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Dining room at the newly-opened Jambo's BBQ Shack in Rendon. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
Jamie Geer of Burleson is a big-time barbecue competitor and has been called the da Vinci of barbecue pit builders with his sleek-looking and good-cooking line of Jambo smokers.
Now, he is trying his hand at running a barbecue joint, called Jambo's BBQ Shack and Catering, located in Rendon, not far from his home.
We visited Saturday, the end of Jambo's first week in business.
"It's been crazy," Geer said as he cut orders for a steady line of lunch customers.
We sampled his brisket, pork ribs, sausage and a giant pork chop. All were moist and very tender. Posse member Jim Rossman easily cut the 3-inch-thick chop with a plastic knife and fork and handed samples to Posse members and friends, a dozen strong.
"That's cooked perfectly," Posse co-founder Chris Wilkins said of the chop. "I know what I'll be ordering the next time I come."
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Pork ribs, sausage and brisket at Jambo's BBQ Shack. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
Before we go any further, we need to make an admission. Regular readers know that the Posse is anti-gas and anti-electric smokers and militantly pro wood.
While Geer's Jambo pits are strictly stick burners, at Jambo's BBQ, he's cooking with an Ole Hickory using gas and some hickory wood.
"Got to," he said.
We can't argue with the results.
The ribs, in their serving container, looked competition perfect and tasted great. The appearance of the brisket didn't impress but the tenderness did.
"That brisket was perfectly cooked," Rossman said. He and others, though, thought the brisket, like the pork chop, could have used more seasoning and more smoke flavor, something a competition pro like Geer should be able to do as he works through the start-up phase of the place.
The commercially bought sausage? It was just o.k. Geer said he hopes to be making his own on site soon.
All in all, after just a week in operation, we thought it was an excellent start for Geer, who once competed on the TV program BBQ Pitmasters.
We squeezed in a visit to his joint during our best of DFW tour, so we sampled his food in the same short time span as we were hitting the 7 area joints that made Texas Monthly's new Top 50 list.
Even after just a week, we'd put Jambo's BBQ easily among that elite Dallas-area group.
The slogan for Geer's new joint also ranks among the more memorable: "It tastes so good, your lips will beat your brains out."
Maybe a bit over the top. But that's what happens when you spend too much time around Myron Mixon.
Jambo's BBQ Shack, 5460 E FM 1187, Rendon, 817-478.2277. Open Tues-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 11am-3pm or until the meat runs out.
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Jambo's BBQ Shack is located east of I-35W on FM 1187 in Rendon. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
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Owner and pitmaster Jamie Geer works the cutting board. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
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Amazing 3-inch-thick pork chop at Jambo's BBQ Shack. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
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Customers wait to order at Jambo's BBQ Shack. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |
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Jambo's BBQ Shack new location in Rendon. (Photo ©Chris Wilkins/Texas BBQ Posse) |