Day: June 7, 2016

BoSa Donuts, Phoenix, AZ

Yelp will tell you a couple of salient facts about the particular BoSa I went to:

  1. It’s open 24 hours.
  2. The staff is surly.

Other facts float around in there, an accolade for their buttermilk donuts and a general positive regard. But on the whole: It’s always open and nobody likes the counter person.

People still want donuts at 10 pm, so they have to come here
People still want donuts at 10 pm, so they have to come here

As predicted, we are reviewing the environment and not the doughnuts: The counter person delivered single-word responses whenever possible with a completely flat facial affect, meaning the facial expression of a face at rest. She made no effort to engage in human interaction or discretionary conversation. It was kind of like ordering doughnuts from a command line prompt – which I am okay with. In fact, this lady has the same social manners that I did, 20 years ago.

Working in a customer-facing job is tough if you are not used to putting in all that effort to connect and make people feel welcome. And whatever you get paid at BoSa, it’s probably not the kind of compensation that drives you to attend Toastmasters or develop your interpersonal skills with strangers.

Still, this was ripe for some Yelp complaining, and it’s no wonder so many people participated. The people who staff BoSa either don’t read Yelp or don’t think the finances of late night donuts are improved by trying to find more hospitable staff. Not a lot of competition, likely.

Anyway, doughnuts: The buttermilk doughnut is almost ball-shaped, and full of crinkles and crevices which are filled with icing. This makes for a really sweet buttermilk doughnut, and it was much better than the one at Donut Country, but worse than the one at Sultan Bakery back home.

The coffee was the kind of coffee you put a lot of sugar and cream into.
The coffee was the kind of coffee you put a lot of sugar and cream into. Buttermilk, Glazed.

The glazed ring was squishy and chewy – like Wonder® Bread. Some baked goods take on a really chewy texture if you substitute corn syrup for sugar, and the baked goods here had a texture like that. I’m not a huge fan, unless we’re talking about white sandwich bread, which is its own chewy thing.

No matter what, donuts put a semicircle on your face!
No matter what, doughnuts put a semicircle on your face! #nofilter

I enjoyed my chewy doughnuts and terse service well enough. My partner Marianne, who is perhaps the friendliest person I have ever met, even got a “you’re welcome” out of the server. Would I go back to BoSa? If I wanted a doughnut at 3 am, I sure would. If I had to pick between Dunkin’ and BoSa? Hmmmmmmmm.

Bobby Q, Phoenix, AZ

For a BBQ/Donut Roadtrip, we’ve eaten less BBQ than you might expect, which is to say, none. That all changed the night we drove into Phoenix. Looking for a place to eat, Marianne came up with Bobby-Q. Though it has a metaphorical odor of chain-liness about it, all the reviews were emphathetically positive, and one mentioned getting a surprise free donut at the end of the meal. It was meant to be, so we rushed over to arrive 30 minutes before closing.

Bobby Q is very dark, which makes photos difficult. Cheers!
Bobby Q is very dark, which makes photos difficult. Cheers!

The truth on the ground turned out to be: Bobby-Q used to be called Bobby McGees, which has reinvented its brand as a BBQ destination. Our server mentioned a few accolades it has gathered, appearing on a couple of “best BBQ” lists (“in the top” 30 and 100 – for some specific categories which I didn’t quite catch.) Bobby-Q serves many items aside from BBQ, and it seems to mix a few styles of BBQ. I thought this was perfect for a start-of-trip calibration: out-of-region pretty-good unspecialized BBQ.

Brisket and pulled pork - with sauce pre-installed!
Brisket and pulled pork – with sauce pre-installed!

Marianne got two types of ribs – baby back and “St Louis style.”” I got brisket and pulled pork. Since the only standard by which I can judge BBQ is Jack’s central Texas style, the brisket and pulled pork seemed bland on their own, but nice with the tangy sauce. The ribs were the standouts of the meal. There’s a particular adjective phrase that I think I’ll be seeing a lot of, and it applies here: fall-off-the-bone tender.

Two kinds of ribs. I think the ones on top are baby back.
Two kinds of ribs. I think the ones on top are baby back.

Marianne noted that their sides are exceptional. The mashed potatos and mac & cheese she got were delicious, and I liked my shoestring fries and smoked corn just fine. This led to a discussion of whether a BBQ place should be evaluated on its sides. Note well, Franklin BBQ – considered by many to be the best BBQ there is – is not known for its sides.

I think it depends on whether you’re evaluating BBQ, the crafting of the dishes vs. BBQ restaurants as a place to eat. The second doesn’t exist without the first, sure, but I originally thought I wouldn’t care about value or atmosphere, or whether you have to wait in line for 4 hours, because all I wanted to focus on is BBQ meat. Not price, or style, or sides. I guess I can’t really isolate those things from each other. I already acknowledged that I have a strictly limited perspective on everything, due to my limited experience. I may as well acknowledge that BBQ does not exist in a vacuum (unlike sous vide, har har) and my opinion is going to be colored by everything from whether I slept well to what the server is wearing. So be it.

The sides are nice, and it improves the whole meal. The mac & cheese is proper – sort of like a plain Philly cheesesteak without meat and instead with macaroni. Gooey sodium citrate cheese and soft macaronis. The cornbread comes in moon-pie sized pucks, and is sweet and fine-crumbed, like cake. The homestyle mashed potatoes are as good as it gets. Most places in Seattle do potato puree, and the ones that do homestyle often wind up with a chunky bland product. These have few lumps, bits of potato skin, and just enough salt. I guess there isn’t a whole lot to homestyle mashed potatoes, they’re unpretentious and classic.

On the other side of my plate, Bobby-Q served up an amber ale brewed for them. A nutty, sippable and unbitter brew. Good for the weather in Phoenix in June, which is a hundred and balls degrees.

The products of a mini-donut robot, I'm certain
The products of a mini-donut robot, I’m certain

After the bill, the server brought up a small bag of freshly-fried mini-donuts for us to take. This was really nice. Even if you don’t want to eat anything after the meal, having your car smell like fresh mini-donuts on the way home is vastly preferable to the scents coming out of your body after a meal like that. And on that super-classy note, I leave you.