Daddy Pete’s BBQ
2921 Eastern Avenue SEBBQ is the perfect take out food during this pandemic, no? It’s quick, delicious and holds up pretty well on the car ride back to wherever it is you’re going to eat it.
I picked up another shift in Grand Rapids a a few weekends ago. There wasn’t much to do so I did some housekeeping type things in the office that I don’t normally have time to do when I’m in the Grand Rapids office.
Dinner was a priority and I wanted to make sure I got something good. I had an order for Slow’s but decided to check to see if there was any local BBQ places open that I haven’t been to yet.
I found Daddy Pete’s BBQ on Eastern Avenue SE just south of 28th Street. The small brick building is shared by two businesses. The location seemed familiar to me when I set out to make the trek down Eastern Avenue and once I got there, I realized it had been a BBQ placed named Taste of Tennessee several years ago.
Daddy Pete’s has online ordering but they stop taking online orders during their dinner rush. Had I decided to go get dinner a little sooner, I could have put my order in a head of time but I didn’t so I just went in to the shop.
The restaurant isn’t very big. When there are no COVID restrictions there are a few tables off to one side but Daddy Pete’s is going to do most of their business via carry-out.
There’s an order counter right up front when you walk through the doors. The menu consisting of all of the BBQ staples hangs above the cash register on a TV screen. I kept it simple by ordering a 1/2 lb of Brisket and a 6oz side of Six Cheese Mac & Cheese. The cost came out to about $15 before tip. The lady taking my order asked what car I was driving and said they’d bring the order out in about 15 minutes.
I settled in my car and started playing Candy Crush. My food came out much faster than 15 minutes. The parking lot at Daddy Pete’s isn’t very big so I didn’t want to sit there and eat because I’d be taking up parking spaces they needed to keep people moving in and out
When I got back to the office, I started with the Six Cheese Mac & Cheese. The pasta side is large, tender noodles in a very thick, creamy cheese sauce with specks of pepper on top. 6 ounces doesn’t sound like a lot but this was a very filling, very delicious take on mac & cheese.
The half pound of brisket was just sitting there staring at me the entire time I was eating the mac & cheese. The portion, again, seemed larger than what I paid for. There were two really thick pieces of brisket in the to-go container. The brisket was very tender and just falling apart when I picked it up. There was a big peppery taste that you kind of expect with Texas style brisket but that really let the smoke come through. There was a small cup of BBQ sauce alongside the brisket which I used sparingly. It was a tasty sweet, smoky, and slightly spicy sauce.
To recap, BBQ really is the perfect COVID food. Daddy Pete’s BBQ has been around a couple of years now after getting their start in a food truck. BBQ is one of those things everyone thinks they can do themselves (including me) but when you find people who really know how to do it, it feels like putting a little slice of heaven in your mouth. I’m always so jealous of the people that can cook brisket right every time….Daddy Pete’s BBQ does just that.
SW Michigan Dining 