Blisters BBQ Review

by Vera Chen

 

Blisters BBQ is a small joint serving smoked slow cooked food out of the Shell station north of Rexburg. They specialize in foods like pulled pork, brisket, and tri tip. They also have the shrimp poor boy and hamburgers for those who want something different or familiar. They seem to be pretty new at what they are doing, with just two people taking orders and cooking. The place seems very laid back with not many tables for customers to sit and eat. So take out is definitely a must if you want to eat in comfort. However takeout has its drawbacks too. The food gets cold pretty quick and the bun gets soggy if you got the pulled pork or chicken because all the juices run to the bottom. There seems to be a pretty stable flow of customers, so they are constantly busy it seems. However, that also meant that tables were not wiped down regularly, and the trash was overflowing. Food is priced per item, with sides like sodas and waffle fries costing $2 each. They have a combo where you can add on two sides to your sandwich for $3 which is not bad, but when a sandwich is costing about $4 - $6, it makes the meal a little expensive for college students but affordable to the community. They do have specials, which would bring the price down to about $3.50 to $5 for a sandwich depending of what the special is for that day. 

I went on a Wednesday afternoon at about 1pm and it took me a total of 15 minutes to place my order and get my food. So they are pretty quick. The food, on the other hand, is mediocre. I got the bacon wrapped hotdog with baked beans and a deep fried pickle, and the new pulled chicken sandwich with waffle fries. The bacon wrapped hotdog is normal; with nothing special about it other than that it is a bacon wrapped hotdog. The beans were very sour on the first bite, and then you could taste the spice after that. They had hotdog pieces in the beans which seemed to be just an extra that they do with their overcooked hotdogs. The pickle had good breading and flavor. It was not too sour like other places. The pulled chicken was a little disappointing especially after all the other raving reviews on it. The portion was huge, but the flavor left a lot to be desired. The chicken seemed dry, and the bun was soggy and fell apart after I took it home, 20 minutes later. There also did not seem to be enough sauce on the meat. It could have used thicker and more sauce to add flavor. The waffle fries was battered and had good flavor. I liked that it was waffle fries and not the regular cut fries. They had a sauce with the fries, which was tangy, definitely different from the common fry sauce found in this area.

All in all, not bad for what you can find in this area but not great either.

One Year Old

Next week the new issue of the paper comes out.  It will be the conference edition.  We will have short summaries of the talks from General Conference as well as other articles.

Our new layout has been well received.  Most comments are that it is more eye catching.  It also better fits our style, being more of a magazine than a newspaper.  We mostly review things-- events, restaurants, businesses-- and we don't break any news, though we will gather references to current events and discuss them.

Our website is up and running.  Most of our stories are published there.  Check it out at www.thelocalreview.com.

We have been publishing for an entire year this month.  We're excited to continue informing Madison County of local happenings and important information.

The Hickory, Rexburg's Rib Joint

by Allison Jones

The Hickory is a recently opened restaurant at 155 W. Main Street in Rexburg.  The menu includes burgers, sandwiches, and dinners like ribs and brisket.  They are home style cooking specializing in slow cooked meats.

The décor is homey and a bit quirky.  The lights are all encased in mason jars, some of which are topped by pie tins.  If you order soda, your drink will be served in a mason jar as well.  It has a warm rustic atmosphere with plenty of decorations to catch your eye.  It is very busy at the normal lunch and dinner times, so if you can, you may want to come in later in the afternoon.   It can be rather loud with everyone talking when full.

Also, it is not fast food, each dish has to be prepared separately once you order it and it can take up to 30 or 40 minutes for your order to come up if it is particularly busy.  So, it will be a better experience if you go with a group or bring something to keep you occupied while you wait.  It is not the place to go if you are pressed for time.  The dishes are good, comfort food.  This is not where you eat if you are worried about eating light, but it is delicious.  

I have tried the pulled pork sandwich, the chicken strip dinner, and the sourdough chicken sandwich.  All were good, if a little messy.  The flourless chocolate torte and the hot chocolate were also very good.  How can you go wrong with chocolate?  If you want fries with your sandwich they are extra, but they are wonderful home style cut with the skin still on.

Overall, I give The Hickory three stars out of four.

Snowboarding Without the Mountain

By Allison Jones

 

Brett Kesler, owner of Pinnacle Security, has opened a new business at Rainbow Lake.  He bought the RV Park there and found he could realize one of his dreams, to have a cable towing wakeboard system.  “I’ve always wanted to do it,” Brett said.  It is a way to enjoy wake boarding or water skiing without having to own a boat.  The idea to also use the system on snow to do snowboarding came second.  

Once the idea to use the cable tow system over snow as well as water came, they had to see if it was even possible.  They checked online, finding a YouTube video of snowboarding by cable, and checked with the company that produces the cable systems and determined it was possible.  The job of getting it set up went to manager Matt Vansteenkiste.

Updates

The Local Review Website is live once again and we've got new articles up on it.  Come check it out and let us know what you think of it.

Also, we are preparing this month's centennial edition.  We're focusing on the history of Madison County.  Give us some suggestions of what people, places, events, etc. you want to know more about.  An article on Beaver Dick is already completed and one on the Rexburg Tabernacle is in progress.