2 Jerks BBQ

If you're a hardcore barbecue geek, you get all excited when you see a working smoker right at the front of a restaurant. Well, I am that hardcore barbecue geek, so I couldn't wait to try Two Jerks Barbecue in Raynham.

The two jerks behind Two Jerks BBQ are Chris and John  DePalma, they are brothers, the thing is they're not jerks at all they're really into southern hospitality.

“Good barbecue takes time. A lot of people don't understand the labor that goes into it. We smoke meats for up to 16 hours, and we got to let that meat rest for half as long as it's smoked.”

Look at that St. Louis style rib. It is cooked low and slow on that oak wood… and they've done, to me, what is the ultimate in barbecue, It's that tender flavor that takes a little bit of effort to pull off the bone.

“Here at 2 Jerks, we don't want the meat to fall off the bone. We want you to be able to bite into it, pull back and be able to see your teeth marks. You're still gonna get that juicy, tender rib, but fall off the bones just overcooked.”

I think the truest test of a barbecue chef is the brisket, because it just takes so much time and expertise. Here they will smoke it for 16 hours, then let it rest for eight hours so the meat and the flavor really render on the inside of it, and then the bark develops on the outside of it. I'm telling you, this is BBQ nirvana.
“You get umami when you taste brisket. It's, you get the fattiness, you get the salt, you get the pepper, you get the juiciness. Brisket’s king."

When you come to Two Jerks, I don't care if you're here by yourself or with a party of 10, I demand you order the whole pit.

“You can grab a one meat, two meat, three meat. Or what I would do is get the whole pit. It's a sample of everything that we do here.”

“The Whole Pit includes a half rack of ribs, a half pound of brisket, a half pound of pulled pork, one of our house made sausage links, a half rotisserie chicken and four 16 ounce sides.”
“You got to try this.”

I absolutely love chicken wings, but I like to really taste the chicken, and I love the way they do them here, they barbecue and then fry it and they put it in a dry rub. You can get sauce if you want, but I prefer the dry rub version.

The poutine here is serious fusion cuisine, and I mean combining Canada and Texas. They make theirs with tater tots, they add some gravy, scallions, cheese curd and what's really cool about this dish is you can decide which meat you want to top it off with.

When you think about it, a pastrami sandwich really makes a lot of sense at a barbecue restaurant, because you really need a lot of time and skill to make that pastrami just right at two jerks, they have an entire section dedicated to pastrami sandwiches.

“Pastrami is a labor of love. Our pastrami is brined for 14 days, then we dry it for two days, then we rub it, and then we smoke it for about 12 hours, and then steam it to order. “

“The kimchi Reuben is a play on a regular Reuben… You get the spicy sourness from the kimchi, the richness and the smokiness from the pastrami, and then you get the creaminess from the 1000 Island dressing. Just all works together.”

I have been praying that a restaurant would offer both a South Shore bar pie and a North Shore roast beef sandwich, and the food gods have finally answered my prayers.

The North Shore roast beef sandwich here is a little bit different than what you might be used to. It's not made with roast beef. It features their famous smoked brisket. They add cheese and mayo and in a real tribute, instead of using their own house made barbecue sauce, they use James River barbecue sauce. You North Shore people know what I'm talking about.

Most chefs love to brag that they drew inspiration from a trip to the French Riviera or the Amalfi Coast. Chef John is maybe the only cook I've ever met who brags that he draws some inspiration from fast food.

There’s a Taco Bell right down the street, but I advise you drive right on by come into two jerks barbecue and try their supreme crunch wrap.

“I love fast food. Taco Bell, big place for inspiration. It's just like having a crunch wrap at Taco Bell. You got the crunchy interior, the soft exterior, and the creaminess from the queso and the cheese and that signature warm Taco Bell lettuce.”

“We do a play on a famous bowl. It's mashed potatoes, a peppercorn medley that we roast, some cheddar cheese, we fry up some chicken tenders, cut them up and throw some brown gravy on it, and it's just like a famous bowl from KFC.”

“Colonel's got nothing on our famous bowl.”

Contrary to what you might have heard, this restaurant is not named after the Andelman brothers, but I do want to bring Danny in here, sit at the bar, have some beers and ribs at Two Jerks Barbecue in Raynham.