Featured
Smoke show: Duke City BBQ serves up backyard barbecue in ABQ
Published
Modified
Duke City BBQ keeps things streamlined with its 鈥渂ackyard barbecue鈥� style.
Patrons can expect consistent menu offerings with fall off the bone pork spareribs ($9.25 per half pound), succulent smoked half chicken ($8.50) and turkey ($10.25 per half pound), and flavorful sides like cream corn ($3.25 single, $6.25 pint) made in-house and loaded baked potatoes. A spicy barbecue sauce with just the right amount of a red chile kick is the ideal condiment. A tangy barbecue sauce is also available for guests who prefer more zing than heat at the restaurant located at 5500 San Mateo Blvd. NE. It is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. A full menu is available at .
Smoke show: Duke City BBQ serves up backyard barbecue in ABQ
Co-owner Esteban Quezada took to smoking meats when the pandemic brought many things to a standstill.
鈥淒uring COVID, I started doing a lot of like smoking,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淚 fell in love with the smoking game. I like the process, the flavor, I like experimenting with new stuff. And then I just noticed that there weren鈥檛 many sit down barbecue spots in town. There鈥檚 quite a bit of food trucks. I figured I鈥檓 going to start a little sit down and add a little something different.鈥�
The brisket comes lean and patrons will appreciate the more meat than fat ratio. Guests can also expect pulled pork that is tender and not greasy. A mustard vinegar sauce accompanies the pulled pork.
鈥淭he briskets are trimmed pretty well,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淭hey are (seasoned with) a very dry rub and we normally cook them for anywhere between nine to 14 hours. It just kind of depends on the type of brisket, the size, some cook quicker than others. And we do like to rest them for a little bit just to kind of let them come down to temperature on their own. And then on the pulled pork, those generally are 12 to 14 hour cooks as well.鈥�
Duke City BBQ recently added pork belly to its menu.
鈥淲e pair it with our spicy barbecue sauce and a classic barbecue and it鈥檚 just oh my god, it鈥檚 like candy,鈥� Quezada said of the pork belly. 鈥淲e鈥檒l do a dry rub first and then we鈥檒l go ahead and toss it in the pan and cover it with both of our barbecue sauces. And then we鈥檒l bring that up to temperature, let it boil, kind of get it to stick for a little bit, and then we will offer that with the sandwiches, the combos, the rice bowls and the stuffed potatoes.鈥�
Rib lovers flock to Duke City BBQ for its giant Dino Beef Ribs ($25 per pound) that are served on weekends. It is served as a half rack with six ribs, each weighing one to two pounds per bone.
鈥淭he Dino ribs, we only run them on the weekends because they are kind of pricey,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 take as long as the brisket, those are generally like a seven to eight hour cook. We usually sell out of them on the weekends.鈥�
Duke City BBQ also offers pork spareribs daily at $9.25 per half pound.
鈥淭he pork spare ribs uses a different rub than our other meats,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淭hat one is more sweet. It might be the brown sugar. A lot of people use honey. I don鈥檛 use it because right now there鈥檚 a lot of people that can鈥檛 have honey. We try to think of people when we鈥檙e doing the recipes. 鈥�
Quezada also takes gluten-free diets into consideration.
鈥淭here are a lot of gluten-free people that frequent the restaurant because we do offer a lot of gluten-free stuff,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥�... Our barbecue sauces are made in-house and we have a base that we use. We add our own ingredients to a profile that we like. Right now, we only have two. We have a classic barbecue. It鈥檚 kind of a sweet, tangy barbecue and then we have a spicy barbecue that has that little kick to it. And we are working on a third one, like a more hickory smoky one.鈥�
Popular sides include the cream corn ($3.25 single, $6.25 pint), which includes a bit of sugar and cream cheese, and the coleslaw ($2.99 single, $5.75 pint) made with tropical fruits.
鈥淥ur coleslaw, I think it鈥檚 a little different,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淥ur coleslaw has pineapple, mango and cranberry.鈥�
Duke City BBQ offers several sausages that are made in-house.
鈥淲e have the regular cheddar ($7.99) and then we have a green chile (pepper jack) and the jalape帽o (cheddar),鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淥ur green chile sausage has been the favorite one, so we鈥檝e been going through that one like crazy.鈥�
The Jalape帽o Torpedo is a great starter or ending to a meal.
鈥淓verybody loves our jalape帽o torpedoes,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a Texas Twinkie, pretty much. It鈥檚 a whole jalape帽o stuffed with cream cheese, pulled pork, wrapped in bacon and then glazed with our special barbecue sauce.鈥�
A jalape帽o prepared as a torpedo is also featured on the 505 Stuffed Potato ($11.75). A regular stuffed potato with a choice of meat, sour cream and cheese is also available ($10.75).
鈥淭he 505 has sour cream, butter, cheese, beans, green chile and then a torpedo on top,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淎 lot of people are kind of freaked out. They鈥檙e like, what鈥檚 a torpedo? It鈥檚 a jalape帽o. And some people deep-fry them and some people just put them on a flattop. Ours are deep-fried and then we put them on a flat top and then we put them in a soy sauce and salt mixture.鈥�
Duke City BBQ is well-rounded with sandwiches with choice of meat that range from $8.99 to $9.99, meat combos ranging from $9.25-$24.99, and desserts including banana pudding ($3.49), tres leches pudding ($3.49) and Rice Krispies treats ($2.29).
鈥淲e like to think of it as, we cook with a lot of love,鈥� Quezada said. 鈥淲e love the food and we love what we do.鈥�
