The ribs were a little fatty and greasier in the mouth than some, but the spicy-tart glaze of Cook’s sauce helped make the overall experience one of the best in class.

1. Tonka Grill & Bar-B-Que (tie)
Smoky and roasted within an inch of their life, these beef ribs have very good flavor, a nice crust, and are basted in Tonka’s mild, ketchupy sauce. As good as you’ll find ’round these parts. 4016 Shoreline Dr., Spring Park, 952-471-7447

1. Tony Roma’s (tie)
To much of the Western world, this Texas-based chain (260-plus restaurants in twenty-seven countries) embodied barbecue. Not anymore. Nevertheless, Roma’s beef ribs, which come glazed with your choice of five custom-made sauces, had the cleanest beef flavor of all we tried. 346 South Ave., Mall of America, Bloomington, 952-854-7940, tonyromas.com