Great Northern BBQ Co. Review

Although today was Tracy's birthday, she decided that we should try out the Great Northern BBQ Co. for her birthday dinner. The restaurant is located just off Hwy T in Pewaukee. I thought it would be a stand alone place but it is actually located at the end of a strip mall.

The atmosphere was not quite what I was expecting either. From the review in the Journal, I expected a true BBQ shack look and feel. This place looked a bit more polished. Aside from the picnic table style seating, the rest of the restaurant looked like your typical strip mall food joint. Laminate wood floors and a tiled entrance with a wood paneled bar. Behind the bar was their collection of BBQ trophies and awards as well as their BBQ USA book.

Ordering was easy. Walk in, grab a single sheet menu, place your order, and take a seat with your number card. No soda fountain for drinks either. All soda is served in bottles. Or you can grab a glass of ice water or order a drink from the bar.

Service was pretty quick although you could tell that they were still trying to get their rhythm. At least one customer had to go up to the counter to complain that they did not get their food yet. The manager then personally delivered their meal to their table.

Tracy ordered a half rack of ribs with mashed potatoes and cheesy corn (tasted like mac & cheese she said). And I had a full rack with fries and cowboy beans. The beans were excellent! They had small pieces of pulled pork mixed in. The only thing I didn't care for was the texture of the beans. They had a bit of a crunch to them and I prefer more well cooked beans.

The ribs actually tasted very similar to the ribs produced by the Moist Heat Team. They are served with no sauce and nothing really special in the rub. Lots of Paprika though. The ribs are notched (just like Jo-Be-Wan likes) and served on a piece of white bread on a plastic plate.

I tried all 4 of their sauces. Their "Northern Sauce" was sweet but tangy. It had more of an Open Pit taste than a Sweet Baby Ray's taste. The Root Beer sauce was good (Tracy loved it) and tasted just like the root beer ribs Jo-Be-Wan made awhile back. The Fire Spit (I think that was the name) was, as expected, very spicy. And the Texas Pit sauce also had a bit of a bite to it.

The owner was not there but the manager was tending bar and talking to two guys at the bar and of course I was listening in. He was giving them a brief description of their kitchen. They have two large prep tables where they prepare the plates. Behind those tables are their warming ovens and behind that is their smoker that stays steady at 270 F and can hold 500 lb. of meat!

He was also discussing the Kansas City BBQ competition circuit which he had an entire shcedule for and was going over each one that was in WI. He said that they will be competing in a few of them. He was giving them an overview of the BBQ circuit saying that they do the "Big 4", chicken, ribs, brisket, and pulled pork. He said that they don't try do anything out of the oridnary. "Consistency is the key" is what he said. He also said that the only thing he ever gives away about his sauce is the base he uses, which is apple sauce.

Before we left we talked to him a little about the BBQ schedule. He said you can get the entire schedule from the Kansas City BBQ website. Apparently the owner of the restaurant has his own BBQ team and that is where they got most of their awards. The manager we talked to said he was looking to get his own team togehter. He also told us about their smoker in the back. I did not ask him to see it since he was kind of busy and I figured since he was the owner we would not let me back in the kitchen. He then told us about his personal smoker that he has at home. He said it was called stick burnder smoker and has ten racks in it. He said he was working on making his owm competition smoker using an old pop up tent camper.

Overall I would give it a 7 out of 10. I might give it higher after I try their pulled pork...next time. The ribs were good but like I said, not much more than was we have all been making lately. It is definetly worth a try if you are in the area or want to try something other than Famous Dave's for good BBQ.