At Michelin-starred Texas BBQ restaurant’s new Portland outpost, smoked beets — yes, beets

If Lil' Barbecue can dial in its brisket, it becomes Portland's best barbecue restaurant overnight.

Have you tried the beets at Lil’ Barbecue? You really should. Smoked, fried, then tossed in jammy barbecue sauce, each little piece has the baggy looseness of baked apples, with a vanishing crispness that dissolves into earthbound sweetness on the tongue.

These “beet ends” — the name hinting at Kansas City’s famed caramelized brisket tips — might seem like an odd place to start a barbecue review. But the beets are among the best things to eat at Lil’ Barbecue, a fine addition to Portland’s plant-based barbecue canon and a good gateway for a restaurant that could end up lifting the local barbecue scene to new heights.

Strong praise? Well, before we get carried away, let’s spray a little cold water on Portland’s expectations for Lil’ Barbecue, which opened inside Northeast Portland’s Tough Luck bar last October as a sister to Austin’s Michelin-starred La Barbecue. Given the Lone-Star lineage, diners were probably right to expect the kind of revelatory meats found at Austin’s trailblazing Franklin Barbecue or newcomers such as Fort Worth’s Goldee’s or Lockhart’s Barbs B Q.

A prickly pear margarita with a tajin rim at Lil' Barbecue.

Instead, the fully loaded tray I tucked into on a sunny afternoon last November was … fine. Competent, certainly. But the pulled pork was dry. And no one could have called the brisket — that traditional benchmark for Texas-style barbecue — Portland’s best. What did it say about Lil’ Barbecue that smoked chicken was the clear highlight on the day?

Six months and a few return visits later, Lil’ Barbecue has improved, as you might expect. Chicken thighs, the early star, continue to shine. Same for the pork ribs, neatly trimmed and generously seasoned with pepper and salt to about the same degree that sand coats wet legs at the beach, then lacquered near the finish with barbecue sauce. The rib meat slips from the bone without being remotely mushy.

The healthy schmear of yellow mustard on Lil' Barbecue's double-pattied brisket trim burger is sure to please wandering Whataburger fans.

Other Portland barbecue restaurants could learn a thing or two from Lil’ Barbecue’s sausage, its snappy casing and heady garlic spice evoking Central Europe as much as Central Texas. Links can come on their own or as a “sausage dawg” with various toppings looming above a little potato bun, like a mother cradling her large adult son.

But strangely enough, Lil’ Barbecue’s brightest spots so far have been the specials and sides: Those beets. The mochi-ish cubes of squishy-crisp “tater tots” — “It’s deep-fried potato salad,” our helpful server said. The pepper-smoked chicken wings doused in Buffalo sauce, priced to sell at $10 for 10 wings on Wednesdays. The juicy, mustard-slathered, double-pattied brisket burger that I finished single-handedly in the midst of an already excessive barbecue feast.

Oregonians are rightly protective of our state’s most famous reconstituted potato-scrap creation, but Lil’ Barbecue’s “tater tots” — while not particularly tot-like — are at least interesting (I like them; your mileage may vary). Meanwhile, the creamy mac and cheese, zippy coleslaw, meaty beans and Caesar-ish salad are all better than the average barbecue side. Still, save a little room in the caloric tank for the finish: The banana pudding — one of two frequent desserts, including a sweet cream kolache — is the best I’ve ever had.

Tough Luck was already a fun hang, open seven days a week with a smart selection of draft beer and impressive cocktails, including seasonal prickly pear margaritas, briny Bloody Marys and daiquiris made with a house “funky rum blend.” There are comfy booths along the walls and a few TVs up high, making this one of the few good restaurants in Portland where you can catch the game. After adding new leather-bound menus and a few new lightbox signs, Lil’ Barbecue already feels like it’s been there for years.

A follow-up tray loaded with specials, sides and sandwiches was more successful than the barbecue alone.

No, I haven’t had life-changing brisket at Lil’ Barbecue yet. But barbecue is notoriously temperamental, with so much depending on everything from the wood to the weather. The mechanics are there, though. Leftovers, if you manage to bring any home, show off the smoky depths that owner Ben Vaughan and his team coax into their meats, especially that surprising chicken. We can give the Texans a pass on their pulled pork. If they can dial in the brisket, this becomes the city’s best barbecue restaurant overnight.

The Holy Matrimony at Lil Barbecue, featuring all the meats, all the sides, pickles and Texas toast for $75 enough to feed a small family, our critic found.

Details: Lil’ Barbecue is open from 3 to 11 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 3 p.m. to midnight Friday; noon to midnight Saturday; and noon to 11 p.m. Sunday (happy hour 9 p.m. to close daily) inside Tough Luck bar; 1771 N.E. Dekum St.; 971-754-4188; toughluckbar.com.

Recommended: For first-timers, The Holy Matrimony offers a chance to try “all the meats, all the sides, pickles and Texas toast” for $75 — enough to feed a small family. On returning, focus on the chicken thighs, sausage, pork ribs, beet ends (most $13–$18 per half-pound), “tater tots” and other well-executed barbecue sides. The burger ($12) and sausage dawgs ($8–$10) are worthwhile. Leaving room for banana pudding ($8) is non-negotiable.

Vegetarian options: ...are decent enough for a barbecue restaurant, with a veggie burger and several meat-free sides joining the signature beet ends.

Accessibility: Tough Luck and its restrooms sit on a single level, with two rows of cafe tables tucked between the booths bracketing the dining room.

Public transportation: TriMet bus line 75 stops directly in front of the restaurant.