Ted Cook's 19th Hole BBQ

I've lived all over the country and all over the world, so while that makes me cultured and erudite and knowledgeable about other cultures, it also tends to make me an insufferable dinner companion sometimes. Just ask my girlfriend Shannon.

Because I'm from the east coast, I think the pizza out here in Minnesota is ok at best, but doesn't hold a candle to Pepe's in New Haven or anything you can get at the best places in New York City. And I cry a little bit on the inside when Minnesotans actually talk about walleye as "seafood."

I went to college in Baltimore, so no crab cake I've ever gotten since has lived up to my lofty standard.

I lived in Switzerland for over six years (and went to school just down the street from the Lindt factory!), so I consider myself something of an expert on chocolate. And don't even try to talk to me about fondue.

And I lived in the south for years, so I know me some barbecue. Hands down, there is no way any person not from the south, in the south, or somehow connected to the south can make barbecue that won't have me yearning for my days spent below the Mason Dixon line.

Well... except for Ted Cook, that is. Or whoever is working the smoker over at Ted Cook's 19th Hole Barbecue anyway. Now this stuff... this stuff is the real deal.

To be honest, when I say I lived in the south, I actually only lived in Balitmore, MD and Charlottesville, VA. Baltimore is just about as north as you can get while still claiming to live in the south, and Charlottesville is a college town, so while it is in the middle of Virginia, it's hardly representative of the rest of the state. So when I say that Ted Cook's has better BBQ than I used to get when I lived down south, it doesn't mean it's better than any BBQ you can get in the south, just better than any that I used to get. But by any standard, it's really good BBQ.

It's the kind of place that, as soon as you walk inside, you know it's going to be good. There are no tables, no chairs, and no real ambiance or charm of any kind. There's just a menu on the wall (with huge pictures, in case you weren't sure of what a rib is), a counter where you order, and a hole in the back wall through which some mysterious magical being hands out BBQ after you order it. This is southern style BBQ that comes sweet, hot, and with coleslaw a piece of white bread. And just like down south, half the fun is in figuring out what to do with the bread and how quickly you can throw away the coleslaw.

About the food there is little else to say except that it's great. The ribs were falling-off-the-bone tender, the pork was smoky and dripping with sauce, and the brisket just about melted in my mouth as quickly as I could shovel it in. The highest compliment I can pay this place is that now, after watching hours of programs about BBQ on the Food Network, I finally know of a place close by that will cure any cravings I get.

About the only negative things I can say about this place are that the "jojo potatoes" were mediocre and the prices were a little too high. Their jojo potatoes were basically just a huge mass of homemade chips that were either too thick or too crammed into the deep fryer, so none were able to cook through completely, leaving a big, dripping mass of chewy potato. Of course, we ate them all anyway. And the prices were a little too high, but considering how much you get, not so exorbitant that they were unreasonable. But a few more all a carte options at lower prices wouldn't be such a bad idea in my opinion.

But, at the end of the day, this was just good BBQ. And now when I start on a rant about how good the food was when I lived in the south, people can shut me about about the BBQ in South Minneapolis.