Out of Dallas

Great, just what I need: a good barbecue joint just across the
parking lot from the gym.

But that’s exactly what I have in the form of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit,
a fast-casual chain that has opened in the same shopping center as LA
Fitness on First Avenue and Limberlost Drive.

Dickey’s got its start in Dallas in 1941, and today, it’s a chain
reaching into 28 states (with another Southern Arizona location planned
for Marana). At the Tucson Dickey’s incarnation, you’ll find largely
decent meats, some better-than-average side dishes and a décor
largely focused on marketing, with all the subtlety of the Buy n Large
Corporation from WALL-E.

The meat offerings include barbecue brisket, Polish sausage, pulled
pork, sweet pork ribs, smoked turkey breast and Italian-marinated
chicken breast. Side offerings include cole slaw, potato salad, Caesar
salad, barbecue beans, a baked potato, waffle fries, macaroni and
cheese, and something called baked potato casserole. Throw in enhanced
versions of the baked potato and the Caesar salad, chicken nuggets for
the kids and pecan pie for the dessert, and you have Dickey’s menu.

Diners can get meat on a sandwich ($4.99; add a side or two, and the
cost is $6.98 or $7.69; be warned that a baked potato counts as two
sides), or plates with two sides and a meat ($8.99), two meats
($10.99—and the ribs count as two meats) or three meats ($11.49).
Of course, you can make arrangements for catering and takeout for large
parties, too.

Dickey’s is a fast-casual joint, meaning you order at the counter,
and the friendly folks in Dickey’s employ will bring food to you in
plastic baskets when it’s ready, generally after an acceptably short
wait. You have to get your own drinks, your own sauce (consisting of
original, sweet and hot-and-spicy varieties) and whatever other
accoutrements you want (like lemon, jalapeno peppers, scallions and
cheese) from a table near the register.

The meats we sampled—and we sampled ’em all—ranged from
OK to outstanding. The brisket had a nice flavor, but was a bit dry;
the same thing goes for the ribs. On our lunch visit, Ryan said the
pulled pork was “good,” while Curtis declared it “decent but not very
exciting”; I’d call it fine, yet not necessarily distinctive. The
Polish sausage was also a matter of debate; on our dinner visit,
Garrett found it underwhelming, while I thought it was actually quite
delicious—with a lot of subtle but different flavors—when
mixed with the original sauce. That sauce ranks in the top quartile of
barbecue sauces I’ve had. The sweet sauce was also tasty, while the hot
and spicy sauce was neither particularly hot nor spicy.

The meats that really hit the spot were the two you’d seem least
likely to find at a barbecue joint: the chicken and the turkey. Note
that these opinions are not unanimous: On our lunch visit, Charlie
called the chicken “sub-par,” but I’m going to say that Charlie needs
his taste buds checked, based on the chicken I devoured on my dinner
visit. The slices of moist, perfectly cooked chicken breast benefited
from just enough marinating in Italian spices. It was perfectly
delicious without the sauce (not that the sauce wasn’t welcome). The
turkey was also moist and had a wonderful smoky flavor. On my next
Dickey’s visit, I’ll skip the mammals in favor of the birds.

While Dickey’s meats didn’t impress me as much as the meats at some
other barbecue joints around town, I found the sides to be atypically
enjoyable. It seems like far too many places focus all their efforts on
the meat, and therefore churn out mediocre side dishes. But at
Dickey’s, the worst of the sides were passable, whereas the best of the
sides were quite delicious. Among the passable were the coleslaw (which
was too watery), the beans, the Caesar salad and the macaroni and
cheese. Among the delicious were the mustard-y potato salad, which
kicks the crap out of the stuff in the plastic containers you can buy
at the supermarket; the crisp and masterfully seasoned waffle fries;
and the baked potato casserole, which suffers from a stupid
name—this is mashed potatoes topped with scallions and cheddar
cheese on the planet where I live—but benefits from being damn
tasty.

I also recommend saving room for dessert: The pecan pie ($2.29) far
surpassed what I expected to get from a chain barbecue joint; it was
sweet without being cloying, and even had a respectable crust. If pecan
pie doesn’t float your boat, one of Dickey’s claims to fame is free ice
cream, compliments of a soft-serve machine where you can help
yourself.

The one thing I truly despised about Dickey’s was the look of the
restaurant itself. On one hand, the place is clean and bright (muted
reds, oranges and browns make up the color scheme) with two
TVs—tuned to NBC and ESPN on my visits—offering
entertainment. I didn’t even mind the country/Western music. On the
other hand, the place is chock-full of marketing ploys everywhere you
look. Posters tout Dickey’s catering, the fact that kids eat free on
Sunday, etc., etc. Then there are the oh-not-so-clever quotes,
attributed to founder Travis Dickey, painted on the walls here and
there. Some samples: “So good even vegetarians eat it in secret,” and
my personal nominee for Inane Made-Up Quote of the Year, “If life gives
you Dickey’s barbecue, eat it!”

Ugh.

Aside from these abominable decorations, Dickey’s is worth checking
out, thanks to the yummy sauce, the delectable bird meats and the
surprisingly good sides. It’s also a great way to replenish those
calories after a visit to the gym.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit

4210 N. First Ave.

292-4664; www.dickeys.com

Pluses: Tasty chicken and turkey; damn fine waffle fries

Minuses: Some meats can be dry; décor is marketing hell

This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.