our taste: RESTAURANT REVIEW
Kern’s BBQ
— Pit Master opens restaurant in Brock
BY THE WEATHERFORD FOODIE
D
Weatherford Foodie can be found on Face-
book, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Zomato,
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If, like me, you have smoked
chicken at home, then you know
this effort has only three possible
outcomes:
1. Moist chicken and tough skin
2. Soft skin and dry chicken, or
3. Moist chicken and soft skin.
Kern’s chef has found a way to
prepare barbecue chicken perfectly
with soft skin, moist meat and the
perfect smoked taste. It’s difficult
to do, but it’s a joy to eat. The pit
master is Dick Kern, who is also
a graduate of Chef Paul Kirk’s,
Kansas City Baron of BBQ, the
School of Pit Masters. The Kerns
have been catering since 2008 and
proudly won the Best of Weatherford
Catering competition from 2014 to
2017. The Kerns opened their first
brick and mortar restaurant on Aug.
1, 2017, as they continue to cater
events. Together owners Dick and
Joann Kern have included their
family in the business and hire
numerous students from Brock High
School to work and gain valuable
business experience working at a
restaurant and customer service. I
enjoyed everything about my visit
to Kern’s Barbecue R
estaurant and
Catering.
I will go back soon.
Kern’s Barbecue is located in
Brock at 1140 FM 1189, Suite 113,
Millsap 76066.
They are open five days per week
— Wednesday-Thursday 11 a.m. until
8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.
until 9 p.m. and Sunday 10:30 a.m.
until 7 p.m. Call them at 817-599-
6900, email at Kernsbbq@hughes.
net, or find them at www.kernsbbq.
com or on Facebook at Kern’s BBQ
in Brock.
ining with our friends Brandon
and Linda Hughes on a Friday
night (before football season), they
suggested a barbecue restaurant I
hadn’t tried before.
Tucked away in a shopping
center on FM 1189 in Brock, you’ll
find Kern’s Barbecue and Catering.
Outside is a mix of benches, wooden
rocking chairs and picnic tables
beckoning for you to venture inside
to try what’s in store.
Kern’s is a smallish, family-
owned, family-operated cafe that
will accommodate up to around 100
hungry patrons at a variety of table
sizes.
The walls are decorated with
western art and memorabilia, mostly
items reflecting the rural history of
Brock, Parker County and Texas.
My companion, myself and the
Hughes ordered a mix of sliced bris-
ket, chopped brisket, half a smoked
chicken and both jalapeño and
regular sausage, along with a variety
of sides including mac and cheese,
green beans, coleslaw and baked
beans. On the table was the obliga-
tory Wonder Bread and roll of paper
towels. To start our taste buds, we all
shared a heaping plate of the Friday
special, called Burnt Ends (the burnt
ends of cooked brisket), only avail-
able on Friday because it takes a
week’s worth of cooked briskets to
make enough.
Kern’s only use their own custom
spice rubs, marinades and sauces.
The meat is dry-rubbed and the sauce
is kept warm to allow you to use
as much or as little as you want to
provide the award-winning taste; the
juicy meat provides the option for
sauce. All the meat had a fantastic
taste with no sauce and a different
taste with sauce, the sign of expe-
rience. One sure sign that you’re
getting a chef with plenty of experi-
ence is the chicken.
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