Frequently, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s always-hungry reporter has lunch at a local restaurant and tells you about the experience.
By ANON E. MUSS, Journal Services
I don’t know about you, but when I go to a business lunch, I’m more focused on the business than the lunch.
It’s hard for me to concentrate on a restaurant’s atmosphere, service, and food, when my mind is on discussing a client’s strategy and budget.
So, on my first trip to The Magnolia Pit (729 Jordan Street, Shreveport), I wasn’t tuned into any of the above. But since the barbeque restaurant opened earlier this year, talk on the street was that the food was really good. So, on a recent Saturday, I invited a friend to join me for lunch – no business – to see if I agreed with all the talk.
It’s always a good sign when you smell what the restaurant is cooking before you open its door. That’s what happened at 12:50, when walking from the parking lot around the corner from The Magnolia Pit. You can’t beat the aroma of BBQ, which filled the air on a mild, early November afternoon.
The building used to be home to Ghost Ramen. If The Magnolia Pit has made any major changes inside, I didn’t notice them. The revolving door with brick wallpaper is a bit odd. But once inside, we found a clean, relatively modern-looking dining area.
That area is not big. There are only 11 tables, but each was draped with a clean, light blue and white checkerboard tablecloth. There was a big screen TV which, on this day, was showing a college football game.
Here’s where I am going to tell you what we found to be the best thing about The Magnolia Pit. Not its food, but it’s staff. My friend and I agreed that these people, as a group, may be the friendliest of any place we have dined locally. Austin, who was working the counter, was in his happy place. He greeted every customer who walked in, and did so in a pleasingly loud, cheerful voice. Austin was also very willing to explain the menu behind him, and when asked, offer suggestions.
Then, there were the cooks who came out of the kitchen to serve our food. They seemed genuinely appreciative that we trusted them for our lunch. There was another gentleman who went out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed. It was really nice to eat and spend money at a restaurant where the employees didn’t look miserable and didn’t act like we were bothering them.
The Magnolia Pit’s digital menu had just about every kind of BBQ choice you could imagine. There were appetizers, meat plates, sandwich plates, meats by the pound, more sides than an octagon, and desserts.
One of the things I (and no doubt the owner of the Journal, who pays the check for these reviews) appreciates about my friend is that she is money conscious. While deciding what to order, she said it would be about the same price or cheaper if we got the Pit Master Sampler, than if we each ordered an entrée. Since this was her first trip (and kind of my first trip) to The Magnolia Pit, that sounded like a plan. We could both “sample” several different items and get a broad taste of the restaurant’s food.
My friend had a Diet Coke to drink, while I went with bottled water.
At The Magnolia Pit, like some other places, you pay before eating. I don’t like that. You are asked leave a tip, without knowing the level of service you will receive. Thankfully, when we left, I felt justified in my 20% tip.
The Pit Master Sampler was served on two trays. One had two BBQ ribs, a sizeable piece of smoked chicken, a few brisket slices, a not-so-sizeable serving of chopped beef, five pieces of sausage, a slice of cheddar beer bread, and a piece of skillet cornbread.
The other tray was loaded with four sides and two desserts, all of which come with the Pit Master Sampler. You get to choose those, and we went with Crunchy Fried Okra, Magnolia Coleslaw, Potato Salad, and Smokehouse Mac & Cheese, along with Bananas Foster Pudding and Apple Cobbler.
The Magnolia Pit offers two types of BBQ sauce, regular, and spicy. We got one of each and frankly, I didn’t taste any spice in the “Spicy” sauce. But I did notice it had a heavier and thicker taste than the “Regular” sauce. At the end of the day, there wasn’t a favorite. I thought they were both fine.
I won’t bore you with a play-by-play of each item. The meats were good, but nothing special. Our favorite was the smoked chicken. It tasted like it had been smoked for a long time, and that’s a good thing. My biggest complaint with all of the meats is that they weren’t hot. They weren’t cold, either. I say they were lukewarm. That’s a big disappointment – especially when it comes to BBQ – when food that’s supposed to be hot, isn’t.
As for the sides, the fried okra was hot, and the coleslaw and potato salad had distinctive tastes. I’m not saying those tastes were good. I’m not saying those tastes were bad. They were just different. You may like them more than I did. The potato salad included small pieces of ham. The mac ‘n cheese had little pieces of meat mixed in.
As for desserts, the Bananas Foster Pudding was really good – thick and with vanilla wafers on top. The cobbler was okay but would have been way better if it had been warm. Perhaps The Magnolia Pit should consider serving desserts after the meal, instead of with the meal, to keep the supposed-to-be-warm desserts from getting cold.
The cost of our meal, before tax and tip, was $45.48. One of the reasons I don’t often eat at BBQ restaurants is price. However, I didn’t think what we paid was out of line, considering we got to taste a bit of (almost) everything.
I give The Magnolia Pit Three Forks. I would return, but not go out of my way unless I really had an appetite for BBQ. The biggest reason I will be a repeat customer? Not the food, but the service. Look, if the food was lousy, it wouldn’t matter how friendly the workers were. But the food was far from lousy, and the staff went over-the-top to make sure not only us, but every customer, felt like they were the most important person in the room.
Even though I wasn’t there for business, I know good business when I see it.
1 Fork: Would rather eat a box of dirt
2 Forks: Will return, but only if someone else is buying
3 Forks: Will return and look forward to it
4 Forks: Will return and go out of my way to do so
Is there a restaurant you would like the Journal to visit for lunch?
Email SBJRestaurantReview@gmail.com
