Mr. Powdrell’s Barbeque

Cooked at low heat for eighteen hours, Powdrell’s beef is the kitchen’s masterpiece. When it is done it is refrigerated then heated again – a process the menu says helps it become even more tender. But it isn’t extraordinary tenderness that will make you happy; it is this meat’s flavor. Each handsome strip is saturated with smoke and oozes natural beef juice; and the pile of them is spread with an explosive cinnabar-red sauce. Served on a platter with Texas toast, green beans and maybe some fried mac ‘n’ cheese and with maybe a dab of hot green roasted chilies on the side to spice it up, this is one of the significant Route 66 eating experiences.

There are plenty of other good meals to eat at Powdrell’s, all of them (except catfish and trout) from the smoker: pork ribs, hot sausage links, chicken, and pulled pork. Desserts are smokehouse classics: peach or cherry cobbler (super sweet) and sweet potato pie (super mellow).