Vol. 4, No. 4, April 2008
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Smokin’
RUB BBQ takes its time preparing ‘righteous’ cuts of meat
Las Vegas is known for great steakhouses, expansive buffets and celebrity restaurants, but certainly not barbecue. The city has some good barbecue joints in Salt Lick and Lucille’s—not sure about Famous Dave’s or Memphis Championship—and while no one is ever likely to mistake the barbecue here with the barbecue in Memphis or Kansas City, at least the options for locals are growing.
RUB BBQ is the newest in the trend of importing popular barbecue restaurants from other parts of the country. Lucille’s comes from California, Salt Lick from Texas and RUB from… New York? Visions of that Old El Paso picante sauce commercial come to mind: “New York City? Get a rope!” But fear not, barbecue fans, these guys really know their stuff.
Paul Kirk, the executive chef and co-owner of RUB—which stands for “righteous urban barbecue”—hails from Kansas City, and local pitmaster Skip Steele, a Memphis native, comes to Las Vegas from St. Louis.
Of course, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter where you’re from when it comes to barbecue; all that matters is the meat. In this category, RUB does not disappoint.
The restaurant, conveniently located just steps from the entrance off the Masquerade parking garage, uses seven smokers that cook everything “slow and low” for as long as 14 hours. Not only does this impart a nice and subtle smoky flavor, it also ensures that the traditional barbecue cuts, which tend to be tougher pieces like ribs and brisket, stay moist and tender.
And speaking of these barbecue staples, RUB delivers as promised. The brisket is superb and the ribs—both St. Louis cut and baby back—are tender, moist and full of flavor. This should not be surprising. With the wealth of information out there, I have been able to prepare excellent ribs in my oven, and my brother, who specializes in frozen pizza, has pulled some terrific briskets off of his 10-year-old gas grill. Having the right equipment only makes things easier.
Other staples like the pulled pork will not disappoint, either. But again, is this really a surprise?
The ham, bacon and pastrami, however, aren’t what one typically finds at a barbecue joint. The ham is probably the least impressive, not so much because of the quality, but because the ham just tastes like ham. It is certainly nice to have options, but I just can’t picture too many people going out for barbecue ham.
The bacon and pastrami—OK, not many people would go out just for bacon either, but it’s a side not an entrée—however, are a wonderful surprise. I’m not a big fan of pastrami, but something magical happens when it spends hours in a smoker. And the bacon… well, who doesn’t love bacon? If I could eat this bacon for breakfast every morning, I would happily die of heart disease at the age of 40 and have no regrets.
The specialty at RUB is something they call burnt ends—twice-smoked pieces of brisket. The extended stay in the smoker does wonders for the taste, but personally, I found the meat to come out a little tougher. It is possible that this is because I was at RUB later in the day, and everyone knows the best time for barbecue is the second it comes out of the pit.
And that is a piece of advice to take to heart. If you can get into RUB around opening time, you’ll be greatly rewarded. If you can’t get there that soon, however, it still will not disappoint. And be forewarned, when the meat runs out, that’s it for the day.
One thing I have not mentioned is the barbecue sauce. There are two bottles on every table in the restaurant—regular and spicy—and both are pretty good. I will shamefully admit to having tried the sauce on the ribs. It’s really a sin, however, to take such a delicious piece of meat that can stand on its own and smother it in sauce. The test of great barbecue is how the meat tastes, not how well someone can mix brown sugar (or molasses) with tomato sauce and vinegar. Putting sauce on barbecue is like putting A1 on prime rib. It’s not necessary, and it certainly isn’t righteous.
Rub BBQ
Rio All-Suites Hotel
3700 W. Flamingo Road
Hours
Monday and Tuesday
4:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Wednesday—Sunday
noon to 11 p.m.
702-777-7777
