Eat Your Way Down Jackson
This column highlights the many restaurants lining Jackson Street beginning in Leschi at Jackson and 31st Ave. S. and down to Rainier Ave. Jackson Street offers a wide selection of food choices from pizza, international, barbeque, sushi, pub food, soul food, before hitting the mecca of great Asian restaurants in the ID. Join me as we take a short drive, walk, bike or hop the 14 bus to check out nearby spots.
When You Crave Barbeque
Wood Shop BBQ, 2513 S. Jackson, open every day from 11am to 8pm. There is ample seating both inside and out and a bar offering a nice selection of craft beers and cocktails. The bartender and staff have the affability that goes well with a good BBQ joint.
Wood Shop BBQ on S. Jackson pays homage to the roots of barbeque by a graphic at the entrance highlighting the famous barbeque meccas in our country – Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis. Austin, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Salina, Kansas. Where and why, you ask Salina, Kansas? It is the hometown of the co-owner Matt Owens and the inspiration for the restaurant’s style of BBQ.
Seattle has many barbeque restaurants each having their own take on the way to cook the meat and a sauce that best complements. The author Calvin Trillin helped to sell the world on Kansas City barbeque and spread the gospel of finding redemption in a well-balanced sauce whether it be tomato or vinegar based.
Wood Shop BBQ brings this same Kansas love to their version of barbeque along with introducing tastes from the other regions. The meats are smoked in giant smokers in the back using wood brought in from various parts of the country. The sauce is a tangy tomato which comes in a mild and a hot version called The Ghost. I have been to the restaurant several times with friends and family, always loving the smell of barbeque filling the air. While I have enjoyed the variety of sandwiches including the brisket ($15), pork spareribs ($18) and pulled pork ($13), I recently discovered the smoked chicken sandwich ($14) which was delightfully tender and with just the right amount of smokiness. All the sandwiches are served on a brioche roll with pickles and buttermilk cole slaw on the side. There’s also a variety of mac & cheese bowls to choose which come with their four meats and portobello machaca. They are around $16. My nephew had the chicken wings and merely said “Wow!” as he smiled and wiped sauce from his mouth.
Recently friends and I had take-out and chose a selection of meats sold by the pound and half pound. We chose brisket ($34), pork spare ribs ($34) and smoked chicken ($24) and for sides we had the Cole slaw and potato salad sold by the quart. The favorite of the group was the smoked chicken with regrets we had not ordered more. The ribs also were a hit as the meat was done to perfection and easily fell off the bone and into your mouth. We enjoyed the brisket but there were comparisons to other BBQ restaurants offering brisket a bit juicier and moister. While the house made potato salad had a very fresh taste primarily due to a generous amount of dill, it seemed lacking in character. However, the humble cole slaw, which usually comes in second place, managed to knock the potato salad out of the park. Its dressing is well balanced and complements the meats well. We definitely are a group who have been around the barbeque pit!
One friend who is an author pursued the restaurant while we waited for our take-out and sent me his thoughts. “The interior is clean and basic, some simple tables on a beautifully polished wood floor, but you won't find any polished china or cutlery—orders come in paper-lined plastic baskets. Walk down a hall whose walls educate you on the attributes of five common woods used for smoking; mesquite, post oak, alder, apple, hickory (hint; for strong flavor, skip the alder), through a door, and you're into the business end of the establishment, with its two huge awe-inspiring 1000-gallon Moberg Smokers with four chambers each, enough to handle 30 briskets at a time. Here also in the industrial zone are picnic tables under a cover, allowing diners to sample the smokers' products protected from any relentless drizzle and rain that the Seattle sky might choose to unleash.”
~Mary Carter Creech