#48 - 2M SMOKEHOUSE - MM Good

My last BBQ excursion to San Antonio wasn't exactly what I expected.  I visited the late Granary Cue & Brew, a creative restaurant in a ritzy area of town masquerading as a BBQ joint.  Given my unique experience there, I was hopeful that my visit to 2M Smokehouse would be a bit more...traditional.

At first glance, 2M didn't disappoint.  The building looked like a typical BBQ shack...a non-descript building that clearly had housed something else before 2M set up shop.  The walls were painted a tasteful turquoise, complete with a raging bull accented with two meat cleavers.    

You could tell the 2M team cared enough to handle the decoration themselves instead of handing it over to a pre-fab sign company.  In a nutshell, it was the perfect, kitschy-looking BBQ joint.

With the interior of the restaurant closed by pandemic rules, 2M was doing robust curbside and pickup service.  When we arrived, there were 10 to 12 cars lined up to fill up with fine 2M fare.

During the pandemic, there's a new kind of line at some of the BBQ joints.  At 2M, the traditional stand-and-wait has been replaced with drive up and wait.  The advantages are significant.  You can listen to more music on your radio.  You can run your AC in the moist, moist air.  You can watch the other line move more quickly than yours and debate moving over there.  

After we got our food, we headed over to the The Pearl.  There we spread out our lunch and fought off the ants who wanted a piece of everything we had ordered.  I don't blame them.  This was prime time BBQ, top notch grub.  Clockwise from left to right: turkey; brisket; traditional sausage; pork, serrano, and Oxaca cheese sausage; chicharoni macaroni; and Mexican street corn.

I would like to talk about each of these items, using lofty adjectives like "moist," "crunch," "sharp," "tension" and "barbeculicious" but I won't.  Instead, I'll just share the sound of satisfaction:  

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I thought I knew pumpkin pie until my mother-in-law served it with whipped cream and Heath bar brickle.  I thought I knew Twinkies until I had one battered and fried.  Chicharoni macaroni is the equivalent of these mind-blowing taste sensations.  Mac and cheese with chicharones (aka pork rinds) is the simplest thing.  After tasting this delicacy, there is no going back to the boring old way things had been. Try it, it will change your world.

Looks can be deceiving, and 2M is anything but typical.  2M Smokehouse isn't much to look at on the outside, but their magnificent BBQ is the best in San Antonio and it's easily one of the best in the state.

Earlier this year, Pitmaster Esaul Ramos was one of two semifinalists for the Best Chef in Texas (Snow's Tootsie Tomanetz was the other).  They are using top grade Aukashi brisket.  And their menu creativity is solid and delicious.  

Next time you're in San Antonio, get in line and get ya some. It's MM good.