As I mentioned in my review of Off Tha Bone in West Palm Beach, Robert Moss’ Cue Sheet article about some good barbecue places in Tampa inspired me to try once again to find good barbecue in Florida while Nancy and I spent a long week in Palm Beach Shores. That’s on Singer Island, the next island north of Palm Beach. My research identified Off Tha Bone and a second potential barbecue place in Palm Beach County, Troy’s, down in Boynton Beach. I was assured, they cook with wood and charcoal, and Boynton Beach is a mere 40 minutes away from where we were staying. As soon as Nancy went off for her daily mahjong game, I was in the car and headed south for Troy’s.
There are many ways to spell “barbecue,” and Troy’s answers to all of them. The web address uses bbq, but on the website itself it’s Troy’s Barbeque, while the Facebook page spells it Bar-Be-Que. Troy Davis doesn’t care what you call it as long as you come for dinner.
Troy’s has two locations, the original in Boynton Beach and a new one in Boca Raton. I chose the original, as per policy. Troy’s is situated in a former fast food place
that has been redone with a lot of wood replacing formica — a definite improvement.
I ordered a rib sandwich and some collards, but was told the collards were still cooking and would not be ready until supper time. This disconcerted me, as you usually cook proper collards for about 90 minutes. When had they started? It was a disappointment, but I can be flexible. I solaced myself by ordering macaroni and cheese.
(I opened the bun the wrong way, so that picture’s going to look upside down no matter how you rotate it.) That sandwich contains three meaty ribs — on the bone — along with the rib tips. It came on a Martin’s potato bun, which is unorthodox. A rib sandwich usually comes on white bread. From some discussion, I think they may have run out of white bread, but I’m always happy with a Martin’s bun, so I didn’t ask.
The ribs were very good and the meat was tender, just on the edge of detaching from the bone. There was a good outside bark, a nice pork flavor with some gentle oak smoke. And the macaroni and cheese was creamy and flavorful.
Troy’s has two sauces, a mustard sauce and a basic sweet sauce. The meat didn’t need either.
Troy’s is owned by Troy Davis. Based on his website and our email exchanges, he has a good solid approach to barbecue: charcoal and oak; no flames, just smoke; and careful attention, judging the heat without a thermometer and basting and turning the meat regularly. “You got to use yourself as the rotisserie.” That captures it.
When I was there, Gregory was the pit man at the Boynton Beach location.
He starts cooking the 45-90 slabs of ribs at 7:00 a.m. and finishes up by 1:00, and Gregory knows what he’s doing.
It was a real treat — a revelation — to find another good barbecue place in Florida. My thanks to Robert Moss for getting me back in the hunt. Troy’s is a good place, and you really should try it if you’re in the Palm Beach-Fort Lauderdale area.
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