BBQ City: Joanne Kates picks the sides to go with TO’s top BBQ

Joanne tucked into sides from these ballyhooed BBQ joints, choosing the top southern classics

Joanne Kates tucked into sides from these ballyhooed BBQ joints, choosing the top options to go with the southern classics.

1st place: Primo potato (A)
Piri piri potato salad is hot spicy, wonderful with crunchy fried onions and lightly pickled chayote.
Barque, $6

Runner up: Best batons (B)
I hardly expected to like deep-fried pickles. Am shocked to confess that the crunch of these ungreasy slices along with their house-made creamy piquant buttermilk Ranch is my new guilty pleasure.
Buster Rhino’s, $4

Capital slaw (C)
Marvellous coleslaw, trad with more bite than usual.
The Stockyards, $5

Bean bonanza (D)
They do fab brisket ’n’ beans: Tender brisket chunks with red beans in sauce with just enough heat, sweet and smoke.
Stack, $4

Brilliant bread (E)
Sweet, moist cornbread with fab lard “butter.”
Smoque N’ Bones, $3.90

Slaw-fully good (F)
Skip the potato salad. Too much mayo, tastes like a church basement potluck + chilies. But we love their slaw, trad but much more finely wrought, not so vinegary as most.
Electric Mud BBQ, $3.50

Pickle perfection (G)
The deep-fried panko-crusted asparagus and pickle chips are surprisingly yummy, not at all greasy.
Baju BBQ, $5

Packin’ heat (H)
Pleasant BBQ corn with a good char, and interesting red cabbage slaw with a strong dose of heat.
AAA Bar, $4

A grand match (I)
Nicely eggy potato salad.
Big Crow, $7

Cornbread chops (J)
Their claim to fame is meat, but the trad slaw with caraway is better than everybody else’s, as is the super-moist cornbread with jazzy jalapeno butter.
The Carbon Bar, $5

Want more of our meaty coverage of the city’s best southern-style smoked food? Check out the rest of the BBQ City stories below:

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