Under $30
The love of BBQ and UA sports comes through at Billy Bryant's
By Phil Villarreal
pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 05.08.2008
Walking around Billy Bryant's Bar-B-Q, killing the few minutes it takes to get your order, you'd swear the 1950s-themed smoked meat shack has been around for decades.
There's a jukebox straight out of "Happy Days" in the corner, and a series of Arizona Wildcats basketball team photos, signed by Lute Olson, on the wall. Olson and Kevin O'Neill stare at you with bright-eyed, youthful grins in one from 1986-87, as you take in the nostalgic scent wafting from the pecan and hickory fire pit in the back.
Actually, Billy Bryant's has been around for only the past four years. Owner Steve Mendelsohn parlayed his catering business — Mendelsohn met Olson because he catered UA events — into a delightful mom-and-pop home slice that makes you feel like you're coming back to a kitchen you never knew. His secret spice rub and homemade sides make you feel like a kid whose dad whips up the best brisket sandwich on the block.
The vibe
The dining space is friendly and wide open, with two neat rows of tables that invite kicking back as you stuff your face.
Mendelsohn and his wife, Karen, are omnipresent fixtures, regaling you with small talk, sometimes peppered with a little good-natured teasing. You can tell they spend most of their time at the restaurant, and you can tell they love what they do.
The food
That love comes through in the food. Billy Bryant's serves up grub that goes well with a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket: smoked pork, beef and sausage with all the requisite sides.
We tried three of the sandwich platters: brisket, pulled pork and hot links.
The thin-sliced brisket and pork were so tangy and supple it felt almost criminal to dampen the flavor with buns.
The hot links, which were spicy but nowhere close to hot to salsa-singed Tucson tongues, openly protested the sandwich treatment, tumbling out of the bun as we chomped.
The sandwiches were a little dry, even with the minitubs of barbecue sauce that came with them.
Each platter comes with a choice of two sides, and we can vouch that the coleslaw is rich and crunchy; the baked beans are buttressed with a sweet, pork-tinged sauce; and the potato salad is chunky wholesomeness stolen straight out of Momma's fridge.
Or at least you'd think it was, if Momma knew how to cook like this.
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