Mark Graves/staff

Ribs from Raining BBQ and Grill in Beaverton



Portland’s Southwest suburbs used to be almost a smoke-free zone. Five years ago, rib-craving residents of the west side had only two options: Pine Shed Ribs in Lake Oswego and the Tigard branch of local chain Buster’s. But times have changed. In recent years, the region has seen a barbecue boom, with new restaurants and carts popping up between downtown Beaverton and Wilsonville. We tried every one we could find.

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BEAVERTON

Mariana's Food Cart

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Mark Graves/staff

Mariana's Food Cart

Kali Priscilla Matanane, a co-owner works at Marianas Food Cart in Beaverton.



In BG's Food Cartel, 4250 S.W. Rose Biggi Ave., Beaverton, marianasfoodcart.com. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday

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Ben Waterhouse, Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

Mariana's in BG's Food Cartel in Beaverton





Here's something completely different. This truck in downtown Beaverton's sprawling new cart pod, run by Bertina and Tommy Grajo, brings Chamorro (the native people of Guam) flavors to Washington County. The Grajos' menu shows how Spanish and American colonial influences have been blended into the island's cuisine, yielding combinations you won't find anywhere else: Lightly smoked, soy-marinated pork ribs and chicken thighs are served over red rice alongside crunchy lumpia, sweet stir-fried beef and chicken kelaguen, a spicy mix of shredded chicken and chile cooked with citrus.



Order this: The BBQ plate ($14) with chicken, a rib, kelaguen and beef, should be enough to fill anyone.

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P&S Premium Smokehouse

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Mark Graves/staff

P&S Premium Smokehouse

Patrick and Siri Freeman, owners of P & S Premium Smokehouse in Beaverton.

4810 S.W. Western Ave., Beaverton, premiumsmokehouse.com. Lunch Monday-Saturday.

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Kjerstin Gabrielson/staff

Ribs, brisket and pulled pork sandwich with cheesy mac and baked beans from P& Premium Smokehouse in Beaverton.



Patrick and Siri Freeman proudly serve what they call “family reunion-style bbq” from their silver truck, part of the impressive lineup in front of Beaverton’s Garage Sale Warehouse antique mall. Their ribs and pulled pork, slathered with a thick, sweet sauce spiked with vinegar and black pepper, should taste familiar to people who grew up in the southern Midwest: moist and aggressively flavored. Texas ‘cue fans will find the brisket cut far too thick. Sides here are great; don’t miss the “super cheezy” potatoes topped with cornflakes.

Order this: Half pulled pork combo ($8) with potatoes and baked beans

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Raining BBQ and Grill

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Mark Graves/staff

Raining BBQ and Grill

Orlando J. Cerralta, owner of Raining BBQ and Grill in Beaverton.



In BG's Food Cartel, 4250 S.W. Rose Biggi Ave., Beaverton, rainingbbqgrill.com. Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Monday

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Mark Graves/stafff

Brisket sandwich at Raining BBQ and Grill.





Orlando Cerralta serves up slabs of ribs, pulled pork sandwiches and whole grilled chickens to lunchtime crowds from this bright red trailer at BG's Food Cartel. The cheerful pitmaster draws from a variety of styles: His chicken resembles classic Sinaloan pollo asado, marinated in citrus and herbs, while his heavily sauced ribs and pulled pork are Kansas City-style, slathered in sweet, sticky sauce and served with fries. The pulled pork is over-sauced on its own, though a sandwich would go well with a beer from the bar in the food cartel. The ribs are excellent, smoky and dense but not dry, heavily seasoned but still porky.



Order this: A combo meal with two pieces of dark-meat chicken, two ribs, fries and pinto beans, ($10.99)

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HILLSDALE

Holy Smokes Righteous Eats

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Ben Waterhouse, Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

Holy Smokes Righteous Eats

3975 S.W. Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Portland, holysmokes.house. Lunch and dinner Sunday-Thursday, Lunch Friday

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Ben Waterhouse, Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

Holy Smokes Righteous Eats serves kosher barbecue in Hillsdale.





Steven Goldsmith is a man of science. The former dean of science and math at Mt. Hood Community College, who opened this cart on the edge of Hillsdale in October 2017, loves to experiment. He turns burnt ends into egg rolls and almond brittle, and says he's trying to invent a "Pacific Northwest-style brisket," rubbed with coffee and sage. Goldsmith is also a member of Southwest Portland's Congregation Neveh Shalom, so his barbecue is kosher and halal -- no pork or dairy here. By Goldsmith's reckoning, he's the only kosher meat vendor in the Pacific Northwest, and likely the only kosher pit master west of Austin. His signature brisket has a bright smoke ring and a rich flavor reminiscent of a New Orleans debris po'boy. Fittingly, it comes in a hoagie with lettuce, tomato, and pickled onions. Cinnamon-rubbed beef ribs in a thick, sweet sauce are a challenge to get your mouth around but worth the effort.



Order this: Rib plate ($18) with a side of fries dressed with smoked garlic and a honey gastrique

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LAKE OSWEGO

Pine Shed

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Michael Lloyd/staff

Pine Shed

The color from the wood seeps into his sausage and beef ribs at Pine Shed.



17730 Pilkington Road, Lake Oswego, pineshedribs.com. Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday.

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Michael Lloyd/staff

Orders up at Pine Shed in Lake Oswego.

This beloved Lake Oswego institution recently opened a second location in Bingen, Wash., but you can’t beat the original for style. The namesake pine shed, housing the kitchen and a bank of cabinet smokers, snuggles up to an old-school strip mall on the western edge of town. Walk two doors down to find a dining room offering a pleasant blend of Northwest nostalgia and Hill Country utility, with paper towel dispensers on the tables and a wood stove for heat. Pine Shed has 10 taps heavy on beers from Mt. Hood Brewing and the Columbia Gorge. The brisket, chicken and pulled pork are serviceable, but you’ll want to save room for the signature ribs, pink from smoke nearly all the way through with a thick black bark, right at the sweet spot between chewy and dry. The house sausage is also outstanding, with strong flavors of smoke and pepper and superb snap. And don’t skimp on the sides. The six-inch-tall cornbread is moist and sweet and needs no butter, and the beans are loaded with bits of brisket.

Order this: Quarter-rack of pork ribs with cornbread and beans ($14.95), plus a $5 pork link.

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TIGARD

Buster's Texas Style Barbecue

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Mark Graves/staff

Buster's Texas Style Barbecue

11419 S.W. Pacific Hwy, Tigard, bustersbarbecue.com. Open daily.

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Mark Graves/staff

The southwest branch of this local chain wants very badly to prove its Texas bona fides. Steer skins and paintings of cowboy boots adorn the walls and the booth are upholstered in rodeo-themed vinyl. Service is cafeteria style, with meats cut and weighed to order and sides scooped from a steam table. Avoid the dry, bland brisket in favor of the peppery, snappy sausage or serviceable ribs. The sauces all taste about the same. Water from the tap is lukewarm. But it’s easy to feed the family, if need be.

Order this: A full rack of ribs ($27.95) is your best bet for a crowd.

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Jeka's BBQ

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Mark Graves/staff

Jeka's BBQ

Kristin Storozhuk is an owner of Jekas BBQ in Tigard.



12825 S.W. Pacific Highway, Tigard, jekasbbq.com. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday

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Mark Graves/staff

You won’t find any old family recipes at Jeka’s. Pitmaster Eugene “Jeka” Storozhuk, who emigrated to Aloha from Ukraine at age 11, grew up grilling with his family. But when it comes to smoking, he’s entirely self-taught. “I watched lots of shows and videos; that’s where I really picked up the tricks and techniques.” For the past three years, Storozhuk has applied those tricks in the parking lot of a Mobil gas station on Pacific Highway, tending an eclectic lineup of meats in a massive black smoker, with a squirt bottle in one hand and tongs in the other. The results are eclectic. “We don’t have a style,” says Kristin Storozhuk, Eugene’s wife, who runs the retail side from a trailer parked alongside the smoker next to an impressive heap of firewood. Style or no, the results are worth a stop, wherever you’re going. Jeka’s intensely smoky chicken, coated in a salt-and-pepper bark and served chopped, is deservedly a top seller. Also excellent are the enormous spare ribs, bright pink from smoke and at once moist and tender, with a terrific balance of sweet and fat.

Order this: The three-rib ($13) or chopped chicken platter ($9) with beans and white rice, or a chicken sandwich ($5).

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Que'd

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Mark Graves/staff

Que'd

A variety platter from Que'd BBQ, 12215 SW Main St. ,Tigard.



12215 S.W. Main St.,Tigard, quedbbq.com. Lunch and dinner Friday-Saturday.



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Mark Graves/staff

Donna Raines, owner of Que'd



Donna Raines’ trailer, parked next to a smoke shop and arcade in downtown Tigard, is a family affair. Raines opened Que’d in July 2018 with her sister, Lisa, and daughter, Alexa, inspired by her husband’s decades of home barbecuing. The Raines’ meats are prepared in a pellet smoker housed in a small shed next to the cart, yielding a reliably moist product with a bright smoke ring and mild flavor. The ribs are attractive and tender, and the sausages have good snap. But the standouts on a recent visit were the fatty brisket with a rich salt-and-pepper bark and the pulled pork, a heap of tender shreds that tastes like essence of pig. The latter makes a great canvas for Raines’ lineup of condiments, including grilled and pickled onions, roast jalapeños, pineapple habanero sauce and lime crema.

Order this: Pulled pork sandwich ($10) with pickled onions and a side of slaw..

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The Butcher's Brother

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Ben Waterhouse, Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Butcher's Brother



Inside the Whole Foods at 7380 S.W. Bridgeport Road, Tigard. wholefoodsmarket.com/service/butchers-brother. Lunch and dinner daily.

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Ben Waterhouse, Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Butcher’s Brother is a subsection of the massive Whole Foods in the Bridgeport Village area, serving smoked meats and four taps of beer in a gated-off area by the frozen meats case. You order at the counter, then sit amid the shoppers to chow down. The menu lists calories, an unsettling feature when it comes to barbecue. The brisket tastes like roast beef, needing more time in the smoker -- not very smoky, but chewy and wet. The ”pulled” pork, served in large chunks, has generous bark but is underseasoned. Ribs are well-smoked with a chewy texture and nice bark. The condiment bar features a dozen bottled hot sauces and one housemade Kansas City-style sauce. Overall, this is an OK spot to pick up a couple pounds of barbecue for a weeknight dinner, but a very odd place to eat lunch.



Order this: Pulled pork sandwich, $8.99, or a rack of ribs to go.

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WILSONVILLE

Slick's Big Time BBQ

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Mark Graves/staff

Slick's Big Time BBQ

9425 S.W. Commerce Circle #14, Wilsonville, slicksbigtimebbq.com. Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday

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Mark Graves/staff

Slick's BBQ employee Brandon Toedtemeier cuts brisket and ribs at Slick's.



When Dan and Barbi Slick learned that their Newberg restaurant would be demolished to make way for the Newberg-Dundee Bypass in 2016, they wasted no time in picking up and moving 18 miles east. The new location is still right by a highway, in an industrial park on the northern edge of Wilsonville. In the dining room, ringed with autographed photos of musicians and athletes, men in yellow vests scrape the last bits of pulled pork from paper plates while ‘70s country plays on the stereo. The Slicks entered the barbecue game retail-first, with a line of low-sugar sauces, but they’ve learned the restaurant ropes pretty well. The best bets here are the outstanding competition-style ribs, soft and fatty with a near-overwhelming porkiness.

Order this: A full rack of ribs ($28) and a side of very beany baked beans ($2). On a budget? Try the pulled pork breakfast burrito ($5.95).



-- Ben Waterhouse



NOTE: This post has been updated to correct the name of the shopping center that's home to The Butcher's Brother.



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