McClure’s Barbecue* (#291, 3/11/14) – 67
I’ve always said that New Orleans is not really a town for barbecue, but it’s slowly starting to pick up. McClure’s Barbecue is a place that began as a pop-up restaurant and has now established itself Uptown on Magazine Street. The building it moved into, just across from Le Bon Temps, has an interesting history as the last few places there include a veterinary hospital and a tattoo shop. I was a bit surprised by the hours, seems like staying open past 9 on the weekends they could do pretty well with the Le Bon Temps crowd.
Another concern was that it is a hike from downtown; if you only have an hour lunch break, you may worry about getting there and back on time. However, no need to worry, we easily made the round-trip as they have food ready to roll. You simply order at the counter and within minutes, good-tasting barbecue is sitting on the table in front of you. As far as service, I’ll give it a 16 out of 20.
The food was quite good, some of the better barbecue I’ve had here in town. The best thing is a wide-variety of sauces (seven total). And another good thing is they actually give you a description of each of the sauces. Often barbecue places just put the sauce out and say “North Carolina” or “Mojo” and you really aren’t positive what it is, but good descriptions here. I had a pulled pork platter with 4-cheese macaroni and the barbecue jambalaya. Both excellent sides. The pulled pork was very good as well; I tried three different sauces with my favorite being the South Carolina, though I wish I had tried the NOLA East sauce (sweet & spicy, hoisin and soy sauce). I’ll give it a 33 out of 50 for sauce.
The atmosphere was good too. Typical barbecue joint fashion with picnic tables and benches – though well finished, clean, shiny. They have about eight tables. I’m a bit concerned that we went at noon and there was only one other table occupied. Hopefully they do good evening business, but again, keep in mind, they’re quick, so you can make it there-and-back quickly from downtown. Atmosphere is an 18 out of 30.
Final score = 67.