Long Island Restaurants

Tennessee Jack's BBQ

There is nothing quite like barbecue cooked low and slow in a smoker. At Tennessee Jack's BBQ in East Islip, the hickory-smoked ribs, brisket, chicken and pulled pork are as down-home seductive as the Southern roadhouse ambience.

A bar in the front room draws a lot of locals here to share a brew while watching sports on television. The walls of the dining room are wood-paneled, hung with license plates and beat-up guitars. The fact that those instruments are no longer played matters not, since the kitchen turns out enough country, Western and Southern fare to rock the house.

At lunch, three of us exulted over a brisket quesadilla, the meat smoked for 22 hours to splendid depth and tenderness. Was it overkill to sandwich such meat in a tortilla with tomatoes, peppers and melted Cheddar and Jack cheeses? We were too busy devouring the dish to decide. At dinner, a bowl of pulled pork chili was firecracker-spicy, topped with tortilla chips and a melt of cheese.

Although I liked the rib tips appetizer, pieces cut from the meaty portion of spareribs, I'd forgo that prelude for a main course pleasure of Memphis-style baby back ribs on the bone. The first time I had the ribs, somebody had forgotten to finish them off with a dry rub of spices. Although they were smoky and tender, they were neither brown nor crisp. The next time, though, the ribs I got were spiced and burnished to faultlessness. I ordered mine naked -- no barbecue sauce -- a judicious choice. The dry rub was all the flavor the meat needed. A host of sauces -- among them a South Carolina mustard-based concoction, a brown sugar and honey combo, a habanero pepper-laced number and the house original, a sweet, tomato-based sauce -- were available to be dabbed on at will.

The smoked chicken hardly needed any sauce, since it was moist and redolent of its cooking process. I would rank the pulled pork -- moistened, not slathered with sauce -- right up there on a level with the transcendent brisket, whether enjoyed on a sandwich or by itself.

I even liked the grilled salmon, which had been marinated in the Carolina mustard barbecue sauce and flame-grilled. It was moist within, not dry and overcooked, as is so often the case with fish at a barbecue restaurant.

"Why are those mashed potatoes so darned good?" my dining companion asked after sampling the side dish. The answer was simple; the spuds had been spiked with bits of crisp bacon and swirled with melted Cheddar. Baked beans, sweet and smoky, made for another worthy accompaniment. I liked the tangy coleslaw made colorful by the addition of red cabbage. Sweet potato fries would have been better had they been served piping hot.

Although the desserts served here are not house-made, they're homespun and appropriate. I enjoyed both the tangy Key lime pie and the sweet-not-cloying pecan pie, served at room temperature and crowned with vanilla ice cream. The restaurant, however, should deep-six its aerosol whipped cream.

After a meal this good, give me freshly whipped heavy cream or none at all.

Reviewed by Joan Reminick, 1/20/05.

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