Get a ’ Cue
Two barbecue joints serve up the pleasures of sticky finger food . By Karen Deutsch | Photography by Angel Tucker
Goodstuff Smokehouse
O n the border of Woonsocket , Goodstuff Smokehouse is what it says . The restaurant is little more than a box bordered in wood planks with a massive draft list hanging overhead and a soundtrack of classic rock wailing from the walls . Bikers in leather vests and doo-rags are regulars and it ’ s easy to find the parking lot , which is often filled with Harleys and pickup trucks . But for all of Goodstuff ’ s requisite hard-nosed attitude , the restaurant approaches food with an unexpected dose of sugar .
Bags of kettle corn line the register , scooped up like county fair food by kids trailing behind their parents . Cornbread , served in wedges , is as good as an unfrosted birthday cake (“ Can bread taste like sweet cream ?” marvels one myopically focused father ), and even thick slabs of bacon are served with a candied glaze ($ 11.99 ). No doubt that with at least eighteen craft beers , this is a serious bierhaus . Descriptions read like an eharmony profile : “ loaded with Mosaic and Citra to the point of stickiness ”; “[ this one ’ s ] always been about walking the line between decadence and approachability .” But if booze gets the most airtime here , it ’ s the homemade root beer that balances every spicy dish and goes home in half-gallon jugs .
Goodstuff , however , is as much a smoking pit as it is a candy shop . Everything is slowcooked , from brisket and ham to chicken , turkey , sausage and cheese curds . Meatloaf is cheddar-stuffed and bacon-wrapped ($ 18.99 ), and fries are served like nachos , smothered in cheese , pulled pork and barbecue sauce ($ 13.99 ). Even the collard greens come with gamey bits of bacon . If you think all of this is far too casual and you can ’ t bear to eat with your hands , the chef also sears a thick strip or rib-eye steak . ( Romance is alive and well .)
But by all accounts , this is a beer and ’ cue joint that happens to be kid-friendly enough to store highchairs around every corner . That makes the best dish all the more surprising . Hiding behind all those Southern go-tos is the area ’ s best pastrami — you heard me — sandwich and it ’ s nothing short of a revelation . Sure , pastrami ’ s just brisket dressed up in some brine and spices but this version is a major American cultural shift from the tables of NYC to a place Goodstuff calls New England-Style barbecue . Gone is the rye bread ; a doughy roll steps in ($ 13.99 ). Served warm and thickly sliced , it ’ s not trying to compete with an old school deli sandwich as much as reinvent it . If you needed a reminder that soul food is evolving as much as it ’ s telling our history , Goodstuff is here to provide it .
GOODSTUFF SMOKEHOUSE 97 Main St ., Blackstone , Mass ., 508 928-1850 , goodstuffsmokehouse . com .
MUST GET Pastrami sandwich , pulled pork ,
candied bacon . CAPACITY Based on social distancing requirements .
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l FEBRUARY 2021 73