Back Forty Texas BBQ Roadhouse & Saloon
100 Coggins Dr.
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
925-935-1440
http://backforty.us/
Additional Locations: Roseville, CA and Shingle Springs, CA
I had lunch at Back Forty in Roseville wa-a-a-y back in the mid-90s while on a business trip and don't remember anything about it. So my wife Julie and I visited the original Back Forty location in Pleasant Hill recently to try the barbecue. When we pulled up to the building, I was surprised how the place looked from the outside--a grand barbecue hall, not a tiny joint. We circled around the property and saw that it was a two-story building, and on the back side there were a whole lot of catering trucks and pits tucked under the overhanging second floor. Obviously they do a lot of mobile catering gigs.
We parked and were the only ones there at the 11:00 am opening time. We walked through the front door into another surprise—this was a fancy place when it comes to barbecue joints! It's beautifully decorated in Old West decor, sandstone and river rock on some of the walls, and a dramatic staircase leading upstairs to a large banquet facility. Downstairs there are two dining areas plus a separate, dimly-lit saloon with bar seating, some small tables, and several TVs.
We walked up to the reception desk and I quickly realized this was a table service barbecue restaurant, another unusual aspect that threw me for a loop, since I'm so used to the typical "order at the counter, find a seat, wait to be called, pickup your own food" model of most BBQ joints. I also knew that table service and wait staff = higher prices, and all this beautiful decor around me was not going to pay for itself, so I braced myself for an expensive lunch...and I was not disappointed.
We started with an order of burnt ends, offered as an appetizer. They were ripping hot (heated in a microwave?), coated in Back Forty's Grand Reserve BBQ Sauce (a sweet and spicy concoction that we liked so much that we bought a bottle on the way out the door), served in a little oval dish, and garnished with scallions (unnecessary). The portion size seemed a bit small for the $11.49 price, but we gobbled them up and I felt pretty satisfied after the fact, so not a lot to complain about here. They were tender and sweet and spicy and smoky and one of the things we enjoyed most about our meal. Maybe the enjoyment had something to do with being hungry, I don't know. And to be clear, as far as I could tell, these burnt ends were cubed chunks of brisket flat, not the point end, but I wasn't surprised by that, I think that's how a lot of restaurants serve "burnt ends" in volume these days.
After the app, we order two 2-meat, 2-sides combo platters so we could sample a variety of items. We got sliced brisket and spareribs with apple coleslaw and scalloped potatoes (both highly recommended by our server) on one platter, and pulled pork and sliced turkey with mac & cheese and shoestring fries on the other. All the meats were moist and tender. The brisket slices from the point had the most pronounced smoke flavor and were plenty tender, but we would have like to try another set of slices...ours were kind of small and didn't have much dark exterior surface on them. The brisket probably would have been our least favorite meat had it not been for the pulled pork. It consisted of moist meat pulled into long shoelace strands and placed in a large cup, like what you'd expect soup on come in, with a dollop of sweet barbecue sauce on top. The pork was almost all inside meat with very mild flavor and very little smoke flavor. I would have enjoyed it more as a sandwich if seasoned, placed on a bun, and topped with some sauce, but we didn't enjoy it as presented.
Much more enjoyable were the ribs. The ribs gave a clean bite, just the slightest bit overdone, not "fall off the bone" tender but perfect for the masses of rib eaters coming to a place like Back Forty. The platter came with a generous portion of 4 bones, so we each enjoyed two ribs. As for the turkey, it was very moist and tender, mild in flavor and little smoke flavor. Since this joint is trying to emulate Central Texas barbecue, a salt and black pepper turkey would have been preferred and given the bird a real kick in flavor, but I must admit I enjoyed it more than the pulled pork.
So the meats go like this: Burnt ends take first place, followed by pork ribs in second, then turkey, sliced brisket, and pulled pork bringing up the rear. The only asterisk here is that I think we got some bad brisket slices and would like to have another shot at those.
As for the sides, the apple coleslaw had mild apple flavor but otherwise seemed typical. The scalloped potatoes were highly recommended as something people come back for, and they were quite good because I think the secret ingredient is drippings and little bits of meat from either brisket or prime rib, providing a beefy flavor. The mac & cheese was moist, but didn't stand up to the bold flavors of the barbecue and seemed kind of bland—something I commonly experience when eating mac & cheese with barbecue. It's often better the next day by itself as a leftover than eaten with BBQ; we didn't bring the leftover mac home, so I can't say how it tasted by itself. The shoestring fries were hot and crispy and I think coated with something...quite satisfactory.
We're not usually tempted by dessert but noticed bread pudding on the menu and had to try it. I think it took a spin through the microwave because the heating was uneven, but it tasted good and we left the bowl empty. Supposedly made with raisins (I didn't find any in my half, but that's OK), vanilla, cream, and served with a brown sugar bourbon sauce that was not too sweet but no bourbon that I could identify (again OK, not a big bourbon fan).
Then our bill came: Almost $68. It sure adds up: An $11.49 app, two $19.29 platters, a $5.99 dessert, two $3.09 soft drinks, plus tax and tip and we were just shy of $80 for lunch for two. Oh, plus a bottle of BBQ sauce for $5. But as I said earlier, all that interior decorating and friendly table service don't pay for themselves. To be fair, we went large for lunch and could have spent far less if we'd just had a sandwich with one side and a beverage, my usual M.O. for a barbecue lunch.
Friendly wait staff, nice atmosphere, beautiful interior, clean restrooms, nothing to complain about in any of these departments. The parking lot and restaurant filled-up with customers as the lunch hour progressed. There's an outside dining area under a big mature oak tree, but no one sat outside on the day of our visit, probably because it was so darned hot. Rocking chairs on the long front porch (bolted down to prevent theft!) had no takers on this day, even in the shade. They have live music in the bar some evenings from 6-10 pm and occasional onsite events like classic car shows and rib cookoffs.
You can check-out the full menu online, but just to give you a sense of things, the other barbecue meats offered include chicken, beef ribs, hot links, and prime rib. There is also a selection of steaks, a pork chop, a couple of seafood choices, a good selection of burgers and barbecue sandwiches, and some entree salads. Sides we didn't try include a couple of salads and soup, baked beans, potato salad, mashed taters, onion rings, wedge cut fries, sweet potato fries, seasonal veggies, cornbread, mini-loaves of white or wheat bread, and a big ol' baked potato. In addition to the bread pudding we had for dessert, I would have liked to try the banana pudding. There's also apple crisp, berry cobbler, and Texas Mud: a brownie and vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Who wouldn't like that?
As mentioned earlier, there's lot of catering and banquet options at Back Forty, looks to be a big part of their business model. Might be worth checking out if you're hosting an event in that part of the East Bay Area.
Here are some photos from our visit, hope you enjoy them.
Burnt ends appetizer.
Spareribs and sliced brisket with apple coleslaw and scalloped potatoes.
Pulled pork and sliced turkey with shoestring fries and mac & cheese.
Bread pudding for dessert.
Large, warm wet napkin after lunch was a nice touch.
Continued...
100 Coggins Dr.
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
925-935-1440
http://backforty.us/
Additional Locations: Roseville, CA and Shingle Springs, CA
I had lunch at Back Forty in Roseville wa-a-a-y back in the mid-90s while on a business trip and don't remember anything about it. So my wife Julie and I visited the original Back Forty location in Pleasant Hill recently to try the barbecue. When we pulled up to the building, I was surprised how the place looked from the outside--a grand barbecue hall, not a tiny joint. We circled around the property and saw that it was a two-story building, and on the back side there were a whole lot of catering trucks and pits tucked under the overhanging second floor. Obviously they do a lot of mobile catering gigs.
We parked and were the only ones there at the 11:00 am opening time. We walked through the front door into another surprise—this was a fancy place when it comes to barbecue joints! It's beautifully decorated in Old West decor, sandstone and river rock on some of the walls, and a dramatic staircase leading upstairs to a large banquet facility. Downstairs there are two dining areas plus a separate, dimly-lit saloon with bar seating, some small tables, and several TVs.
We walked up to the reception desk and I quickly realized this was a table service barbecue restaurant, another unusual aspect that threw me for a loop, since I'm so used to the typical "order at the counter, find a seat, wait to be called, pickup your own food" model of most BBQ joints. I also knew that table service and wait staff = higher prices, and all this beautiful decor around me was not going to pay for itself, so I braced myself for an expensive lunch...and I was not disappointed.
We started with an order of burnt ends, offered as an appetizer. They were ripping hot (heated in a microwave?), coated in Back Forty's Grand Reserve BBQ Sauce (a sweet and spicy concoction that we liked so much that we bought a bottle on the way out the door), served in a little oval dish, and garnished with scallions (unnecessary). The portion size seemed a bit small for the $11.49 price, but we gobbled them up and I felt pretty satisfied after the fact, so not a lot to complain about here. They were tender and sweet and spicy and smoky and one of the things we enjoyed most about our meal. Maybe the enjoyment had something to do with being hungry, I don't know. And to be clear, as far as I could tell, these burnt ends were cubed chunks of brisket flat, not the point end, but I wasn't surprised by that, I think that's how a lot of restaurants serve "burnt ends" in volume these days.
After the app, we order two 2-meat, 2-sides combo platters so we could sample a variety of items. We got sliced brisket and spareribs with apple coleslaw and scalloped potatoes (both highly recommended by our server) on one platter, and pulled pork and sliced turkey with mac & cheese and shoestring fries on the other. All the meats were moist and tender. The brisket slices from the point had the most pronounced smoke flavor and were plenty tender, but we would have like to try another set of slices...ours were kind of small and didn't have much dark exterior surface on them. The brisket probably would have been our least favorite meat had it not been for the pulled pork. It consisted of moist meat pulled into long shoelace strands and placed in a large cup, like what you'd expect soup on come in, with a dollop of sweet barbecue sauce on top. The pork was almost all inside meat with very mild flavor and very little smoke flavor. I would have enjoyed it more as a sandwich if seasoned, placed on a bun, and topped with some sauce, but we didn't enjoy it as presented.
Much more enjoyable were the ribs. The ribs gave a clean bite, just the slightest bit overdone, not "fall off the bone" tender but perfect for the masses of rib eaters coming to a place like Back Forty. The platter came with a generous portion of 4 bones, so we each enjoyed two ribs. As for the turkey, it was very moist and tender, mild in flavor and little smoke flavor. Since this joint is trying to emulate Central Texas barbecue, a salt and black pepper turkey would have been preferred and given the bird a real kick in flavor, but I must admit I enjoyed it more than the pulled pork.
So the meats go like this: Burnt ends take first place, followed by pork ribs in second, then turkey, sliced brisket, and pulled pork bringing up the rear. The only asterisk here is that I think we got some bad brisket slices and would like to have another shot at those.
As for the sides, the apple coleslaw had mild apple flavor but otherwise seemed typical. The scalloped potatoes were highly recommended as something people come back for, and they were quite good because I think the secret ingredient is drippings and little bits of meat from either brisket or prime rib, providing a beefy flavor. The mac & cheese was moist, but didn't stand up to the bold flavors of the barbecue and seemed kind of bland—something I commonly experience when eating mac & cheese with barbecue. It's often better the next day by itself as a leftover than eaten with BBQ; we didn't bring the leftover mac home, so I can't say how it tasted by itself. The shoestring fries were hot and crispy and I think coated with something...quite satisfactory.
We're not usually tempted by dessert but noticed bread pudding on the menu and had to try it. I think it took a spin through the microwave because the heating was uneven, but it tasted good and we left the bowl empty. Supposedly made with raisins (I didn't find any in my half, but that's OK), vanilla, cream, and served with a brown sugar bourbon sauce that was not too sweet but no bourbon that I could identify (again OK, not a big bourbon fan).
Then our bill came: Almost $68. It sure adds up: An $11.49 app, two $19.29 platters, a $5.99 dessert, two $3.09 soft drinks, plus tax and tip and we were just shy of $80 for lunch for two. Oh, plus a bottle of BBQ sauce for $5. But as I said earlier, all that interior decorating and friendly table service don't pay for themselves.
To be fair, we went large for lunch and could have spent far less if we'd just had a sandwich with one side and a beverage, my usual M.O. for a barbecue lunch.Friendly wait staff, nice atmosphere, beautiful interior, clean restrooms, nothing to complain about in any of these departments. The parking lot and restaurant filled-up with customers as the lunch hour progressed. There's an outside dining area under a big mature oak tree, but no one sat outside on the day of our visit, probably because it was so darned hot. Rocking chairs on the long front porch (bolted down to prevent theft!) had no takers on this day, even in the shade. They have live music in the bar some evenings from 6-10 pm and occasional onsite events like classic car shows and rib cookoffs.
You can check-out the full menu online, but just to give you a sense of things, the other barbecue meats offered include chicken, beef ribs, hot links, and prime rib. There is also a selection of steaks, a pork chop, a couple of seafood choices, a good selection of burgers and barbecue sandwiches, and some entree salads. Sides we didn't try include a couple of salads and soup, baked beans, potato salad, mashed taters, onion rings, wedge cut fries, sweet potato fries, seasonal veggies, cornbread, mini-loaves of white or wheat bread, and a big ol' baked potato. In addition to the bread pudding we had for dessert, I would have liked to try the banana pudding. There's also apple crisp, berry cobbler, and Texas Mud: a brownie and vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Who wouldn't like that?
As mentioned earlier, there's lot of catering and banquet options at Back Forty, looks to be a big part of their business model. Might be worth checking out if you're hosting an event in that part of the East Bay Area.
Here are some photos from our visit, hope you enjoy them.
Burnt ends appetizer.
Spareribs and sliced brisket with apple coleslaw and scalloped potatoes.
Pulled pork and sliced turkey with shoestring fries and mac & cheese.
Bread pudding for dessert.
Large, warm wet napkin after lunch was a nice touch.
Continued...
