Blue Ribbon BBQ

There are several things about BBQ restaurants that make them...just a little bit different.  Today I'm going to share a few random thoughts related to these things.

-Does anyone know how to actually spell Barbeque?  It has more acceptable spellings than Gadhaffi.  Barbeque...Barbecue...BBQ.  My spell check likes Barbecue, but I don't.  I'm gonna go with Barbeque.  I hope we can still be friends.

-You can tell you are going to be eating at a BBQ place just by reading the name.

Think "Billy's Smokehouse" or “The Smokeshack” - its no secret that you're gonna be eating bbq.  Why do barbeque restaurants so often have to have "smoke" in the name?  Are we not able to make assumptions as to how the fare is prepared without such descriptions in the title.  I can go to a seafood restaurant without having to know how the seafood was caught or prepared.  There is not a seafood restaurant named, “Pan Seared Paradise”.  Deli’s and sandwich joints may get a little clever at times, but they don’t describe how they are going to make the sandwich.  I've never been to a sandwich place with the word, "Sliced" in the title.

-What's up with all of the ribbons and supposed victories at bbq championships in these restaurants?  I’ve never been in a bbq restaurant without the blue ribbons being exposed.  On the other hand, I’ve never seen these adornments in a different type of restaurant.  Are Barbeque places the only restaurants that have contests?  I've never been in a Burger joint with a large check hanging on the wall and a host of blue ribbons dangling from the ceiling.  It seems that bbq restaurants have a bit of a need to be patted on the back...it’s sad, really.

-Barbeque restaurants often have a picture of a really cute and happy pig in their logo too.  I've been to steak restaurants with a big steer out front, but he never seemed cute or happy to be there.  He usually seems to know that this isn't going to go well for him.  The pig is different though...he’s all too happy to bring you inside to a feast in which he is the star.

-I saw a barbeque restaurant the other day called, "Three Blind Pigs".  Here we have the standard Pig reference, but we seem to have mixed up our nursery rhymes.  I'm thinking that "Three Blind Mice" is not quite the mental image that I want to have when entering a restaurant.  That brings cleanliness into question on a number of levels.

If I could give you a big blue ribbon for reading this blog, I would.  But then there would be delivery issues...how much would it cost to mail them all?  How much do those ribbons even cost?  A lot, I bet.  I've been kind of busy lately, I'm not even sure I'd have time to design such a banner right now.  Maybe, I could do something after the holidays...

Look, I appreciate you reading - but on second thought, I'm not gonna send you anything.  Sorry.

Have a great day.

JJ