When I first heard Eric Clapton sing, “Going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side” in the Cream classic “Crossroads,” I was sure he was singing about barbeque. My grandfather lived just north of Kansas City, and when I visited from Chicago, we would drive even farther south to Rosedale BBQ, his favorite joint in that whole BBQ mecca. The taste of those ribs and the smell of the hickory smoke that permeated both the pork and the air around the little brick building settled happily into my eight year-old soul. Since moving to Cleveland, I’ve been jonesing for some real barbeque, getting to the point where I’d sell my soul to the devil to get it. Watch our video of Fat Casual BBQ here.
Soul-selling always occurs at a crossroads. Rumor had it that real barbeque was to be had at Fat Casual BBQ, located at the crossroads of E Highland Rd and Highway 8 in Macedonia. With great hope and just a bit of fear, I drove south on 271 with my directions from Google maps riding by my side. Not having ever driven to Macedonia, and with my mind preoccupied with carnivorous daydreams, I drove for quite a while. Finally, I had to admit I was lost (much easier to admit, it turns out, without a companion and when pork ribs are waiting on you). I stopped, turned around and drove back north, finally finding my destination. It turns out you have to go north to get to this deliciously authentic taste of the South. Quite literally, in fact.
“Yeah, after they finished redoing the highway, the exit changed to get to us. But none of the maps have changed yet,” explained Fat Casual BBQ co-owner Scott Slagle. “You have to exit on Hwy 8 North and then go south to get to us.” Devilish.
Fat Casual BBQ has only been open since late 2010, but word is quickly getting around that Scott and his partner-in-barbeque-crime Walter Hyde are bringing the real deal to the Cleveland-area, and not just one kind of barbeque. Scott and Walter are dedicated to bringing the varied tastes of America’s greatest contribution to the culinary world, barbeque, to northern Ohio: the taste of Kansas City, with its wet mopping of sweet sauce during smoking; the taste of Texas, with its dry, peppery spice rubs and focus on beef brisket; and the taste of the Carolinas, with its vinegary pulled pork often topped with a nest of coleslaw.
“We aren’t trying to be the best in the nation,” Scott declared, “but we do want to bring the best from each region home to Ohio.”
Scott and Walter have known each other for over a dozen years. Scott spent many years in the catering business and Walter cooked in some of the best restaurants in the area. Their combined experience has an enormous impact on what they serve: not only do they have slow-cooked food ready to be served within minutes (their name is a goof on the “fast casual” trend), but the innovative dishes they have on their menu, and the balance they have in each of those dishes, are exceptional.
Sure, they have ribs here, and the pink smoke ring that comes from eight hours of napping above a bed of smoldering hickory is so pronounced that in some places the ring on the bottom of the rib kisses the ring on the top of the rib that will make you pucker with happiness (real barbeque is, after all, a labor of love). And yes, they have brisket, and house-made sausage, and a basic but completely addictive mac and cheese. But they also have a completely unique warm sweet potato salad that is a lovely riff on German potato salad, complete with celery, red onion and bacon all happily bathed in vinegar and honey. Or, if fried potatoes are more your thing, try the deep fried potato salad, which is like taking french fries and plunging them into a dunk tank of peppery mayo. Or perhaps you wish for an homage to Cleveland itself—thus the smoked corned beef sandwich called the Highlander. There can be only one, and this is the place to get it.
This is also the place to go if you like chefs who know where every ingredient comes from. Go beyond what they make in-house, which includes all eight sauces and wickedly good Cajun potato chips, and you’ll find the raw honey is from Kirtland, the pickles are from Garretsville, the pork is from Sandusky, and the wood is from Scott’s front yard. Seriously. “I have a buddy who has a tree service. Whenever he takes down a tree he thinks we can use, he leaves it in my front yard. I check the tree out and make sure it is not diseased. Then I split it for us to use.” This takes the locavore concept to an entirely new level: chef meets lumberjack.
Scott and Walter have worked together off and on for over a dozen years. They are at the point of familiarity where sentences are not just finished by one for the other, but even predicted. They have enough shared history that one will just toss out a phrase to prompt the other to start a story.
“So, the deep fried potato salad,” Walter tosses into the hickoried air.
Scott smiles, “Yeah, I was working late, about 10:30 at night and the idea hit me: deep fried potato salad–“
“He texted me: deep fried potato salad,” Walter interjects. “I texted back, ‘Stop!’ Who knew what else he was trying.”
“You have to admit that dish has a ‘wow factor'” (a phrase Scott likes to use about when they have a dish, some tested 30 different ways, just right).
“Yeah,” Walter rebuffs, “but who knows what else he tried to make that we’ve never heard about!”
Scott and Walter are joined at Fat Casual BBQ by Walter’s son and Scott’s Mom (his Mom bought him his first smoker—she deserves all of our thanks). They all love what they do, and it shows. Rather than making a facsimile of a barbeque joint like so many chains do, they have created a restaurant built on hickory smoke, food ordered at a counter, vinyl tablecloths that barbeque sauce can’t penetrate, and a passion for the patient art of barbequing. They even smell like barbeque guys.
“Remember that girl at the store that I thought liked me?” Walter asks Scott. “I finally noticed she was always smelling my coat when she hugged me.” This aroma Walter’s son has dubbed “Calvin Klein Alpha Male.”
It turns out, by the way, that Cream’s version of Crossroads is based on a sampling of the much older Robert Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” and “Crossroad Blues,” the latter of which tells the tale of his meeting the devil. Eric and the boys were just taking the best of what they found in classic Southern blues and bringing it to the rest of us. Scott and Walter are doing the very same with barbeque for those of us lucky enough to live in Cleveland: bringing the best of barbeque from the South to our very own crossroads.
Watch the video of Fat Casual BBQ by Cool Cleveland Cuisine columnist Alan Block here.
Fat Casual BBQ is located at 223 E. Highland Road in Macedonia. Call 330-748-4690 or visit http://FatCasualBBQ.com for more info. Hours are Wed & Thu 11AM-8PM, Fri & Sat 11AM-10PM and Sun 11AM-6PM. Closed Mon & Tue.
Alan Block chose to move to Cleveland in 2006. He spends much of his free time seeking out great food in our region. To pay the food bills, he works at University Hospitals as the IT Service Desk manager. He has previously authored two food blogs, the Bacon Loving Heathen and the Cleveland Epicure, as well as the Eat, Drink, Repeat food newsletter. He welcomes your suggestions of cool food and drink destinations at cleveland.epicureATgmail.com.
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