Restaurant – Blues Bar-B-Q, Paris
April 2012
Most people know I love BBQ, especially what I consider to be the ‘best’ – Carolina style chopped pork with eastern NC vinegar based sauce on a soft bun with cole slaw and hush puppies. I do appreciate tender ribs and other styles of BBQ, but nothing to me is better than that sandwich. So I was very excited to find Blues Bar-B-Q in Paris, even if it’s Texas style. Thanks to the Anthony Bourdain BBQ episode where he visits Kansas city, Texas and North Carolina, I now know the difference…and it was confirmed that, at least in the mind of Mr.Bourdian, Carolina is the BEST.
But, so what. I needed some slow cooked pork. So, with my Texan friend in Paris and our husbands, we went to see what this Texas BBQ was all about. The room itself is what must be the stereotypical southern BBQ or diner style decor. The woman serving was clearly American and friendly, and the menu interesting. They have American bottled beer, incase you miss it, and chili cheese fries. I had to try the ‘Carolina’ chopped pork sandwich. Everyone got something different. Listen, this was the first time I tried Texan BBQ. It’s so different taste wise to the fluid, vinegar, sweet and sour Carolina BBQ my taste buds didn’t recognize it. The sauce was a thick, sweet, tomato paste on all the varieties of meat. The meat was soft and tender, perfect. I can’t complain, I got BBQ in Paris and it was fairly priced. I left thankful…that I had an upcoming trip to NC. If your from Texas I’d imagine you’d be happy, if you’ve never had BBQ give it a try. But if your from NC, just know that the ‘Carolina’ chopped pork sandwich is nothing like we do in NC.
Rue d'Odessa 
I received an aggravated comment from someone who said “who would go to BBQ in Paris” – no, not on a tourists list…but some of us are expats and do occasionally want food that reminds us of home!