IS HOOD RIVER’S SMOKED MEAT DESTINATION, GRASSLANDS BARBECUE, WORTH THE DRIVE?

Welcome to Worth the Drive, a column in which Team Eater Portland ventures to far-flung destination restaurants around the state to see if they live up to the hype. Know a restaurant you think is worth the drive? Let us know via the tip line.

The restaurant: Grasslands Barbecue

The location: Waterfront Park in Hood River; about an hour drive from Portland.

The price tag: Varies, since customers at Grasslands build meals by ordering meats by the half-pound and choosing a la carte sides like a Tex Mex slaw (cabbage, kale, Cotija, and pumpkin seeds) and roasted green chile mac and cheese.

The schtick: The cart serves Texas-ish style barbecue smoked with neutral-flavored Oregon white oak that allows the proteins to really shine — 18-hour brisket, pork belly burnt ends glazed with a ginger-soy-serrano vinaigrette, black pepper and lemon chicken, house-made hatch chile-and-cheddar sausage. Grasslands is only open on weekends, serving brisket on Saturdays, tri-tip on Sundays, and weekly specials.

“All of us view barbecue as something that [shouldn’t] necessarily be available 24/7,” Marquis says. “It’s a special thing — it takes so long to cook and it’s a process.”

For the summer, the cart has also added a Friday lunch service, serving smoked burgers. Grasslands’ rotating sides are often on the lighter side, balancing out the barbecue. On this part of the menu, Grasslands takes fresh Hood River produce from farms like Costarossa, Killer Tomato, and Saur and turns it into dishes like tomato salad with colatura di alici and salsa verde potato salad with sugar snap peas.

The chefs: Drew Marquis, Brendon Bain, and Sam Carroll are three friends “who got the barbecue bug.” Marquis and Bain are restaurant industry vets while Carroll was formerly the head brewer at Occidental Brewing. The three chefs eschew the term “pitmaster” — they share duties evenly, from manning the smoker to hand-making sausage to prepping sides.

The history: A barbecue spot in Hood River was always the goal for Marquis, who launched his Bootleg Barbecue pop-up in Seattle before linking up with his old college friends Bain and Carroll, whom he met through working at Pike Place Market’s DeLaurenti. Marquis had planned to spend a year gaining experience working at Wood Shop BBQ before his job was eliminated due to the pandemic.

The project that would evolve into Grasslands started small, with Marquis testing his barbecue on friends before selling it vacuum-sealed to customers, and then, doing pop-ups at Holy Mountain Brewing. The trio took that momentum and relocated to the Hood River area, where they did pop-ups at farmers markets and in Portland while they waited for their food truck to get built out. The truck opened for business in 2021.

The experience: While the line may be long, you’ll spend some of that time deciding what to order. If you’re set on ordering the entire menu to get the whole hog experience, as it were, round up a few friends to help you crush the spread. From ordering to dining, the whole Grasslands experience feels like a lawn party. There are kids and dogs running around and, thanks to Hood River’s open container laws, you can enjoy a brew from Ferment Brewing Company, which sets up a little beer cart right on the lawn. It’s a vibe.

“With the Texas barbecue experience especially, there’s a line, there’s music playing,” Marquis says. “We encourage people to hang out.”

Worth the drive? Absolutely. With the cart’s tight-knit team making everything in-house, the standard Grasslands holds itself to translates to consistently delicious barbecue. The menu also finds places to showcase Hood River’s farm culture, bringing a Pacific Northwest flair to its Texas-style foundation.

Plus, the drive to Hood River makes for the perfect day trip — far enough to feel completely removed from the city but close enough that it’s not a huge schlep. Our pro-tip is to go early and make a day of it; kayak the river, visit farms around the Fruit Loop, or simply lounge in a post-barbecue feast haze by the waterfront.

2024-07-01T20:26:59Z dg43tfdfdgfd