7 Splats -
For whatever reason the education center didn't provide lunch on Tuesday or Thursday - leaving the students on their own. One of my students knew of a BBQ place near his house (about 20 minutes from the training facility) that he thought served some pretty good 'Q - so off we went as a group. You can see a couple of the guys entering the place in the picture above.
I knew I was going to like this place from the moment we drove up. The pit was outside, right up front, and it was smoking away! Good BBQ joints put their smoker where people can see it - they're proud of their process and want their customers to know they do things right!
This is a small place - it maybe seats 20 or so people. You line up (and yes, there was a line) and give your order, then wait while they build your plate for you. The only complaint I'd make about this place was that the menu was a little confusing - not unusual for BBQ joints as many of them build their business off local repeat customers who already know what's available. I almost always order a combo-plate, but there wasn't one on the menu. The helpful young lady behind the counter suggested a pulled pork meal with 6 bones on the side - great choice!
Here you can see my self designed combo-platter. This was enough for two dinners - let alone a lunch. I had some serious fear about going into a Q Coma later and screwing up the class. Working our way around the picture here - you can see the size of the pulled pork sandwich that one of my guys ordered. Then look at my platter - enough pulled pork for 2 people, and was it good! If I come back, the pulled pork will be my meal of choice. It was not just moist - it was downright juicy! Nicely smoked, with a good bit of bark mixed right in. I didn't need the ribs at all - but of course, knowing that you'd be interested, I dug right in!
I have to admit that the ribs were not done to competition standards (something that is damn near impossible for a restaurant since they have to have ribs ready all day) but these were done the way 90% of the customers are going to like them - the meat just fell off the bone! And talk about meat - these 6 bones would have been a meal in and of themselves - I was stuffed before I even got to the sides!

Actually that was probably lucky. If this place has a weakness it would be in the sides. The ColeSlaw was pretty plain, the beans tasted like the old KFC beans before they changed their recipe, and the dinner rolls were, well, cheap dinner rolls.

Even with that said - I ate here twice more before I left town! This is the kind of BBQ you search for, the kind of place that you go back to over and over, and the kind of food that makes you just a bit jealous - consistently good BBQ is tough to do, but certainly a skill worth bragging about!
RIBS - 8 Splats
The ribs were good - they were nicely smoked, had a nice fire-ring, and were really meaty.

PULLED PORK - 7 Splats
Moist, smokey, firm - great!

BEANS - 3 Splats
If you can remember the taste of KFC beans from the '70's - then you know what these tasted like.

SLAW - 3 Splats
Not much to brag about here.

SAUCE - 5 Splats
I would have liked to have seen a couple of choices - but what they had was plenty good.

I will be eating here *EVERY* time I get to Indianapolis. (And I might be requesting a trip every now and then just for this BBQ!)