Zeke's Smokehouse

As I wrote in my first post on Zeke's, I have been there at least a couple dozen times over the last few years. It's not my favorite barbecue around, but it's consistently good, service is always great, and their sides are as good as any barbecue restaurant in the area. And, on a day like yesterday, it is magnificent to eat outside.

My friend Elizabeth just returned a few days ago from a trip back to New York City for Christmas and New Year's. Obviously, it was pretty damn cold there, so yesterday, when it was over 80 degrees, she suggested we go to lunch outside somewhere. The Sunday farmers market was going on in Montrose so I suggested we head up there and either eat at Three Drunken Goats or Zeke's. I have not been to the former and have wanted to try it for months - and we stopped and looked at their menu and it looked great - but they did not have any outside seating, so we opted for Zeke's.

Both Zeke's and the farmers market were very busy (predictable for an 80 degree weekend day in January, I suppose) but we were seated immediately and given iced teas. I don't usually order specials at restaurants - it's not that I think they're inferior, it's just that I usually know what I want before I sit down to eat - but Zeke's always has interesting specials, and this time they had a "chipotle pork quesadilla" on the board. I love chipotle and I've always enjoyed Zeke's pork, so I ordered that. Elizabeth ordered a pulled chicken sandwich with sweet & sour slaw (that version of their slaw is one of my favorites around,) and we got an order of kettle chips.

My quesadilla was very good. There was not as much pork as I was expecting, but what was there was delicious, and it was mixed with the perfect amount of a chipotle sauce. The salsa on the side was very good, although I used their Carolina mustard sauce for the most part. Elizabeth's chicken sandwich was very good - the bun was better than it usually is at Zeke's, although I still don't understand why they use such dense buns - and the kettle chips were the best I have ever had there. They were much larger than usual and fresh out of the fryer. I requested a side of their spicy chili mayo, which my friends and I learned several years ago goes perfectly with anything fried at Zeke's.