Papa Jacks!

The Eyes of Texas are Upon You
Part 7


Papa Jacks Smokehouse
On East Waco Drive, between Hood St. and Turner St... right across from DJ Seafood.
Waco, Texas


So today I couldn’t decided what I wanted to eat. I spent all morning and even the night before trying to decide what I wanted to eat for lunch. Even tried to get a few people to join me with no prevail, but that’s no biggie. Finally around 12pm after getting my oil changed and picking up some Menudo (the meat, not the soup), I decided Id go check out this BBQ joint I had seen down on Waco Drive, called One Stop BBQ. But we will talk about them later, today we are gonna talk about a place I saw on the way to One Stop BBQ called Papa Jacks.

I had never seen Papa Jacks Smoke house before and as I drove by I noticed a small line and smoke flyin, so with a quick u-turn a pulled into the parking lot hopped out and got in line. Its not a sit in restaurant, its just a little trailer and attachment with their smokers on the side, and a big ole pile of wood.. Though it would be cool if they put up some tables with umbrellas, they have plenty of room and it would be great for beautiful days like today. While in line I looked over their menu. They have plenty of meats to choose; Sausage, brisket, spam, hot links, a couple other things, sandwiches or plates… and on Thursdays they have Smoked Turkey legs (stuffed or regular). They also have yellow potato salad, beans, home made cookies, soda, etc.

So once the crazy lady in front of me who ordered 4 big plates and just about every cookie in the place, it was my turn. I was hungry and wanted to try a couple of their things, so I ordered one of their Brisket Sandwiches, a stuffed turkey leg and some yellow potato salad. While the prepped my food, I talked to the guy, who I suppose owns the place, was real nice. He opened the place about 3 weeks ago and makes everything fresh… sounds like a plan to me. So I got my food, only cost me around $11, which isn’t bad, not bad at all.

So I get to my parents place with the food, thought Id share the spoils with them before they go to the ranch. The first thing I break into is the turkey leg…. open that sucker up and its just steaming and the smell just engulfs your senses… smells just wonderful. You can smell the smoke, the jalapenos and stuffing, and even the turkey meat. The meat has a nice red smoke hue to it and stick a fork in it and it just peels off the bone. Take a bite of it, and its just great… sweet, juicy and tender meat. The smoke isn’t over powering, the jalapeno stuffing isn’t over powering, it all works together. This is one of, if not the best turkey leg I have ever had. I can see my self going back every Thursday to get one of these.

Next I try some of the brisket, just pulled it off the sandwich so I can try it alone. The sandwich is served on white bread and stacked with brisket. It is a decent brisket, nothing really special about it. It has a nice smoke ring, good texture and flavor, not too dry. Was really good with their BBQ sauce and makes a great sandwich. Their BBQ sauce was pretty damn good, really sweet, seemed like it had honey in it and about the same consistency.

Then I finished it off with some of the yellow potato salad. It is a classic yellow dill potato salad. The potatoes are small diced and a few seemed to still have the skin on, which I liked. It seemed very fresh and had a nice sweet flavor, seemed to have just the right amount of mustard and dill, and it had a nice creamy texture. Really enjoyed that.

Over all I really enjoyed this places BBQ and so did the rest of my family. I will definitely be going back there soon, and I highly recommend every one else give them a try too.Gotta keep local places like this alive, so stop by and tell’em DavieG sent ya.

*If you wanna try their turkey legs, I think you’ll have to wait till Thursday.*