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Yesterday was a joyous day for this blog.  The 1st Annual Mighty Rib Crawl happened, and I gotta say…it was d@mn fun.  I really think everyone involved had a great time.  We covered five Houston barbeque restaurants in one afternoon.  Here are the results and comments. A full run down of the event will be on this week’s Houston Press blog Eating Our Words.

Ribs were rated on a 1-5 scale, with 5 being the best score.  Results below are the average score of those who participated in the crawl.

1. Gatlin’s (Winner: 4.56)
From Blake: “These ribs took the day. They were quite tender. The meat did fall off the bone. One panel member even pointed out that you could probably eat the bones.”
From Kathleen: “Absolutely awesome. Super tender–no need for sauce.”

Great people at Pierson's...Clarence even showed us his smoker.

2. Pierson’s (4.43)
From Mike: “Even without sauce, still hints of sweetness from rub. Very tender, but not falling completely off the bone. Very good crust.”
From Addie: “The meat stands alone without the sauce, but sauce is good and spicy. This was my overall favorite for the taste, sauce, and experience.”

3. Pizzatola’s (3.6)
From Brent: “World-class service! Warm towel made me want to bump it up a grade. But alas, the ribs were 3’s. Love ya though!”
From Dayne: “Peppery–good crust taste.”

4. Gabby’s (3.2)
From Laurence: “Decent, but nothing special.”
From Sara: “Definitely the fattiest ribs.”

5. Burns (2.27)
From Casey: “Not falling off the bone, not tender enough. Meh!”
From Warren: “Kinda like my homemade ribs, not much rub taste.”

The score sheet

Best Quote of the Day
From Brent, in reference to Gabby’s:
“Short ribs bad. Long ribs good. Best ceiling so far.”
And yes, he was talking about the restaurant’s actual ceiling.

Runner-Up Quote of the Day
From Laurence, in reference to Pizzatola’s
“Nice warm wet one at the end.”
Not quite sure what he was referring to…leave it up to your imagination.

MVP Award for the 2011 Mighty Rib Crawl: Blake
I could write a book on the entertaining “Additional Comments” he filled out for each place. Here’s a taste:
“The baby back ribs were an abomination. They were meaty but very dry and tasted a bit like plastic or some other petrochemical by-product. Poor garbage.”

The gang at Pizzatola's...sans Casey.