State of Texas, I crave indulgence for the heresy I am about to commit.
I acknowledge your eminence in the field of barbecue, and particularly your way with beef brisket and sausage.
From within the capacious confines of your borders, I have devoured chewy ribs with smoke rings that went all the way through, fat-slicked pork so tender that chewing was just a way to get all the flavor out, brisket so gloriously rich it put to shame every other way in which beef can be prepared.
Driving through central Texas at 7 a.m., I have seen local barbecue restaurants open for business — and cars lined up to get at the goodness before it ran out.
I understand the rules, the austere discipline, to which traditional Texas barbecue must adhere to be considered "the real thing": using no plates, serving nothing more than a slice of cheap white bread with barbecue, even (in extreme cases) treating customers who use too much sauce with kindly contempt.
I understand these rules keep the focus on the meat; and meat is, of course, the reason barbecue joints exist.
But, and I hope you will forgive me here, Texas, I think it's OK if I eat my barbecue on plates, at a clean and attractive table in a comfortable dining room. I even think it's OK if my meat is nicely arranged and accompanied by, say, a tender and flavorful dinner roll rather than semihard sliced bread.
And if there are good side dishes as well, I find them a delightful bonus, not a distraction.
I suppose that in making most of our homegrown "Texas barbecue" restaurants this way, we in Utah have strayed from the true faith whose flame you have kept burning so brightly.
But please don't judge us too harshly, Texas. We have some dogmas of our own, and one is that main dishes are better with rolls and sides. We also believe in dessert as a fundamental human right.
How about if, before consigning us to bar-B-Q H-E-double toothpicks, you come out West and see what we're cooking up? Try Pat's or Holy Smoke or one of the granddaddies of Utah barbecue, Midvale's Joe Morley's Smoked Beef.
Joe Morley's has been smoking and serving barbecue in Utah since 1984, and they've been doing it well. All the usual Texas barbecue suspects are here, from brisket and pork to sausage, chicken, ribs and turkey.
Customers can enjoy these meats in sandwiches or as part of a meal. We sure did. But first, we started with a couple of appetizers — yes, another heresy! But transgression tasted fine in the form of jalapeño poppers accompanied by kicky jalapeño jelly and wonderful "onion chips," thick squarish slices of onions battered and fried crackling-crisp.
There's a kid-friendly combination of one meat and one side dish, which one of our girls ordered with brisket and beans. The others had humdrum clam chowder and a well-balanced smoked-turkey sandwich on thick white bread with cranberry sauce and the usual fixings.
My husband had the brisket, a lovely, smoky crust containing meat so succulently elastic that it was easier to pull it apart with my fingers than slice it. He also had the chopped smoked pork, which was tender and flavorful but, I thought, over-sauced. (See, Texas? We do agree on some things.)
I had brisket, too, because I can't resist it, plus the surprising "sugarback" baby-back ribs. Dry-rubbed with a brown-sugar mixture and then slowly smoked, they were as dark as mahogany, chewy and deeply flavored, with just a hint of sweetness. I'm not a huge fan of ribs, but these might convert me.
Then there were the sides. The coleslaw, though fresh and crunchy, was bland, but the ranch rolls were fine-textured and a little sweet, and the beans were spectacular, smoky and strewn with meat.
For dessert, we shared a Joe Morley's specialty, the mocha and peppermint mud pies. Crunchy cookie crusts were topped with mocha ice cream in one case and pink peppermint ice cream in the other, then garnished with lots of fudge sauce. Simple, sweet, with good-quality ingredients, they were a satisfying way to end a down-home meal.
Not to tempt you, Texas, but doesn't that sound good?
Appetizers $2.99-$6.99, soup and salad $2.79-$8.99, sandwiches $3.99-$4.99, platters $5.99-$12.99, family-style meals $19.99-$25.99, dessert $2.99-$3.99.
Joe Morley's Smoked Beef and Bar-B-Q
Rating: ★★★
Where: 100 W. Center, Midvale
Hours: Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; closed Sunday
Phone: 801-255-8928
Wheelchair access: Easy
Web: www.joemorleys.com
Also: catering available
Stacey Kratz is a freelance writer who reviews restaurants for the Deseret News.