11/8/2007 - The Arizona Republic - Dinner Tonight
Lucille's, a chain barbecue joint done up to resemble a Southern roadhouse, opened in September in the new Tempe Marketplace.
Lo and behold, it looks like it has already won plenty of admirers. At 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, there was a wait. People were hanging out on the steps of the "front porch" holding their flashing beepers.
A sign on the wall lets you know how long they smoke each cut: beef brisket, 18 to 24 hours; pulled pork, 10 to 14 hours; and so on.
And though the catfish, jambalya and burgers called to me, I was here on a smoked-meat mission, so I stuck with the barbecue. I got a plate of beef brisket and pulled pork, with sweet corn and garlic mashed potatoes. They offer a dozen sides, but these sounded better than the typical fries or baked potato.
My dining pal ordered the "Back Porch" combo, with ribs, chicken and tri-tip. We chose the baby backs over the St. Louis or beef ribs, but it wasn't an easy decision. She got sweet potatoes and mac and cheese on the side.
Of course we shared everything. And we tried the three sauces: original, Memphis and spicy. With each bite, our eyes got bigger. How could this be so good? It's a chain, for Pete's sake! Our taste buds couldn't have cared less if a Martian opened the place. The pork was stringy and succulent, and it paired well with the vinegary Memphis-style sauce. The spicy sauce was made for the tender tri-tip. The chicken, too, was moist and paired nicely with all the sauces.
No extra sauce was needed on the baby backs, which were falling off the bone and had a caramelized, almost sweet, lip-smacking coating. I could see eating a rack of those. The only weak link, we agreed, was the slightly tough beef brisket. It wasn't bad, just not as yum-inducing as the rest.
I loved all the sides, too, but especially my roasted sweet corn with tender, tiny kernals. The garlic mashed potatoes were delicious, but nothing out of the ordinary. Even our watermelon slices were excellent: ripe and sweet.
Two people can easily split one of Lucille's platters with no appetizers and probably be full. So despite our best efforts, we ended up taking most of our meal home. That meant we had room for dessert - almost.
We shared the banana pudding, which was rather hefty, served in a Mason jar and topped with whipped cream, banana slices and vanilla wafers. We went bananas for these bananas, eating until we were nearly sick. And we still boxed up more than half of it, too.
If you're looking for a night-out kind of place, where you can drink, gab and laugh over dinner and you don't mind paying real-restaurant prices, head to Lucille's.
--Geri Koeppel, azcentral.com