For our Valentine’s weekend away, I planned every meal with the exception of lunch during the drive there and dinner during the drive home. I could have been super Type A and forced such plans, but some things I like to leave up to chance.*
*In other words, I leave Future Jessica to deal with it.**
**Future Jessica doesn’t like me very much.
About four hours into our trip I was scrambling on Google maps to decide where we should have lunch. It had to be a nice and filling lunch, too, because our dinner reservations weren’t until 8:00 pm.
We were somewhere near the top of Connecticut and I immediately thought about Duchess only to realize that most Duchess locations are to the south of Connecticut. With only a half hour or so standing between our car and Massachusetts, I extended my lunch search and among my choices ‘B.T.’s Smokehouse’ in Sturbridge kept catching my eye.
Now, I am going to warn you of two things before I go any further.
- I used my cell phone for most of the below pictures and I am still kicking myself for not getting over my timidness to bust out my big DSLR in front of people, especially in such a fancy restaurant as B.T.’s.
- Because I used my cell phone, the quality of these pictures is horribly embarrassing, but please know this–the food is one hundred million times better tasting than my pictures convey.
Okay, glad I got all that off my chest.
We had to wait for a large pickup to back out of a spot, as there weren’t any other spaces available. As we waited, I watched a group of four burly men head inside.
And I knew then that the food was going to be marvelous.
There are no big frills inside B.T’s, and if you arrived when we did, you found there to be plenty of seating.
However, if you arrived about ten minutes later, you were greeted with a line stretched to the door and only about one or two tables open.
Fortunately, it seemed that a lot of their customers come in and take their containers of heavenly meat with them to go.
You had me at ‘smokehouse’.
If you are a smokehouse lover, like Lance, the menu will undoubtedly be overwhelming. I was ready to give a quarter rack of ribs and a corn dog a try when he told me he was considering the “Pig Trip Platter”.
This platter includes: pulled pork, brisket, half rack of ribs, one beef rib, two pieces of corn bread, and three cups of fixins. It’s $38 price tag should be an indication of just how much meat you receive.
Knowing that he just absolutely had to have this ridiculously large spread of meat, I told him to order it, as well as my corn dog, and we could ‘share’.
As we waited for our food, I went to the bathroom to freshen up and was flushed with childlike excitement to discover a basket of chalk available for patrons to write on the chalkboard walls.
I decided to contribute a little plug for my blog.
When I first saw our pig platter, I thought, ‘This is nothing! We’ll be able to handle this.’
Ah, such a naive little girl I am.
The meats were all fantastic. Each had a smokey flavor that melted in with the succulent, juicy flavors of their distinct cuts. I thought I had a favorite, but they were all so delicious, it wouldn’t be fair to single one out.*
*Although, that beef rib was what we had the least amount of and it went the fastest. That’s the piece of meat to the far back spot on the platter.
You know I can’t lie to you, so I’m going to give it to you straight up.
Though I loved being able to taste all the different meats, and enjoyed each and everyone as if I had smoked them myself, I was so stinkin’ glad I ordered the corn dog. I could have been perfectly content with my corn dog and my cornbread.*
*Just because I ate a corn dog didn’t mean I was passing up fresh cornbread.
The corn dog was a monster of a hot dog and the coating was warm and cakey on the inside with a crisp bite from the fryer on the outside.
You’ve heard of Five Napkin Burger, right?*
Yeah, this was the Ten Napkin and Counting Pig Platter.
*I’ve actually never been to one of these before. I see them all the time and think, five napkins? Isn’t that how many napkins people use for every meal?**
**I’m a bit of napkin-holic. Pray for me.
I couldn’t resist a few pictures of where the magic happens: the smokers!
Just think, right inside those metal boxes of wonder sits meat that is becoming tender, juicy, and filled with delicious smokey goodness.
It was a good thing I was full, and that a truck was pulling in with a meat delivery, because I might have had to inspect them a little closer…you know, get a sampling of whatever was hidden inside.
In the middle of our journey to chilly Vermont, B.T.’s Smokehouse was just was we needed to charge our excitement to press on for the final three and half hours drive.* Now, we may just have to plan another New England area trip just so that we can stop at B.T.’s en route.
*We may or may not have taken a detour in New Hampshire for some outlet shopping.
B.T.’s Smokehouse
392 Main Street
Sturbridge, Massachusetts 01566
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