Desi Vega's Smokehouse Tavern

One evening last fall we went to Desi Vega’s Steakhouse on the north shore and got an interesting bit of information with our dinner. We were told by the owner (Desi’s name is licensed here) about a new restaurant set to open in January in a large empty space in Mandeville. It would be called Desi Vega’s Smokehouse and Tavern. 

This was so exciting for us for at least two reasons. We love barbecue anything. And we love to see renovations, especially of long-vacated places. But mostly, we always need more places to go in our small orbit on the north shore. We eat out nearly every meal.

They did not make it for January, as so often is the case. When they opened on February 27th, we were among the first in the door. We couldn’t go for the very first meal, at lunch, because Mary Leigh had to cancel. We went for dinner that first night. For all of his career, Tom cautioned against going to new restaurants, but ML and I are notorious for this. And now Tom is riding with me.

Besides, I can't imagine why an experienced restaurateur would open the doors without the place being ready. Especially with a name like Desi Vega. I felt safe.

We walked into a very handsome space everywhere we looked. This is no barbecue joint. The darkish bar is the first room you see, and the other two are quite different in vibe. The space where cooking takes place is happening, bright, and busy. The room with sumptuous booths is more low-key. We sat there.

This is ultra-classy barbecue: nice heavy silverware, cloth napkins, glasses I want, cast iron skillets, carafes. The menu is enormous and really interesting. After five visits, we still haven’t gotten the signature menu item. It is called the Piggy Powerline, and it is gimmicky, though definitely fun. Thick slices of bacon hang from a contraption with clothespins. Also pinned on the powerline is smoking rosemary, though I have no idea why. I do know that it sometimes throws off such a strong scent I thought it was like incense in church. 

On our first visit, we had to control ourselves, and that was hard. The cornbread that comes to the table arrives in an adorable cast iron skillet. It is cornbread perfection. Yellow, soft with a touch of grit, and a rich flavor. It is drizzled with bacon butter. Yes, I said bacon butter.

We got cheese fries and nachos as apps, and a two-meat platter with ribs and pulled pork. We would normally get brisket on a barbecue plate but we chose brisket as the meat for the nachos. On the platter, we got two other meats, and our sides were mac’n’cheese and collard greens. On this first visit, the most interesting thing about this platter was the little silicon brush that came with the barbecue sauces.

The pulled pork was completely uninteresting. It wasn’t especially flavorful, and it had an unappealing texture. The ribs could have been softer, but they had a nice flavor. We liked these okay. The collard greens were fine but nothing special, and the mac’n’cheese was also just fine. Very creamy, this is not a style of this dish that we especially like. Overall, this first meal was unpromising. It completely validated Tom’s admonition to wait until there is time to tweak what needs tweaking. 

I counter that idea with the notion that anyone, especially restaurateurs of Desi Vega’s stature, should know what they are doing before unlocking the doors for customers. It was clear that a lot needed tweaking here. Our fries were fresh cut, but unevenly fried and a tad greasy. The nachos were a gloppy mess. I don’t know how anyone could think fried wonton wrappers are hefty enough to support the weight of nachos. This needs total reworking, in my opinion.

All of the meat needed more flavor and seemed tough and dry.

This first visit was a little discouraging but by no means a dealbreaker. These are experienced restaurateurs. They would fix it. We left still delighted that we would have a handsome place with a lot of buzz as a new hangout.

Our next visit was a Saturday lunch. This time we tried the onion rings, pizza, and a platter with chopped brisket and sausage. The sides this time were coleslaw and baked beans.

The pizza was so far off the mark that it was shelved in my mind for a while. We ordered a pepperoni pizza. It was Neopolitan style, but the crust was way too thick. On the plus side, the sparse pepperoni was the large style, and the mozzarella was regular American and not mozzarella di bufala, the melted circles with a weird texture.

We are not fans of large onion rings, usually, but these might have been the best onion rings we have ever encountered. There was something different about them, and I do mean that in the very best sense. The batter was nearly cake-like, but they were crispy. The sauce, called Smokehouse Fancy Sauce, (which is a great name, because this is definitely a fancy smokehouse,) is exceptional and quite addictive. These were absolutely wonderful.

On our second platter, our luck was no better. We got chopped brisket, which was a little tough and still devoid of the proper flavor, and the sausage, which had the same traits, in addition to being unappealing to the eye. It was too wide in circumference for my taste and an odd color.

We had much better luck with the sides this time. The coleslaw is very good and the baked beans extraordinary. We loved both of these, especially the smokehouse beans. I tried the chili on this visit. It was fine but nothing exceptional, with too much “stuff” like pickled things and sour cream to really taste the chili. ML and I both felt the brisket had benefitted from immersion in liquid for a while. It was more tender than anything we had had here so far.

Our third visit was with friends mere days later. We were almost embarrassed to show up so soon, but our friends wanted to try it, so I didn’t tell them it was our third visit. The third time was the charm.

They wanted to try the wings. And we got sandwiches and split them. I had earlier been admonished by a caller that I needed to have the sliced, not chopped brisket, and I had to get the red beans. Our sides with the sandwiches were potato salad and red beans. The sandwiches were a hamburger and the Porkdipper, which was a combination Cubano and French Dip.

Everything we got on that visit was great. The wings were not too large and bloated, as such things usually are. They were flash-fried with no batter. The flavor was great by itself. They were buffalo wings, with the usual accompaniments. The ranch dressing was great, and the vegetables were pickled.

I loved the pork sandwich. It was pressed on French bread, with roasted pork spewing out. I didn’t taste a lot of mustard or pickles so it was a weak Cubano, but this was a delicious sandwich and the pork au jus for dipping was so good I took what was left home for the doggie. It was rich and very flavorful.

The burger was way better than I remember having at Desi’s burger place in Harahan. It was exceptionally good. I can’t wait to have it again. The potato salad was approved by our friends, who love potato salad. I don’t really, and this one had a little too much crunch for me and was too yellow. The red beans, on the other hand, were so exceptional I would come back on a Monday and have them as Monday red beans. And I asked for a slice of brisket to try it. That’s the ticket. It was terrific. A great smoke ring. Terrific salty smoky barbecue brisket flavor, with a lovely slab of glistening fat.

Tom and I returned for dinner shortly after, and this time got the sliced brisket, with red beans and coleslaw as the sides. The red beans were again sensational. I found the brisket to be delicious, but I was disappointed in the size of the portion, and the amount of fat in it. I am a bigger fan of animal fat than most, but at $28 I expected more actual meat. A caller expressed that same sentiment on the Food Show a few days later.

On an adjacent table, there was a pizza, which appeared to have been considerably tweaked. I will try this soon. I hope the mozzarella di bufala I saw on it has not replaced all mozzarella here.

At another lunch we worked further through the menu, getting the meatballs and garlic bread for an appetizer, and the gumbo.

I have said it a million times before: the single meatball at Desi Vega’s Steakhouse is the best amuse-bouche out there, and a bowl of them is pure bliss. Besides the delicious marinara that generously coats them, the meatballs themselves are what I think all meatballs should be. They break up as soon as the fork approaches them. It’s a generous portion at $10, and it is served with an unremarkable slice of ordinary toasted Italian bread whose garlic flavor was faint at best. Despite that, I needed something to mop up “Miss Barbara’s” sauce. The waiter informed me there would be a dollar charge for more. I was annoyed at that, but glad the waiter told me. That’s rare.

Someone told me on the Food Show that the meatloaf was great, so I tried it. At $28, Tom and I split it, and we ordered the fried chicken sandwich and fries. The gumbo ML ordered was very good, though not as dark as she likes, and a little thicker. I thought it was great. 

When the meatloaf arrived, I was impressed, This was a glamorous dish. It was served over delicious mashed potatoes and had a Marchand De Vin Sauce over it. The meatloaf itself was tender. All this was topped with one of those unusual and unusually fantastic onion rings.

The fried chicken sandwich was intense. Extremely thick in coating, and very spicy, ML said she tasted sort of a Middle Eastern spice on it. I agreed, and though it was quite pepper-hot, I liked it well enough. The housemade pickles offset it nicely. The fries had improved, but we still don’t like them. It might be that we just don't care for the kind of potato they are using.

Everyone at the place couldn’t be nicer or more helpful. We are simply delighted to have Desi Vega’s Smokehouse Tavern in our dining rotation, and we expect it to get better and better. Now, if only we can get over being embarrassed at going so often.