Pinkerton's BBQ: The First Sit-Down Halal BBQ Spot in Texas

Restaurant: Pinkerton's BBQ
Address: 1504 Airline Drive, Houston, TX
Buffet or a-la-carte: neither
Date of visit: 10/22/2017

UPDATE 3/19/18: They smoke separately and can cut separately as well on all days!

Background:
Salam/hey guys! Welcome to my latest review. This one is a special one. I am pleased to announce that we finally have a sit down BBQ spot in Houston after a 4 year wait. And this one was big. One closed down (now they reopened and do catering only), and the others do on specific days or catering events. This is a place where you can bring your family and friends, sit down, and eat BBQ. The place is in question is called Pinkerton's BBQ. Believe it or not, this place is regarded to have some of the best BBQ in the Houston area. This place was even considered to be in the top 100 restaurants in Houston by Houston Chronicle food critic Alison cook. Unreal stuff.
So how did all of this start? I got a notification from zabihah.com that Pinkerton's uses halal brisket from Creekstone about a few months ago. I messaged them, and they said that they were working on it. Since then, I was in contact with the owner. I wanted to go in the summer, but a roadblock hit. Prices at Creekstone went up significantly, and the owner wanted to wait until they came down to get the beef. Fast forward to last week, and my best friend shows me a message from one of his friends about Pinkerton's. It now said that you needed at least 24 hours notice. I message him and he said it would be best to come to the restaurant for separately smoked brisket on the weekends, and also early as they tend to run out! Amazing how they're willing to accommodate Muslim customers yet two other BBQ spots in the states said it was not possible to do! Hopefully, the wait would be worth it.



Let The Experience Begin!
Pinkerton's in located in the middle of the Heights on Airline Drive. It's located more to I-45 than it is to 610. I went twice so that I would get the idea of what to expect. So one day I went myself and the next day I brought a group of friends. On Saturday, it was packed! I had to wait for about 5 minutes for parking, but inside the line was thankfully not that long. I met the owner, who said that I was good regarding the smoked brisket! Afterwards, I went in line.
In the second day, I guided my friends in what to do (which is literally just get in line LOL)



Let's Eat!
The way it works is that you get in line and you get your sides and condiments first. They have onions, pickles, and jalapenos. You then have the option of getting sides. I got a potato salad. Then comes the main attraction: the meats. On the first day, I went for a half pound of some nice, fatty brisket. That's where I learned that you have to mention to the cutters that you want halal. They then bring out a freshly smoked brisket onto a clean cutting board with a clean knife. On the second day, I got the brisket as well, but then I learned that ALL their beef is halal (and has been verified many times). Wow. Just wow. So I got myself a chopped beef sandwich. How about that for a comeback after 4 years. There's no waiting time. They listen to what you want, and they give it to you. Definitely something needed since the line can be REALLY long.



Menu: http://www.pinkertonsbarbecue.com/menu/
Prices are literally like EVERY OTHER POPULAR TEXAS BBQ SPOT. I capitalized because the lack of understanding of the fact that BBQ prices are pretty high is one of the major reasons why halal Texas BBQ has failed in Houston. I honestly hope that this one will reverse that. I have provided the links of two popular BBQ spots (Franklin's in Austin and Killen's in Pearland), where you can click on the menu and see what the prices are (note that both use Creekstone, but DO NOT smoke separately from the pork).

Franklin's --> https://franklinbbq.com/menu

Killen's --> https://www.killensbarbecue.com/#menu


The food at Pinkerton's is literally like the ones are the above places. Just pick your sides and meats, and you're good to go! Just remember that only the beef is halal, and you must mention halal when getting your meats. Plenty of people have called them up and confirmed with them that the beef is halal, and everyone in my group asked them about halal and then got the meat.

Brisket cut in half. Pink doesn't mean blood. 

One pound of brisket with potato salad for two

Chopped Beef

The Verdict:
The four year wait was well worth it. The meat was so juicy and tasty. There was so much flavor in the moist brisket. The BBQ sauce was exceptional also. This was on both trips by the way. The majority of the folks with me really liked it (the folks who didn't like it were not beef fans), The food was washed down with a nice bottle of Mexican Coke.
Service was great. The people, including the owner, were incredibly nice.



Conclusion:
One of the top spots for Texas BBQ in Houston AND uses halal meat? You got yourself a customer! I'll definitely be back and I'll definitely bring my friends and family here. You guys should give this place a try if you want a taste of what Texas BBQ is!



Grading:
Food: 9/10
Service: 9/10
Total: 18/20 = 90% (A)
Pricing: $$$ out of $$$$



Restaurant Information
Pinkerton's BBQ
1504 Airline Drive, Houston, Texas
Phone: (713) 802-2000
Website: http://www.pinkertonsbarbecue.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Pinkertonsbarbecue/
Instagram: pinkertonsbbq
Timings: Mon-Tue: closed; Wed-Thu & Sun: 11 AM - 9 PM; Fri-Sat: 11 AM - 10 PM. I however suggest you guys go early on weekends since they tend to sell out!
Caters: yes

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or send me an email!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed

CLOSED: Silk Road Grill: Halal Uzbek Food in Southeast Texas

Restaurant: Silk Road Grill
Address: 9211 West Road, Houston, TX
Buffet or a-la-carte: a-la-carte
Date of visit: 10/10/17

UPDATE 11/16/18: This place has been closed for about a month

Background:
Salam/hey guys! I've been out for a while. School started again, and this time I work part time at the place where I interned last year. So time is really tough nowadays. I just go to places I've visited before to eat the food, and for the most part they hit the spot. Deciding where to go next was tough because I had limited time and it is at least an hour if I wanted to head to the Energy Corridor or Westheimer from Prairie View. So I decided to hit up this place after a few minutes of contemplation. I chose this place because it mainly had a new cuisine, though they serve traditional Mediterranean fare as well, and because it was only 10 minutes on my house and using one road to travel to it. Also, I wouldn't need to take any toll roads to get there, so it would be a lesser burden on me.
The new cuisine is the cuisine of Uzbekistan, a country in Central Asia. They have dishes that are common to other parts of Asia. Their bread is called non, similar to naan in the Subcontinent. They also have Samsa, which is similar to samosas and sambusak.


Let the Experience Begin!
Silk Road Grill is located at the intersection of Beltway 8 and West Road. It is a small area, but the inside looked nice. The menu was illuminated on screens behind the counter. The person however didn't even bother to say hello. Since this was a new cuisine I was trying, I already knew what I was going to order.



Let's Eat!
I ordered the traditional Uzbek plov. They have it available in two sizes: medium, and large. I ordered the medium. It turned out that it was the last one available for ordering at that time. I wasn't sure if it is because they make it in short supply due to people ordering the Mediterranean food more (honestly speaking, we should be more adventurous), or because they sell so much of it since it is the only place in the state to get authentic Uzbek food. Plov, or commonly pulao, is popular in many Central and South Asian countries. They vary based on what country you go to. For example, Pakistan has Yakhni pulao, which uses goat in flavorful rice. Afghanistan has Kabuli Pulao, where it is lamb shank with rice, raisins, and carrots. For plov in Uzbekistan, it is chunks of beef/lamb with rice, raisins, and chickpeas, and carrots. Here, they use lamb and it comes with Achick-Chuck salad (salad mainly consisting of onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers). I paid $11.90 (Tax included) for the dish. Wait time was 13 minutes. I just sat around and waited for the food to come.



Menu: they have a website, but I took pictures of it BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T BOTHER POSTING THE MENU PRICES ONLINE. For people like me who budget in order to write this blog and also not overspend, it's a frustrating thing to see. There were menu pics on Yelp, but I don't use them unless the prices there and the actual ones are the same. The only thing really worth noting is the fact that this place serves traditional Uzbek food. Otherwise, it just the basic Mediterranean fare.

Menu Part 1 (click to see)

Menu Part 2

Menu Part 3

The Plate

The Verdict:

My first experience with Uzbek food was a great one. The food was actually tasty. The lamb wasn't too dry, the rice had a lot of flavor, and the salad was very fresh. Though the plate was small, it was filling. Money well spent in my opinion.

Service however was really meh. The guy wasn't really that nice from start to finish. He seemed to have an attitude.

Conclusion:

While the food was good, I won't be returning until the service gets better. Such a shame that the food is good. One suggestion I would give is that you should consider doing the lunch specials with the Uzbek food as well, since this is also an Uzbek place and it would also give the customers more exposure to Uzbek cuisine at a lower price.

Grading:

Service: 5/10

Food: 8/10

Total: 13/20 = 65% (D)

Pricing: $$ out of $$$$

Restaurant Information: 

Silk Road Grill
9211 West Road, Houston, TX
Phone: (832) 912-4663
Website: http://www.silkroad-grill.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/silkroadgrill/
Email: silkroadgrilltx@gmail.com
Timings: Mon-Sat: 11 AM - 9 PM; Sun: closed
Caters: N/A

Feel free to comment below, send me a message on Facebook, or send me an email!

Cheers!
Zain Mohammed