Larry & Hy’s Bare Bones BBQOn the Square in Prescott, ArizonaWe wandered into Bare Bones BBQ after running into one of those peculiar Prescott business traditions at another establishment – “I’m sorry we are not serving lunch today”, so we were left to find another place to staunch our lunch cravings. Having heard that there was a new BBQ place in town, but not sure exactly where it was, we strolled up Whiskey Row, the weather is just perfect in October, passing apparel shops, art galleries, several bars and a bistro until we found Bare Bones BBQ. If you are familiar with downtown Prescott, Bare Bones is located in the space that was occupied by Pearl’s Café.
This unpretentious smoke joint has been recently remodeled, and it's nice, but you are not going to bring anyone here to marvel over the Memphis BBQ theme. You very well might bring an out of town guest here for some decent BBQ.We sat in a small corner booth, there are a couple of those, a few tables and 5 counter seats that would be perfect for grabbing a fast bite at lunch. We were enthusiastically greeted by Destiny, our server who asked us if we would like some freshly brewed iced tea. We took her up on the offer and settled in to peruse the menu. Most BBQ restaurants offer the same basic menu items – brisket, chicken, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, potato salad, beans and maybe another side or two. What sets a restaurant apart from the herd are the sauces, the extra sides and how the menu is organized.
Sandwiches, the standard pulled pork, shredded chicken, and a slew of others are priced by weight. You can get a 1/4, 1/3 or 1/2 pound sandwich on a really good potato roll from $4.95 to $8.95 – perfect for feeding your teenage boy and grandma without having to listen to “I’m still hungry” or “I can’t eat this much why do they give me so much!?”. Sauces & rubs. I really like BBQ sauce. I like rubs too. Ok, I like BBQ in general. Bare Bones BBQ makes 7 different sauces and several different rubs for their grub. The sauces, Original, Nitro, Doctor Pepper sweet sauce, etc. give you a wide range of sauces to choose from. There are also a whole page of offerings from the old Pearl’s place menu, but that’s another story. I ordered a 3 meat combo plate with chicken, Memphis style pork ribs and brisket. My wife ordered a 1/4# pulled pork sandwich. Both orders arrived with the sauce on the side, a good idea, I think. My order came with 3 sides – potato salad, cornbread and cowboy beans. The pulled pork was very good, as was the vinegar – spice sauce and my wife liked the potato roll it came on a lot better than the plain white bread you often see in BBQ restaurants. She also extended kudos’ to Mike for having the good sense to offer smaller portions.
The ribs were done perfectly. The meat pulled easily from the bone, but didn’t fall off on its own. The flavors from the rub were really strong, maybe a little stronger than I would prefer, but that’s strictly a personal choice. I think maybe the sweeter sauce would work well with the ribs. Smoke flavor, again, was pronounced, hickory I think. Very good. I have a love – hate relationship with Brisket. I love the flavors, but it is really hard to do a smaller cut without drying it out. Bare Bones BBQ does a good job with their brisket, it has a lot of flavor, good smoke and it is tender. For me, it was just a little on the dry side, but again that’s just me. The sides, particularly the potato salad and the cornbread, were good too. I like a little more heat in my cowboy beans but there was nothing wrong with them either. Oh, and that freshly brewed iced tea? It really was, fresh and refreshing – good stuff. Bare Bones BBQ is a perfect place to take a lunch break from the activities on the square, a lunch hour sandwich, a casual dinner or if you just need that BBQ fix. The food is prepared with care, there are lots of options and smaller portions are available.
From Bare Bones BBQ to Lunch in Prescott
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There are a ton of sides, collard greens, cowboy beans, cornbread, potato salad and several others I didn’t get written down – sorry, I guess I will just have to go back, darn.
