Rooster's Roadhouse
113 Industrial St., Denton
940-382-4227
Dude Factor: 10, or Brave Combo, on a scale of 1 (Don Henley) to 10.
Last weekend I found myself at Denton's finest watering hole/music venue, Dan's Silverleaf, when I noticed a new restaurant called Rooster's a couple doors down. Just as I was walking up, some amigos spilled out and promptly vouched for this strange, new eatery, so naturally I took a between-band break with my lady to check it out.
Let's just say the menu had me at "Bean & Chopped Brisket Queso," which is the first appetizer listed. The third item, "Red Neck Sushi," sounded like another winner, described as cheese, brisket and sweethots "in the style of a sushi master." Rounding out the apps were "Blue Cheese Fries," "Bacon Cheese Fries," "Texas Sliders," "Pulled Pork Nachos" and "Okra," the earth's most palatable vegetable thanks to deep-fryer technology.
Obviously, I was gonna have to read this entire menu.
I skipped past burger and sandwich options like the
"Green Tomato Bacon Double Burger" and the "Loose Meat Debris Po'Boy,"
finally landing on the Pit BBQ Basket section (though even the short
salad menu had it's charms, with the "Southern Comfort" salad offering
greens, cheese, cucumber corn salad, tomato, pickled green tomato,
purple hull peas, fried okra, CHICKEN-FRIED BACON and ranch). Finally I
went with the "Double Meat BBQ Plate," and honestly, it was the best
decision I made all weekend.
I selected sliced brisket and
pulled pork with fries as a side--and Rooster's threw in the requisite
BBQ sauce, jalapenos and pickles, along with Texas Toast. It was as if
some lonely interstate Dairy Queen had installed a pit in the back and
started serving DQ Double BBQ Baskets.
Basically the stuff my dreams are made of.
The brisket was
impressive on it's own as well--moist, smoky and infinitely more tender
than much of what passes for brisket here in Dallas. The most telling
observation of this joint comes from my girlfriend, who unfortunately
ended up losing most of her BBQ dinner thanks to the fine offerings at
Dan's.
She said it wasn't quite as good coming up, but that doesn't mean she won't go back. And that's high praise, indeed, folks.
