Oakland Oddessy: Everett & Jones BBQ

While on the way to a family get together we decided to pick up a couple of party favors: a lovely bouquet of flowers and a large combo of BBQ meats from Everett and Jones, a very highly regarded smokehouse located on Fruitvale Avenue. I was instantly fond of its quaintness, just a little take out window with seating for about 10 people and a couple of televisions. The walls are covered with awards, clippings, reviews and even the autographs of celebrities such as Whoopee Goldberg and Danny Glover.

Their menu offers four meats, standard sides and a couple of deserts arranged into a variety of combo configurations. Wanting to try it all I chose the 4-Way combo that provides all four available meats and two side dishes for $24.25. While the menu doesn’t hint at it being a large portion, it surely weighed in at a few pounds and was perfect for a group, even upstaging our host’s seafood stew. The following are my impressions:

Chicken: beneath the sauce lays a well toasted bird that had somehow retained all of its juice and tenderness. The sweet and slightly tart sauce really complimented the meat that came off the bone with no resistance.

Beef Brisket: by far my favorite entry to their menu, not only was it excellent but I don’t know where else I could find a passable imitation. As far as I could tell it was the result of slow smoking a large chunk of rubbed beef until it had a crusty char outside and all connective tissue and marbling had melted into a tasty gelatin. The beef was cut into deli thin slices which tasted perfect without any sauce, but benefited from a tiny dab. Honestly I could see myself buying a large container every week to keep in my fridge for sandwich material. This would probably eventually kill me though so it’s a good thing I live in Boston instead of Oakland.

Homemade Beef Links: The first thing I noticed was the invitingly grainy texture, it was without doubt a coarsely ground rustic sausage similar to Georgia hot links. For me this is perfect, its an immediate distinction from store bought sausages and combined with the generous spice and crunchy smoked casing I couldn’t have been much happier.  

Pork Ribs: Probably the most iconic bit of BBQ for people, it’s not too easy to screw up and leaves you with a pile of bones to proudly display. The ribs here are good but not spectacular, the spice rub and ample sauce obscure the fatty and firm meat of the ribs. The fat is not unwelcome, as it’s a great vehicle for smoke flavor but it still needed to render a little more, which would have made them tenderer too. In other words you should try the ribs but make sure they are not the only thing you order.

One last thing that I would like to add is that this review represents the location on Fruitvale Ave, I don’t know if the food is the same out in the Jack London Square. According to one patron (who recommended the homemade sausage) this is the good one, because it’s in the 'hood. Apparently this distinction is very important, an online search provided no evidence that they where related, the Fruitvale menu doesn’t mention the Jack London location and the website for the restaurant in the square makes no mention of the Fruitvale shop. Sibling rivalry perhaps? Who knows but I can't wait to go to Oakland again, I’m sure airport security wont mind a few pounds of beef brisket in my checked luggage.