Jack Trip 2010 - Day 5

Friday... another beautiful day in the hollow!   We all had a great sleep in the RV (well, not Jim or Darrel, the firewatchers...)  We finished getting the site set up, including all the fall theme decorations, Canadian accents, and banners.  I worked on the big meats.. brisket and pork butts which needed some deep tissue love in the form of injections... followed by a heavy rub.   The rest of the crew hung out... did some prep for the Friday side events, baking dessert, and prepping ingredients for the Home Cookin' from the Homeland event.  I also managed to get my newly purchased Jack barrel lid around the grounds to meet as many teams as possible.

We started lining up for the parade around 3:30.  We got there early enough to get a spot near the front.  The whole team showed up at 4 when the parade began. The parade took us through town through a crowd of thousands (dozens?) of cheering fans.   We disbanded at the JD visitor centre and waited for the buses, which would take us to the top of "BBQ Hill"   They treat the teams, judges, sponsors, etc to a fried chicken meal which was good but no match for the spectacular view of the sun setting over the Lynchburg town site in the valley below.   Since this big pavilion is across the county line, JD is served and sometimes generously.  We met some new friends, had a great time, and headed back to camp at 9:00.   The big pit got fired up and the meats went on the pit around midnight.   Once again Jim and Darrel manned the pits so I could get a good rest...  which I needed after some wicked short term flu that almost took me out of the game early.

Jack Trip 2010 - Day 4

Day 4 -Thursday.  We head to Lynchburg!
 
First order of business was to pick up our friend Angie Quaale, 7 AM arrival at the airport in Nashville.  She was right on time and despite getting very little sleep in the prior 24 hours, she was smiling and excited to be there.  We headed back to the campground to pick up the rest of the family and then headed to Waffle House for breakfast - I think there are more of these joints in the South than Starbucks in the PNW.

      From there we headed South... Stopping only at the Liquor Barn for... um... supplies for guests.  Yeah.   We pulled into Lynchburg at 11:00, and were directed straight to our spot for the weekend.

 

We unloaded most of the trailer, set up the canopies and tables, then headed back into the square for some souvenirs.

 Next on the agenda was a tour of the distillery.   All the JD sold everywhere in the world, is brewed right here in the hollow.  It was a really interesting tour!    


     

 

Back at the cook site, we finished setting up and said Hi to our remaining 2 crew members - BBQ buds from Manitoba who flew in to cheer us on and see "the Jack" for themselves.   Darrel and Jim had huge smiles on their faces when they piled out of the rental car, they were as excited as us to be there.











      We were invited, along with all the other International teams, to a southern catfish fry hosted by the JD folks and Jim Johnson, who we met the previous year in Morden, MB and who was  also generous enough to pull the big red "Beckie Sue" pit for us to cook on... all the way from Memphis.   For supper that night we feasted on fresh, cornmeal battered catfish, fried okra, fried pickles, fried jalapenos, etc.  It was all delicious and it was a good opportunity to meet some of the teams from overseas.

Smokin' Jim, Jacy, and "itchy nose" Rob at the International team dinner

       We fired up the big Oklahoma Joe pit soon after, to cook the 4  meats for a seminar being held the next morning for the International teams.   Jim and Darrel came to the rescue and agreed to run the pit overnight; this gave us a chance to watch how it cooked.   They stayed up most of the night and got the meats done in time.   Thanks guys!

Jack Trip 2010 - Day 3

Day 3 - Wednesday Oct 20 - Jacy's Birthday!
        We slept in on Wednesday, up at 6 AM!  We didn't have a real long drive today, about 6 hours.   We wanted to get to Nashville early, lots of stuff to do.   The drive through Northwest Tennessee was gorgeous and fun to drive. There were lots of hills, beautiful trees, and winding roads - even on the Interstate.   It was a beautiful day.  Anticipation was climbing as we approached Nashville.  Our first stop was the RV rental dealership - where we picked up the motorhome that would be our home for the next 5 nights.  Once that was done we headed to the Jellystone RV park to drop it off.

  We hit the Kroger next - we needed to stock up on some competition supplies and food / snacks to get us through the weekend.    Back to the RV again to unload... and it was time for supper.  We planned on being at the airport to pick up Angie, our friend and Jack Team member from Vancouver, around 8:30.  That gave us a couple hours, not really enough time to head downtown.  We found Logan's Roadhouse nearby -  a steakhouse chain known for a big menu, hot buttered rolls, and casual atmosphere.  Perfect.   We had a good meal, and before we left we heard from Angie... flights delayed, she was re-routed all over North America, multiple diversions - she wouldn't be in Nashville until the next morning.
        So we dropped mom & dad off at the  RV and drove downtown to check out the scene.   Things didn't get too wild... checked out a couple of joints, a few tourist shops... ran into a few BBQ friends... and we were done.

 Added by popular demand... Carrie in the picnic basket!

Jack Trip 2010 - Days 1 & 2

Jack Trip
Day 1 & 2 - Monday Oct 18, Tues Oct 19

I worked until about 3 PM, picked up a couple things on the way home, and finished packing the trailer. Mom & Dad had arrived earlier that day.  Jacy dropped off the kids and we finally rolled out of the driveway at 5:30 PM.  Dad & I got into a bit of a navigational argument less than 3 miles from our house... turns out papa knows best and I shut my yap after that.   We barreled right down towards Minot (had some sandwiches & snacks packed that we cleaned up after a couple hours of driving).  We cruised right through Minot and arrived in Jamestown, ND after 1 AM.  We forgot about the time change and had some minor delays, so we were a couple hours behind at this point.

We slept in the hotel there for 3 or 4 hours... Alarm went off at 5 and we were driving by 6:15... to start a loooong day.   We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD for a great lunch (Culver's - home of the butterburger) and to meet up with Mike, a friend we met at a SD comp in June. Mike had accepted some shipments for us so we picked up some new banners and our new team attire.   We got back on the road towards Kansas City where we had an order waiting for us at the Kansas City BBQ Store, right next to our supper target - Oklahoma Joe's.  When it became clear we wouldn't make it before store closing (8 PM), we called ahead to see what they could do, hoping they could at least let us pay for the order next door and pick it up there.   Rick Salmon... Who was working that night, graciously agreed to wait the extra 45 minutes for us to arrive, and even gave us some time to browse the inventory.   We paid for our stuff at 9:05 and JUST made it into Oklahoma Joe's for supper.  They closed at 9 so it was great of them to let us in... They were out of a couple things unfortunately, and we couldn't get any hot side dishes (Some of the best beans I've ever eaten were there, 13 months earlier) but we got ribs and they were awesome.   We got a pitcher of Boulevard Wheat for cheap and it was a great meal.  (I think we ate some slaw too). 

    Back on the road... pointed East towards St Louis this time.  I had planned on cruising through St. Louis that night so we wouldn't have to fight morning traffic the next day.   It was already close to 10 PM for a 3.5 hour drive so we weren't sure if we were going to make it.  Fortunately Dad is a cruisin' machine and he pressed on.   We passed through downtown SL late enough that even the lights on the famous arch had been turned off.   We found a hotel about 20 minutes later and crashed.

Time for some new entries!

There are lots of blog entries from 2010 that aren't written yet... May as well start with the most recent, and work our way back! Our most recent adventure was the Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbeque. This may take a few posts... Post #1: Introduction.

Jack Trip 2010

Intro

I've been cooking barbecue since 2002... at home. I started with the cheapest smoker I could find and was hooked. A few equipment upgrades followed, bigger and bigger each time until 2008 when Jacy (my wonderful, understanding, and fully supportive wife) and I purchased a fully equipped BBQ catering trailer. I mean if I'm going to spend my weekends smokin', I may as well get paid for it, right?
     Competition 'Que never entered the scene. I knew about BBQ on the Bow - 8 hours away. I had friends that attended but I just couldn't talk myself into dropping $800 to go cook & drink for the weekend. I had nooooooooo idea what I was missing :-(
      That year (2008) I got my first taste of competition... and I liked it. Regina's first event was that September and I was fortunate enough to be able to help organize it. We picked up a few ribbons that weekend and we were hooked. There was no escaping it.
       So all of a sudden... BBQ'ing at home had a purpose. Every cook had a goal, every time the smoker was fired up it was a trial of some sort. different sauces, injections, even making up three batches of rubs at a time with different types of sugar to compare the resulting bark texture. And I cooked a lot.
Our next contest was Regina again... July 2009. And wouldn't ya know it, we picked up our first Grand Championship. I couldn't believe it! Holy crap, we can hold our own! In my mind, this was the big time. The Western Canadian BBQ Championships.    But of course it's not really the big time. It's not the Royal. It's not the Jack. I knew about these events but I had only been a 'competitor' for 9 months. I began to realize that these events posed an entirely new challenge. Summer 2009 brought two more G.C's but none of these three was considered a 'qualifier' for the Jack Daniels event; but I was fortunate enough to earn an American Royal invitation. We attended, it was incredible, we came home. I still had an outstanding challenge - Lynchburg, Tennessee. I wanted it.

         That chance came on August 2 this year in Whistler, BC. We had our eyes on the prize but we made a conscious decision to enjoy our weekend in such an amazing place. We had family from 3 provinces on our team including our kids and my mom & dad. We had good friends in close proximity and we weren't going to let the competition get in the way of us enjoying ourselves. That atmosphere must have been perfect because we turned out the best brisket & pork that day that I've ever cooked. I don't think I've topped those flavours since. Our chicken turned out well, our ribs were good, we crossed our fingers and waited for the awards ceremony. Well I don't have to tell you the results, we were floored. We would be receiving an invitation to The Jack.
        There was just one problem - we were booked for a prestigious and lucrative catering job - for 600 people... The same weekend we wanted to be in Tennessee.  We took that job knowing that we'd have to turn the contest down in the remote chance that we won in Whistler. Well it wasn't quite that simple LOL. With an invitation in hand we struggled for over a week with the decision. We finally decided to call our client and discuss the situation with them. Well they were very understanding and graciously offered to let us off the hook. There was still 2.5 months to go before the event. That was it! We were going to the Jack!

      What makes this event so special? A few things... The biggest is perhaps the difficulty of getting an invitation. For US teams, winning a big competition usually isn't enough. They have a limited amount of space down in the Lynchburg hollow, ("holler") so they can't invite every champion. No, winning a big event is just the first step. That gets you in the draw. There is one draw for each state. So Minnesota for example has about 5 'Qualifiers". Those 5 winners, no matter where they're from, each get a 'bung' (you know.. barrel plug) in the draw for Minnesota, and only one of them gets an invitation. Now the top teams, for the most part, end up with an invitation most of the time (when you're winning 4-6 events in a year your chances go up). But there are always a bunch of top ranked teams left out, it's the nature of the draw. This exclusivity lends the event a special touch - every team there knows they have worked hard to be there and that they're part of a special group. There are only about 65 domestic teams and 12-15 international teams. This year only two Canadian teams earned an invitation... so to be one of those teams was pretty cool. Heck, there was four German teams there and they had much further to travel than we did!

         It's billed as the World Championships, and who doesn't want to add that title to their resume? This is especially true for those teams that do catering or run a restaurant. Jack Daniel's are great hosts and they treat the teams very well. There's a fun parade through town, and they bus all the teams up to the top of "BBQ Hill" for a huge party on Friday night with a Southern buffet and free Jack cocktails. Thursday night was an awesome catfish & chicken fry for the International teams... not to mention the fried okra, fried pickles, fried jalapeno chips, etc.  True Southern Hospitality!

      The crowds on Saturday are unlike any I've seen before. This event is a major tourist draw so most of the people are VERY interested in what we're doing while we're turning in our entries. It's like cooking in a fishbowl. We even had to kick a few eager beavers out of our site.  Enough... more details than I need to share now.
      To finish off the introduction, we have so many people to thank for helping us make this trip happen... Firstly I am lucky to have an INCREDIBLE mother in law (aka mom) and BIL who watch our kids at every opportunity. During our summers this is a LOT. They go way above and beyond and there's no way we can ever adequately thank them but we try... Their help included keeping them for 10 days straight in October, much of which time both of these kidlets were sick... We have some great friends that helped us with our send-off cabaret a few weeks earlier, friends who donated their time and skills to a fantastic evening.

      Thanks to our corporate supporters for helping us through the year... Butcher Boy Meats (Park St), JB's sausage Making Supplies, Savour Life magazine, Bushwakker, and Reinhardt Plumbing & Heating for lending us the 8' cargo trailer that hauled all of our gear 30 hours down South... Thanks to my Mom & Dad for tagging along to Whistler so we knew our kids would be taken care of during that crucial turn-in period, and we owe thanks to them for giving up 10 days and the use of the Dakota to take us to Tennesee. Thanks again to Justin & Cheryl, Angie & Dennis for helping us with all the gear in Whistler! Thanks to the new 2010 pit bitches Scott, Matt, and Chris for all the help in BC! As you can tell... we're a small team but we couldn't do it without all this incredible support.

Anyway, I guess that's enough of an intro... much longer than I expected it to be. More reports to follow!

American Royal: Monday. The last leg.

Monday. A day I can't wait to forget.
Oy... Where do I begin??? At the beginning I guess. The day started off fine, had a little nibble at the Days Inn continental breakfast... We were anxious to get home though so we hit the road right away, we were driving by 6:30 in the rain. We stopped a couple times for gas, basically plowed straight up the interstate towards Canada. We planned on hitting Fargo for lunch at around Noon.

Until the (FIRST) incident. I was driving on I-29, other 3 passengers fast asleep, traffic was light and I had passed someone on my right... All of a sudden the truck started moving, I looked in the rear view to see the trailer swaying all over the place. I gently hit the brakes to get it under control, I figured we blew a tire... I moved over to the left side of the highway, not wanting to hit any oter cars with the out of control trailer. The next moment was a sight that will haunt me forever... I looked in the mirror just in time to see my BBQ, upside down and 10 feet in the air, tumbling slowly into the ditch. It really was as scary as it sounds.

It came to rest upside down, in the middle ditch on I-29, about 15 miles South of Fargo. There was mud jammed up the stacks, a bent shelf, and the bar used to keep the lid shut was bent. All things considered, this thing was built like a tank and it took on very little damage. All indications were that it was still towable. The ball was still lodged in the hitch coupler, and the barbell lock was still intact holding onto the ball. After a few minutes to calm down and take some pictures, we flipped the trailer onto its tires to make sure we could do it without a tow truck. We all piled back into the truck and immediately booked an appointment in Fargo to get a hidden hitch installed. We had to wait an hour and a half for the part to arrive, so we hit Granite City (upscale brew pub) for lunch. Then we hit Menards for some new parts (drawbar, hitch ball, etc). We were happy to run into Smokin' Jim there, it was a pleasant surprise on an otherwise crappy day. We chatted for a few minutes then got out of there. The hitch was installed in 30 minutes and we were on our way back to the scene of the accident. Which leads us to the SECOND incident.

We soon arrived at the scene of the CRIME... That's right, crime. We arrived to an empty ditch. Some friendly North Dakotan took it upon himself to 'relieve' my BBQ from the lonely gully between the 2 lanes of the interstate. I don't even have words to describe the feeling in my stomach. My baby was gone, along with a LOT of gear we had crammed inside - lots of hickory, my Weber Smokey Mountain, extension cords, turkey fryer, cutting boards, my duffel bag and clothing, most of the new rubs and sauces I bought in KC, you name it. So we tracked down the police on the phone, filed a report with about 3 or 4 different departments, and we got back in the truck and drove home. It was a quiet trip.
We stopped in Minot for supper... Jacy opted instead to hit Target to replace some of the gifts she bought for the kids that disappeared in the trailer. Gord wasn't hungry so he tagged along. Dad & I hit Buffalo Wings & Rings, a wing joint / sports bar. Service was fast so we picked up the other 2 less than 30 minutes later. The border crossing was uneventful and we pulled into Regina at about 2:00 AM. We were about 5 hours later than planned but we were safe and sound. Dropped Gord off, unloaded the truck at home and my head hit the pillow at 3 AM. The alarm was to go off again at 6:00, holiday over and back to work. Fortunately I napped from the U.S. to Regina so I wasn't a complete zombie the next day.


Checking out the damage...


Here's where the tongue dug into the soil and launched the pit into the air.


Examining the escape tracks, looking for tread imprints for the sheriff to inspect


One final pic. We cooked a lot of food on this BBQ in the 4 summers we had it... We used it to cook our first big cater to some of our best friends' wedding guests, we hauled it to Manitoba and Calgary this summer to win BBQ Competitions, we cooked endless rib trials on it this Spring looking for the right combinations of spice rub & sauce... We used it for just about every big catering job this summer since our generator (to run the ovens in the catering rig) has been in the shop since May. It was hauled out of the garage and into the driveway every January for a mid-winter "stick burning" BBQ feast. That storage bin you see is brand new, it was installed the night before we left for the Royal. That spare rim and tire are new too, that was a VERY difficult rim to find. I hope we see you again girl, I really do.

Results

Quick post here... our results from the American Royal 2009:

Invitational Competition
68th overall / 119 teams.
18th place chicken.
Top international team.

Open Competition
248th overall / ~480 teams
Best meat: Chicken at 108th place.
Top international team.

More Friday pics

The big brick pit at the Wood Yard.


Guest chef for the day?




Dad & Gord at one small part of a VERY BIG steel plate art display...

More Friday pics from the Royal

Dad, downtown KC


Supper Friday at Gordon Beirsch brewpub

Overlooking a small sectoin of the "dark side"


Picking up firewood - oak, apple, hickory

Friday pics from the Royal

Friday - American Royal trip

Friday we woke up early and were out of the hotel by 8 AM…. Gord voted for Waffle House for breakfast and since it was his birthday we tagged along… It was actually pretty good. Fast, greasy, and tasty. Perfect start to a BBQ weekend.

Our next stop was the Royal, time to unload and set up camp. This was easier said than done as the wind was gusting and causing problems with the canopies…. So Dad & I left to fill the water buckets (ie weights) with water… When we came back the canopy had been damaged a bit… Still useable but it needs repairs.

With the canopies properly anchored down we were ready to get the last of our supplies… firewood. The Wood Lot was located just a mile or 2 away, so we picked out some hickory, oak, and apple, and stopped in for lunch. The owner was all to happy to give us a tour of the home made brick pit, offered us some chicken to snack on before we even went inside the building. We ordered a bit of everything, and while the service and ambience were awesome, the food was decent but nothing to write home about. The chicken was the best part; The drumsticks were tender, juicy, and with crisp skin.
After that, I was dropped back at the tent to start trimming my meats. That continued through the afternoon until it was time to head out for supper. We were celebrating, so we found a great upscale brewpub (chain) - Gordon Beirsch. Great food and good beer. It was located in downtown Kansas City, the power & light district I think. Lots going on, neat area.
We went back to the Royal and hung out for a bit, did some more rubbing, injecting, etc... then over to the Mad Cow BBQ camp for a PNWBA get together... good to hang out with the other Canadian teams for a bit and meet some of the PNW teams too. Thanks Wayne!

11 pm came quickly and we were off to camp again to get the pit fired up. With the big meats on we headed down to "The Dark Side"... the Southern section of the American Royal grounds is where the BIG, WILD, some would say INSANE parties go down... We made it over there (LONG walk) a bit after 12:30 but it was quite clear we missed the action. There was only about 20% of the people in there than there were at 11:00, judging by the overhead view of the area as most of our crew drover directly over it (overpass) at that time - apparently the whole area was like Mardi Gras. So we'll have to check it out earlier next time.

Gord hung out for the night, we each slept for a couple hours in the bone chilling cold, the breeze never really let up and the zero gravity chair wasn't the warmest vessel, even with clothes and a couple blankes. Fortunately it was warmer the next night.....

more day 2

After lunch we headed to the butcher shop to pick up our briskets and pork butts. And WHAT a butcher shop. This place is family owned, we talked to the 4th and 5th generation owners. They have a 60 foot fresh meat counter, they sell EVERYTHING, from the oink to the tail. Or from the moo to the hooves if you will... They raise and slaughter their own pigs & cattle too. They invited us back to the aging lockers where all the sides of beef and whole hogs are hung... I'll save those pics for another day! Very nice folks and very welcoming.


Hand-picking briskets & pork butts for this weekend's competitions...


After that we went to check into our hotel, the Best Western I booked a month ago. I called Tuesday to cancel the first night (wednesday) since we weren't going to be here Wednesday as originally planned. I cancelled the first night, promising to check in on Thursday. "OK man, got ya!" was the response I got... Well when we checked in, they had no record of that cancellation. In fact, they charged us for Wednesday night and gave away our room for the rest of the weekend! NO ROOMS LEFT. Perhaps this is where I should mention everything going on in KC this weekend:
- American Royal
- Miley Cyrus concert
- Nascar race
- Chiefs game
- College football game
- And something else I don't remember right now. Safe to say, rooms in this town are few & far between. SO, after some negotiating, many phone calls to central reservations, and some sweet talking of the clerk, he found us a room with one queen bed. So right now, Dad is on a cot, Gord is in the recliner, Jacy is in the bed and I'm on my way.

First, the rest of the day. I did forget to mention the BBQ brisket I had across the street from the meat market... Don't remember the name of the place, just got a half pound of brisket to go. WORST BRISKET I have ever eaten. Clearly re-heated for me, slices were thin and dry, NO flavor of smoke or rub of any kind. This shit could have been boiled, I swear it was that bad. so it all hit the trash. Hoping to find a gem, I found a big rotten lump of coal.

Supper was a Kansas City institution. well, a BBQ Institution that is among the country's few top rated joints - Arthur Bryant's.
We ordered a half pound each of brisket, burnt ends, sausage, and pulled pork. Here's a pic, halfway through chowing down.




The brisket was decent, the pork was shredded and drowned in sauce, nothing to write home about. The burnt ends were bathed in sauce and loaded with flavour - fantastic food. Sausage was a bit different, I liked it but I'm not sure if anyone else did. They did have some ribs out by the time we were half done eating so we picked up a half slab. It was very overcooked, dry, thin, and the two small bones weren't edible. They should not have been served.
This sounds like a lot of complaining but the food was in fact quite good. This sides (especially beans) were awesome.
The place reeks of history, LOTS of celebrities have dined here and the old brick pit in the back has certainly seen decades of smoke.
We'll pay it another visit the next time we're in town.

After supper we just came back to the hotel... Jacy and I headed out to a Target to get a few more ingredients for the weekend. We had a quick dip in the hot tub, then everyone crashed. Well except me, just had to get online and tell our story! That's it for tonight, a big day tomorrow!

later

American Royal - day 2 (Thurs)

We rolled into Kansas City a little after Noon... Lots of old warehouses, around, some very neat ones. Didn't take pictures of those ones however...




Here's our spot... We have more pavement than you can see but this is it. It includes some grass too. That's our own private porta potty
too.


We dropped off the pit and some gear so we would have room for more supplies. Met our neighbors who live about 4 hours away. They were a bit stunned to hear how far we drove but seem like great folks.

First stop for lunch: Oklahoma Joe's!!! Run by some very experienced competition cooks, our lunch was nothing short of AWESOME. We had brisket, ribs, beans, beer and... well that might be it. Oh, fries too. Everything was top notch. Brisket had great flavour, sliced thin and not dry, ribs were well seasoned with a light coat of sauce. Great smoke flavour and good tenderness. One of my best BBQ meals ever.



Some of the trophies on the way in...

Day 1 - American Royal (Wednesday)

We left Regina right on time, 5:30 AM. I woke up at 4:00 AM to shower and finish loading the truck, and went to bed at 3:15 am the night before. I mean, who wants to sleep the night before leaving for a 3-day BBQ marathon anyway??? So i promptly fell asleep and woke up in Estevan, 2 hours down the road where we pulled into the Husky for a quick hot breakfast.

30 minutes later we pulled up to the Portal border crossing into the good 'ol USA. They poked around in the BBQ and the back of the truck, asked about 50 questions and let us go. The spooky part was when they asked "Are you the guy that called 2 days ago asking all the questions about bringing meat across the border"?? Um.. yes sir. "OK then, have a great day." With that, we were on our way.

Keying addresses into the GPS...


We mounted a new storage box on the back of the pit, LOTS of new storage space, and we filled every inch. A little bit ghetto, but the food is killer!


Chinese buffet in some small town in Southeast North Dakota. Not bad! About 50 different things, only $7.50.



Gord "Studying" the game plan for our first ever KCBS BBQ competition. I have meticulously scheduled every component of this cook... something I kind of do anyway but we really need to be on the ball for this one.


We pulled into Sioux Falls at about 9 PM, lost an hour when we crossed the border and a couple hours later than planned. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day. The scenery through North Dakota and South Dakota was exactly the same as Saskatchewan - dead flat, no trees. The WIND was crazy though, gusting heavy all day and blowing in the NW direction... So we were driving into this wind all day. It was not a cheap day for gas. Supper was at Texas Roadhouse, a steakhouse chain. We each had a nice steak, and they were all very good. Perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned, a great meal for a chain.