Bone Daddy’s Barbecues The Breastaurant

By Steven Doyle

When Mike Leatherwood opened his first Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke in Dallas he wasn’t looking at operating a breastaurant, but somehow along the way he was lumped into that category. He had an all female waitstaff wearing skimpy clothing, so technically that would throw him into the company of Hooters. Interesting enough, the gimmick was to be temporary while he perfected the Addison-based business. More recently Leatherwood re-engineered the uniforms to be more tailored and less revealing. What is left is some really good barbecue, hand-made the old fashioned way.

On a recent visit we learned that training was supreme importance for Leatherwood, and has a two day program where he empowers employees through his personal life coach. It is this treatment that nets a amiable employee and extremely low turn over.

Then there is the barbecue.      

The meats are all smoked in-house over night and throughout the day. The sides are made from scratch, including an amazing banana pudding that is the traditional crowning feat of any meat-centric meal in the south.

There are two types of ribs served at Bone Daddy’s including the baby backs and the larger, meatier spare rib. Each are extremely tender, but the baby back has a difficult time staying on the bone, whereas the spare rib counterpart has more of a meaty bite yet still very tender and smoky.

The litmus test for barbecue has to be the brisket. If a restaurant can wrestle a tough and fatty chunk of beef  into submission with the perfect amount of smokiness, they have a successful product. The Bone Daddy brisket is serviceable with a good amount of flavor.

The big surprise of the visit was the steaks. These babies are cooked to perfection, with traces of the same smoke and a delicious exterior patina that invites another bite, even after plowing through half the menu. The ribeye is a perfect meat-mound of smoky flavor that is kicked up with a sauce and left to bathe in a garlic compound butter. You will be spoiled with this one.

The sides are serviceable with kudos going to the beans and Roadhouse Potatoes that areinfused with most anything you can think of including sour cream, cheese and green onions. The potatoes are worth the trip to a Bone Daddy’s alone.

The cocktails are as equally as spirited as the rest of the menu. We caught glimpse of a flaming drink that looked fun, and the Bloody Mary that dons a giant rib bone. Every Bloody Mary should have such treatment.

We normally do not discuss chain restaurants on craveDFW, but we feel most will agree that Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke is worth a visit and should not be overlooked by the casual diner. We should never take ourselves so serious that we pass on a good time.