#7 - 4-T's BAR-B-Q Delivers TBasic TTasty TTexas TBBQ

4-T's Bar-B-Q is the 7th restaurant I visited during my quest to taste Texas' top 50 BBQ joints according to Texas Monthly.  4-T's is basic, small-town BBQ.  They're located in Forney, a bedroom community of almost 20,000 people, 20 miles east of Dallas.  Most people know Forney for the row of warehouses on US 80, teeming to their tops with antiques.  In fact, Forney was once known as the Antique Capital of Texas.  Really.

I went to Forney's 4-T's the day before making what will soon be an annual pilgrimage to Smoked Dallas. I figured a little BBQ snack wouldn't hurt me.  Not any more than sampling 15 different BBQ restaurants in one day would, anyway.

I headed out of town and took the turn towards 4-T's. After a spin through downtown Forney, it was clear that I missed it.  So I turned the car around and checked the GPS.  I missed it again.  Four-time's I passed by 4-T's before I found it, masquerading as a non-descript, low-slung building with its "BAR-B-Q" sign firmly placed on top.

Once inside, I was in familiar territory.  4-T's looks like many restaurants in small-town Texas.  A few table tops, Texas tchotchkes on the wall, a hand-written menu board behind the counter, and a window to the kitchen.  It could have housed a Chinese restaurant once, a sandwich shop or a combination taco/Thai tea tavern. The owners had some difficulty finding an appropriate location due to the shortage of restaurant space in Forney.  Did I say it's a small town?

4-T's isn't about the restaurant decor, it's about the BBQ.  4-T's has been feeding Forney since 2003, and I witnessed many fans streaming into the restaurant. In fact, it's so popular that Eno's Pizza Tavern, one of those high-toned Bishop Arts restaurants, is opening in Forney and serving pizzas with artisanal meats from 4-T's.

I scanned the handwritten menu and placed my order...brisket and jalapeno sausage. After my food arrived, the appeal of 4-T's was clear.

The basic appearance of the restaurant was a reflection of the basic BBQ.  In my opinion, great brisket has to be moist with a smoky, flavorful, peppery bark.  It shouldn't fall apart but it shouldn't stand on its own either.  The jalapeno sausage needs to taste spicy and meaty, not too greasy but not so dry that it tastes like clay. The BBQ at 4-T's met all of my standards.  The brisket had a great peppery bark and flavor.

In other words, 4-T's is delivering TBasic TTasty TTexas TBBQ.  It was a ttremendously tterrific TTexas ttreat. Ttry tsome ttoday.