Last night we were invited to experience the new menu at Mabel’s Bar & Q in the Palms. If you’re new to this restaurant, then you may have heard of Chef Michael Symon. He was in attendance at the restaurant and responsible for all the deliciousness of the night.
As someone who grew up in the South, I am very particular about my BBQ. And quite honestly, I’ve had a difficult time finding good pulled pork and brisket here in Vegas.
I was hopeful, but still apprehensive based on how terrible my BBQ experience has been in Vegas.
There were two starters we got to try. First up were the shishito peppers tossed with lime and smoked sea salt. I don’t feel like you could really taste the lime, but these were still really good.
And there were an insane amount of peppers for the serving. Chicken tenders were the other starter we got to try.
The chicken tenders came out with visible freshly grated Parmesan on them and they also had truffle hot honey on them.
It’s hard to go wrong with anything truffle related or hot honey, and these were so good. Not as spicy as the shishito peppers, but they were perfect together.
The “first course” of our tasting was just this massive tray of BBQ’d meats. Honestly it was insane – both in quantity and deliciousness.
The meats were:
- Pulled pork
- Brisket
- Ribs
- Wings
Sides that came with all this meat were:
- Rolls
- Mac & Cheese
- Pit beans
- Poppyseed coleslaw
- Pickles and pickled onions
- Raw veg (celery and radishes) with ranch dip
I feel like I need to take a moment to recognize this mac & cheese that was so freaking good because it has mascarpone in it.
Every single thing on this tray was amazing. The pulled pork passed my “raised in the South” test, the ribs were juicy, the brisket was perfectly Texas-style, and I don’t normally like wings but they were great. The only thing missing was a Texas-style sausage (not that I needed any additional meats!).
All ridiculously good.
And as if this wasn’t enough food, the “second course” was a tray of burgers and sandwiches with house-cut fries. Four full-size burgers and sandwiches.
This was:
- Classic burger (with mayo)
- Blue cow burger (with blue cheese)
- Spicy chicken sandwich
- Crispy cod sandwich
I don’t normally go for blue cheese, but that burger was my favorite. Followed up by the crispy cod sandwich. And the house-cut fries were great.
By this point, I was so full that I couldn’t eat much of the burgers or sandwiches…mostly because I went all in on the BBQ tray. And also because I had two of the hi-octane cherry Cokes (with Old Crow bourbon) from the bar.
Honestly, I don’t make a habit of going to restaurants in casinos, but I can see myself making an exception for Mabel’s BBQ.
Hands down the best BBQ I’ve had in Vegas. And I’ve had a lot of really terrible BBQ in this city.