Le Menu
Taste of true Texas barbecue
Back Forty has a lot to offer
Date Published: May 2004
[Brenda Meadows/Granite Bay View]
On his way to serve lunch Manager-Trainee Toney Meredith stops by a decorative mural at Back Forty BBQ.
I never thought I would be thankful for the game of poker. However, since I learned that Back Forty Texas BBQ, 1201 Orlando Ave. in Roseville got its start after the restaurant was won in a card game, it has changed my perspective.
Families, as well as couples and singles, will feel right at home in the bucolic western décor. The exterior looks like a Universal Studio set with stressed and planked wood siding. Inside cactus plants and wanted posters join other wild-west artifacts on walls and shelves.
The menu gives the diner a choice between Texas and California "fixins."
The local fare features baked or garlic potatoes and salad or soup. The down south selection includes cole slaw, corn bread. BBQ Beans and potato salad.
True to its roots, the barbecued meats are slow-smoked for at least five hours above oak logs. The "ferris wheel" motion of specially designed pits causes meat on the bottom to be basted by meat above.
Don't feel like a stranger, partner, if you like fish or non-barbecued meats. Besides the beef and pork ribs, sausage links and Cajun catfish there are baked dishes (including a great spicy catfish that my husband ordered) and chicken or turkey. There is also a special uptown mahi-mahi meal that would make any tinhorn feel at home.
Another idea of mine that has gone out the window is the notion that good Texas barbecue can't be found in California.
OK, I admit I was wrong. Here it is - I found it in Back Forty's tender sliced turkey, beef and chicken combo dinner - a Texas fixin.
Yeeehaw, the meat was tender and in spite of a diet, I ate everything on my plate. The beans were not just BBQ, they were better, more like mom used to make.
The baked catfish meal, California-style (we thought we'd try both types), with garlic-mashed potatoes was cooked to perfection, filling and well seasoned.
Desserts are a test, since I lived in Texas for 10 years, of a chef's southern cooking abilities. The pecan cream pie made a true believer out of my companion. He had never tasted pecan pie with cream cheese and was a bit hesitant at first. But his words were "my tongue nearly beat my brains out trying to get more pie."
Back Forty offers dine-in and carry out menus as well as three types of catering services for private events.
After tasting the victuals we were not surprised to learn that all items are prepared from-scratch daily.
We have already planned to go back to the lower-40-acres of great food.
Call 721-RIBS (7427) for directions or to say "howdy."
Families, as well as couples and singles, will feel right at home in the bucolic western décor. The exterior looks like a Universal Studio set with stressed and planked wood siding. Inside cactus plants and wanted posters join other wild-west artifacts on walls and shelves.
The menu gives the diner a choice between Texas and California "fixins."
The local fare features baked or garlic potatoes and salad or soup. The down south selection includes cole slaw, corn bread. BBQ Beans and potato salad.
True to its roots, the barbecued meats are slow-smoked for at least five hours above oak logs. The "ferris wheel" motion of specially designed pits causes meat on the bottom to be basted by meat above.
Don't feel like a stranger, partner, if you like fish or non-barbecued meats. Besides the beef and pork ribs, sausage links and Cajun catfish there are baked dishes (including a great spicy catfish that my husband ordered) and chicken or turkey. There is also a special uptown mahi-mahi meal that would make any tinhorn feel at home.
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From the appetizer list my dining and life-long companion and I ordered armadillo eggs, stuffed jalapeños. I like hot peppers and though these were only tangy, the cheese stuffing made up for any heat loss.Another idea of mine that has gone out the window is the notion that good Texas barbecue can't be found in California.
OK, I admit I was wrong. Here it is - I found it in Back Forty's tender sliced turkey, beef and chicken combo dinner - a Texas fixin.
Yeeehaw, the meat was tender and in spite of a diet, I ate everything on my plate. The beans were not just BBQ, they were better, more like mom used to make.
The baked catfish meal, California-style (we thought we'd try both types), with garlic-mashed potatoes was cooked to perfection, filling and well seasoned.
Desserts are a test, since I lived in Texas for 10 years, of a chef's southern cooking abilities. The pecan cream pie made a true believer out of my companion. He had never tasted pecan pie with cream cheese and was a bit hesitant at first. But his words were "my tongue nearly beat my brains out trying to get more pie."
Back Forty offers dine-in and carry out menus as well as three types of catering services for private events.
After tasting the victuals we were not surprised to learn that all items are prepared from-scratch daily.
We have already planned to go back to the lower-40-acres of great food.
Call 721-RIBS (7427) for directions or to say "howdy."
Brenda Meadows can be reached at brendam@goldcountrymedia.com.
