Snow's BBQ

The spot, the food, and the reaction

Adam Richman arrives at Snow’s early in the morning and finds a line that started the night before, which tells you how much of an event this Saturday-only barbecue has become. The heart of the video is 91-year-old pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz, who still prefers tending a real fire to using modern set-it-and-forget-it equipment. She talks about barbecue as something that needs attention and “tender loving care,” and the food backs that up.

The brisket gets plenty of praise, but the pork steak seems to be the bite that really surprises Adam. He describes it as having the bark and soft middle of a burnt end, along with a slightly sweet pork flavor. The chicken, ribs, and jalapeño-cheese sausage also get their moment.

What comes through most is that Snow’s is not built around one trendy trick. Different meats use different cookers and techniques, and the people running the pits have repeated those methods for years without losing the human touch.