Y’all know my mission, my passion is to find you the best bargain food in this over-priced city of SF, right? But, as much as I want to stem the tide of rising prices, there is ONLY so much that I can do. I spread the word about amazing deals, like the $5 banh mi sandwiches at Duc Loi Market that could easily feed two people, but the fact is, everything is getting more expensive. I feel almost fortunate (ALMOST) if I can sit down in a place with actual silverware, and get a complete meal, with a drink, that includes tax and tip for under $20. Which is exactly what you get at CatHead’s Barbecue.
For one Andrew Jackson you can get the $16 combo meal, which comes to $17.40 after tax. I suppose you can either POCKET the $2.60 (if say, you’re visiting from EUROPE!) or you can act like a patriot and toss it into the tip jar for the guys behind the counter.
What do you get for your “$20”? One main entrée (in my case, Brisket … duh!) PLUS two sides (mac’n’cheese and collard greens) PLUS a mini-biscuit (pretty damn mini) PLUS a drink. I opted for the lemonade, which I immediately diluted with more water and got sort of a 2-for-1 deal: two full glasses of lemonade from the one that they gave me. (I reckon you youngsters will probably take it straight; to my taste it was too sweet.)
$16 combo plate, $17.40 after tax. INCLUDES lemonade.
BUT … The best part of the meal isn’t even listed on the menu. They’re secret weapon and the thing that puts the meal over the top is their PICKLES! They include the usual assortment of sliced carrots and cauliflower florets, but then there was this large, root vegetable-looking piece that I couldn’t identify. Was it Jicama? Was it a Turnip? Rutabaga? It had a slightly sweet quality to it, underneath the pickly taste. Whatever it was, it was really good! I needed to know.
I saved one piece for last and after eating everything else, I brought my plate back up to the counter and asked, “Dude, what exactly IS this?”
“PICKLED WATERMELON RIND,” was his reply.
Pickled watermelon rind, a Southern favorite.
Wow. Mind blown. Who’da thunk it? If you gave me 1,000 guesses, I never would’ve picked that. But, damn it was GOOD. Like, put ‘em in a jar and sell ‘em at the counter good. Slightly sweet, put oh-so-pickly, sort of like a pickled slice of apple. Apparently it’s a Southern favorite, although I don’t recall having it during the three years that I lived in Atlanta, but I suppose there’s a lot of folks who will argue that Atlanta isn’t “the real South.”
The other secret weapon in their arsenal is their habanero barbecue sauce. That’s the one in the little squirt bottle. To borrow a quote from Prince, “It might be little, but it’s LOUD!” Don’t be fooled by its size – it packs a PUNCH.
The little bottle is Senor Habanero, and he is HOT!
Look, are these guys the BEST barbecue in SF? I kind of doubt it. But, there’s something very satisfying about the way they do business. You can tell that everyone who works there loves FOOD. There’s a very casual “you come here to EAT, not for the atmosphere” vibe to the place, and I like that. They got the Zeppelin and QotSA cranked up, and I like that, too. And honestly, for $20 for everything, top to bottom, I left feeling satisfied and fulfilled. I ain’t rushing back, but I know I shall return!
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