For a number of years, I have held definitive opinions about barbecue. Never mind that I am from Maine, which only grants me permission to be knowledgeably opinionated about lobster rolls, blueberry pie, and baked beans. I believed that barbecue should be sweet and sticky, covered in sauce, and require wet-naps. So, the first time my boyfriend, B, took me to Buck’s Naked Barbecue, I was feeling a bit sulky. This restaurant describes itself as righteous about barbecuing meat naked, without “nasty, chemical laden sauces.” Hmpf, I muttered to myself, arms crossed. This is going to be a boring, dry dinner. For the record, I was wrong.
Buck’s Naked Barbecue serves up tender meat that has been smoked for between eight to fourteen hours. The meat becomes tinged with pink from the long, slow cooking process, which also makes it soft and outrageously delicious. Although the meat is naked from sauce, most cuts are barbecued with a dry or wet rub. Then, for whiners like me, there are the collection of homemade barbecue sauces on each table. They cover the different regional variations from a Carolina sauce of vinegar and mustard, a North Carolina style vinegar, blueberry barbeque, and the classic house sauce, which is a tangy sweet sauce with a spicy kick of chipotle at the end. While wet naps aren’t provided, there’s a utilitarian roll of brown paper towels on every table, too.
The paper towels are one of the many indications that Buck’s is a down-home, down-to-earth restaurant. Having recently relocated up Route One in Freeport (just off exit 20 on I295), the restaurant is expansive, with large open rafters and a solid roadhouse feel. The interior is decorated with authentic local kitsch on the walls. Funky, painted window frames hang from the rafters, creating a visually creative division of space. There are a variety of tables and big, comfortable booths, in addition to a bar, a quirky children’s play area, and a juke joint downstairs. The juke joint has pool tables and a performance space. It’s usually packed on weekend evenings, when local favorite musicians like The Band Beyond Description and The Jerks of Grass perform. I appreciated the dark leather couches in the waiting area, because there can be long waits on busy summer evenings.
Thankfully, when B and I arrived for dinner on a recent weeknight, we didn’t have to fight crowds. We were seated near the open kitchen, to B’s delight. Within minutes, our waitress had not only rattled off the healthy selection of beers on tap, but had delivered our drinks. You need a drink to manage the menu! It’s huge, including everything from a children’s menu to salads to fooze: food with booze. For example, a house-made Bloody Mary comes with a rib on top of the glass. Buck’s menu ambitiously covers a range of regional cuisine, from southern fried chicken and catfish to southwestern chili relleños to St. Louis ribs. Unless you are an unwavering vegetarian, your menu options are extensive.
B and I wrangled about the appetizers. I wanted fried prime rib nuggets or fried okra, he wanted taquetos or buffalo sausage nuggets. (To be honest, I misread the menu, and thought the buffalo sausage nuggets were made from buffalo, not doused in buffalo sauce.) We settled on taquetos; small fried tortilla bundles stuffed with shredded pork, cheese, beans, and mangos. A very spicy pico de gallo joined them. I thought they were disappointingly bland, mushy, and regrettably filling. B liked them enough, but agreed they weren’t spectacular.
We didn’t have to wait long after the taquetos for our dinners to arrive. I ordered the Smoked Sampler ($16.99) which included a quarter rack of baby back ribs, two beef ribs, four chicken wings, corn bread, and two sides. This mountain of food arrived with three plates. I was a little overwhelmed, and really regretting those taquetos, when everything landed on the table. Oh, but the food was so delicious! The ribs were covered in a crisp dry rub which uniquely blends the comfortable flavors of a spicy barbecue with Christmas cookies. The rub was so good that I left my ribs naked. (I sincerely hope that cheerfully devouring naked ribs says “I’m sorry, I was wrong,” in boyfriend-speak.)
B ordered a combo plate of jerk chicken and cowboy sausage with sides of braised greens and onion rings ($13.99). His meal looked scary to me, with piles of strange looking black meat. I should have known that looks are deceiving at Buck’s. The chicken’s wet jerk rub was warm, gingery-sweet, and finished with a sharp, spicy bite. It was succulent.
I dug the wings out from under the slabs of meat in front of me. In my opinion, these are the best wings in Southern Maine. The meat was smoked pink and tender, with a healthy tightness not usually seen in chicken wings. Even the skin - usually the sketchiest part of the wing - was luscious. I ordered them with buffalo sauce (there are many options for the wings), which was a dark, thin rose color. They actually made me feel a little embarrassed for all those neon orange wings I’ve eaten in the past. The sauce was delicious, too, with a feisty kick that lingered. I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food, though, and I ended up downing several glasses of water while I ate them.
The sides were a mixed bag of outrageously delicious to bland and disappointing. The sweet potato fries were fantastic, tossed with a cinnamon and sugar coating. They tasted like they had gone to a summer carnival. I loved them, but B grumbled that they were too sweet. The cornbread was northern style, sweet and dense and crumbly with a great density to it. My cole slaw was innocuous and mildly disappointing. B liked his braised greens. I took his word for it, because braised greens are my idea of a punishment. In contrast, B’s onion rings were coated in a surprising cornmeal crust. They had a great, crunchy flavor burst. I picked as many as I could off his plate before he shooed me back to my own dinner.
My meal really was enough to feed the state of Rhode Island. By the time I dug into the beef ribs, I was running low on steam and stomach room. It didn’t help that the beef ribs looked like caveman clubs. As I gnawed on the giant bone, I realized B was watching me with a look of raw horror on his face. “I take it this isn’t a first date kind of place?” I asked. B laughed. “No. NO. Do NOT bring a new date here,” he said. Then he picked a piece of sausage out of the braised greens. “Don’t bring a vegetarian here, either,” he added. “Even the greens have meat in them.”
It took a couple hours to plow through my dinner, but I eventually surrendered and brought half home. All in all, dinner came to $65, including two rounds of drinks and appetizers, but not the gratuity. We each had enough leftover for large lunches. Our waitress recommended turning the ribs into sandwiches the next day. “They’re a pain to make,” she said, “but on a split buttery roll with barbecue sauce, they’re delicious!” Barbecue sauce? At Buck’s? Why would you want to do that? Thoroughly converted, we waddled to our car, happily stuffed and satiated.
Buck’s Naked Barbecue is open seven days, from 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., serving lunch and dinner. Cash and credit are accepted. Limited vegetarian and vegan options. Handicap accessible. Call at 865-0600, or visit their website at
www.bucksnaked-bbq.com.
