Description: At the end of our studies abroad, my friend’s whole family came to Brisbane for the beginning of their yearly family vacation. During their week in Brisbane, which was also my last there, it was her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. By this point, possibly a whole 5 days after leaving Texas, her dad and brother were already craving Texas-sized steaks. So, we ended up eating at the most Texan joint in Brisbane—the SSS BBQ Barn on the corner of Queen and Ann Sts.
It was a rather dismal night—sprinkling enough to be annoying. Very unlike Queensland, since it had possibly rained five times since we arrived more than 4 months previously (ok, I exaggerate, but still). However, the inside was the complete opposite. The place was lit up with the neon roadsigns I am accustomed to seeing in places like the Texas Roadhouse, and the minute we all stepped in, we couldn’t stop laughing—not at the restaurant itself, but just fits of giggles. My friend and I laughed all night, which earned us a lot of odd looks from her brother and James, who were sitting at the end of the table, having their own conversation and, I think, trying to ignore us.
The meals were quite expensive and ended up being the first of the gourmet-priced meals I ate during my last week in Brizzy. However, for what would also be the first of two times that week, I did not have to pay, since Cristina’s parents were awesome and treating us. I ended up ordering a plate of baby back ribs that was in the $30 range. The entire table ordered a range of steaks and ribs—what else at a BBQ place?
Amusingly enough, when we ordered our drinks, the three girls got white wine and the three boys got red. I don’t remember which wine we got (but there’s a good chance it was from the Barossa Valley in south Australia), but it went quite well with the meal. This meal, my absolutely heaping plate of ribs with plenty of side salad and yummy sweet potato chips (definitely choose these as your side!), was great. The ribs were perfectly cooked—you could tell this when you picked up the bone and all the meat fell off. I barely managed to make my way through the plate, but I was triumphant in the end. James had an even bigger plate than I did, with a mix of steak and ribs, so we pretty much had to roll out of the restaurant and into the cab. The person I’m most surprised about finishing was Cristina’s brother, since not long before he had taken up the XXXX brewery on their promise of four free beers with a brewery tour and had inhaled them in record time.
The SSS BBQ Barn was definitely a “great feed” and I highly recommend it—Brisbane certainly does real Texas BBQ better than it does real Texas Mexican food!
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