“The
discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the
discovery of a star.”
---Jean Anthelme Buillat-Savarin
---Jean Anthelme Buillat-Savarin
TODD’S COOKHOUSE BAR-B-QUE
40713 Highway 41
Oakhurst, CA 93644
(559) 642-4900
11:00 AM t0 9:00 PM Daily
No Web site yet
I suppose that you have been
wondering what we have been up to. Well,
even if you haven’t, I’m going to tell you anyway. We’ve been revisiting some of the places that
we have posted about. Most of them are
satisfyingly consistent. One declined. One improved. We also tried another location of a chain
restaurant we reviewed and had an experience so bad that I couldn’t even bring
myself to write about it. However, this
last weekend, we took a trip to Yosemite with a couple of friends and on the
way had some interesting barbeque experiences.
This one is a diamond in the rough and seemingly ignored by the local
population. Shame on them! They don’t know what they are missing. But then again, it just means us tourists get
the pleasure of enjoying the food here.
The only major town immediately
south of Yosemite on highway 41 is Oakhurst. (Fish Camp is a wide spot in the
road and Coarsegold seems to have had an extra decimal place added to its
population count.) Driving through
Oakhurst, we spotted Todd’s Cookhouse Barbeque.
The building it’s in is a bit off the road and slightly down a slope, so
it’s fortunate they have some good signage. Walking in, your first impression
is that this is going to be fast-food barbeque.
You are facing an ordering counter with a couple of small dining areas
to either side at the ends of the building.
The menu is hand scrawled on a piece of cardboard behind the counter and
on a chalkboard to the left by the self-serve drink dispenser. The interior is wooden plank with a few
country memorabilia nailed up. No
restaurant designer was used in the construction of this place and you feel you
are in a real hole in the wall barbeque place.
The girls behind the counter
are friendly and take your orders on paper, no computers here. They do have a 2-meat
combo plate listed but we were having dinner at the Ahwahnee that night so we
ordered different sandwiches to get a sampling.
Sharon ordered a Tri-tip sandwich with a side of Chili Beans. I had a Pulled Pork sandwich with Cole
Slaw. Our friends ordered Chopped
Brisket sandwiches with Hush Puppies. We
found a table and after a very short wait, our orders arrived. The generous quantity of the meat in the
sandwiches almost spoiled our dinners.
Pulled Pork
I’ve had pulled pork in
Memphis and the Carolinas. The first
bite here took me right back there. This
is moist and flavorful pulled pork, as good as it gets. They use mostly California red oak here, but
I think they threw a little apple wood in when they did this one. My only complaint, and this is nitpicking,
was that the slaw was not on the sandwich.
Some people prefer fried onions on a pulled pork sandwich, I like slaw
on one. I would also have liked a
mustard based sauce for it, but this is just a personal preference. This pulled pork can stand on its own. Great!
Tri-tip
Someone in this kitchen
knows how to do tri-tip. It was moist
and tender, not sliced too thin, and had a proper smoke ring with a subtle
taste of California red oak. You will be hard pressed to find any better
tri-tip anywhere. You could cut it with
the plastic knife that serves as cutlery here.
The buttered bun it came on was very fresh and fluffy with a smear of
barbeque sauce that did not overwhelm the tri-tip. The barbeque sauce was tangy and definitely
has some pepper in it as it made Sharon’s mouth burn.
Chopped Brisket
I’ll bet that when they took
this brisket out of the smoker and threw it on the cutting board it quivered. It was probably fall apart tender before it
was chopped because it certainly was on the sandwich. Brisket should have a flavor that says “Beef!”
over and above the smoke and any rub and this does. Again, you will be hard pressed to find a
better brisket anywhere. This also came
on the same fresh bun.
Hush
Puppies
OK, they’re hush
puppies. They don’t have jalapenos in
them, which allowed Sharon to sample them.
While tasty, they were just a little over done, and could have used some
honey butter. I prefer a lighter hush puppy just golden and done but still soft
on the inside. These came with a tangy
dipping sauce that helped to make them more than ordinary.
Chili Beans
This is not a side dish bowl
of beans. What you have here is a fabulous;
make a meal of it, bean dish with both pork and beef in it. It is more than amply meaty and the sauce,
while sweet, is just right. This is one
of the best bean dishes you will find anywhere.
I would have no problem ordering just a bowl of chili beans with a side
of bread for a meal here.
Cole Slaw
While it is not fantastic
coleslaw it is definitely better than a simply competent one. The surprise is a little cilantro in it. It has a creamy style sauce that is a bit on
the sweet side. I did object to there
being a bit too much sauce on my serving.
If you have been following this you know that I have a thing about
overly wet coleslaw. Besides that, it is
a very good side dish slaw.
Sharon and I, along with our
friends, were absolutely delighted with Todd’s Cookhouse BBQ. We always have fun on a road trip (Well,
there was the time we got to our destination and found the next morning we were
surrounded by a wild fire, but that was an adventure.) and it’s even more fun
when you can find a little gem like Todd’s.
While we were there we spoke to a gentleman waiting for a go order who
said that he had recently moved to Oakhurst and was delighted to have found
this place. He told us that he was
surprised to find that many of the locals did not know about it. They’re missing something. For the meat, we rate Todd’s a 9.6. As a total experience we rate it an 8.5. It’s a bit out of the way unless you are
going to Yosemite, but it is definitely destination barbeque.
