SMOKEY JOE'S (TEX-MEX BARBEQUE)

Face it- Northeast corridor Jews are not generally familiar with Q. And notions of good Q versus bad barely exist in the congregation of vastly Q challenged Jews.

Most of us here in the East Coast Megalopolis have never had kosher Q, let alone good Q. The idea of dry rubbing a brisket and cooking it in a smoker for over 12 hours is not a common theme for the shabbat table here.

Yet, bravely risking this huge gap in the Jewish community’s shared culinary experience comes a new restaurant in Teaneck. Smokey Joe’s is a traditional BBQ joint that happens to be kosher. Glatt kosher, of course.

Meals there start with their own brand of just out of the oven corn bread- a tasty way to start a meal.

We had two kinds of Q: chicken and brisket.

The chicken was good, but the brisket was taam gan eden!! A tad on the overly smokey side, the meat was tender as any piece of meat could be. The Q sauce was a tantalizing mix of sweet, smoke and spice. Hours later, we could still smell the lingering smoke and sauce on our face (even though we had washed and scrubbed). Like a good perfume whose scent lingers through the day, our lunch left us with a nice “perfume” for the next many hours.

We can’t get over the meat, though! The meat was the top of the brisket- first cut. It was lean, sliced well, presented well, and it made a really good impression on our appetite!! We had to force ourself not to wolf it down, but rather to savor it and eat it slowly.

We had rice and beans as a side dish. The bean part was a bean paste (sort of interesting looking) that we then ate with the rice. It, too, was very tasty.

Service was attentive but not overly so. We couldn’t help but notice that the wait staff all seem very happy to be working there. We also noted a fair number of Gentiles eating there, too. Hmm, we guess that good Q is good Q!

Smokey Joe’s is located at 494 Cedar Lane, in beautiful downtown Teaneck, NJ. Check them out on the Web at www.smokeyjoesbbq.com

While we were there, we met Clark, one of the owners. He is a most happy and engaging fellow who seems to really enjoy meeting his customers, many of whom he already knows by name and greets as they come in. (Obviously, they do a lot of repeat business.)

Will we go back? YOU BETCHA!! This one is a winner, folks.