Uncle Frank's keeps the fire alive Uncle Frank's keeps the fire alive (December 02, 2005)

After moving to a bar on Old Middlefield, Frank Bell's BBQ is still the best in the business

By Mandy Erickson

Everyone knows how hard it is to find good barbecue, but Uncle Frank's is right near impossible. I made two U-turns before I finally found it on Old Middlefield Way, west of Rengstorff.

It's in the back of a bar called Francesca's, which you wouldn't know unless you heard it from someone. You walk into the shacky-looking building, past a couple people sitting on bar stools leaning over their drinks, and into a back room. There you'll find the restaurant, with its floor worn white in patches, photos from '70s TV shows on the wall and tables that wobble as soon as you drop your elbows on them.

The eating is worth the search. Uncle Frank's dishes up excellent slow-smoked barbecue: ribs, brisket, chicken and links, doused in your choice of hot or mild sauce. The fried chicken wings and catfish are terrific, too, as are the classic sides -- salty, tender greens, stick-to-your-ribs baked beans, and just-sweet-enough cornbread.

Proprietor Frank Bell, who hails from Hall Summit, La., takes his time with his 'cue. He smokes his brisket for 30 hours, resulting in a slice of meat so tender I couldn't believe it was the same cut as the shoe leather I've chewed through more times than I care to count. Ribs smoke for a mere 12 hours, but it's enough to render the meaty slices nearly as soft as butter.

Moving at a slow pace is a good thing when you're barbecuing, but it's not when you're trying to open a restaurant. Bell, who relocated from East Palo Alto after his landlord sold the property, had to wait nine months before the remodeling was finished and he received the permits to start up again.

His fans never forgot his barbecue, however: They kept the buzz going on the Internet while Bell struggled through bureaucratic red tape. When he finally opened on Oct. 4, "I didn't have time to breathe or think I had so many people coming in," Bell said. "I didn't know I had so much support."

The restaurant is still a busy place. If you show up much past noon, you may have to content yourself with a to-go lunch. And reservations are recommended for dinner, even on weeknights. If you're a jazz and blues fan, aim for Thursday, when a band plays the room.

Be sure to hire a sitter, though. Because the restaurant is located in a bar, no one under 21 is allowed. Bell is building a patio behind the bar where children will be welcome. He hopes to have it completed by the time the weather warms up next year.

Due to the restaurant's location in the bar, a deal was struck with the owners of Francesca's: Uncle Frank and his staff can't serve you any drinks but water. If you want some alcohol, or even sodas, you need to head back into the bar to order them and bring them to your table.

The menu at Uncle Frank's is fairly simple -- standard 'cue. At lunch you have a choice of four meals: brisket ($9), links ($7), chicken ($7.50) or ribs ($8.50) with hot or mild sauce. While the menu describes the hot as "kick-butt," I found it to be more of a slow, pleasant burn. Mild is truly mild. Both sauces are an intricate balance of sugar, vinegar, herbs and spices (the ingredients, naturally, are a secret). Bell says his family has been making barbecue sauce the same way for 100 years.

Lunch comes with sliced sandwich bread and your choice of potato salad or coleslaw. The meal choices were all very good, though my chicken was on the blander side. But the salad and slaw, which arrived in little Styrofoam cups with "PS" and "CS" written on them, were just a step above supermarket variety.

For dinner, you have the same meat choices as at lunchtime (from $12 to $19.95 for a three-way combo), plus fried food -- chicken wings, catfish and shrimp (from $9.75 to $11.75 for a combo). Dinners come with cornbread and two side dishes -- black-eyed peas, baked beans, Cajun corn, candied yams, collard greens, French fries, potato salad or coleslaw.

Not all sides make an appearance every night, however: A small whiteboard tells diners what's available that day. But those that were offered the night we came to eat were terrific. Our greens were slow-cooked in a ham broth, the baked beans redolent with thyme, the thick-cut French fries pleasantly crisp. The cornbread (you can choose sliced sandwich bread instead, but I wouldn't advise it) was delicate and not at all dry as it often is.

The focus at Uncle Frank's may be on barbecue, but we were smitten with the catfish ($8 with fries only, or $14.75 for a dinner). Farm-raised and corn-fed in Vietnam, this fish tasted nothing like the muddy flesh I expect in catfish. The meat was fresh and sweet, with a cornmeal coating so crisp yet greaseless we almost wondered if it really had been deep-fried.

We finished off dinner with a slice of sweet potato pie ($2.50) that was singing with nutmeg.

Bell has hired a crew of competent servers with a down-home friendliness who seem to genuinely care that you enjoy your meal. The night we visited for dinner, our waiter explained that they were short one server and apologized in advance if things were slow. "Just raise your hand and wave if you want something," he said. We didn't need to -- our dinner arrived quickly enough, and he checked on us frequently.

When I pulled out of the parking lot of Francesca's, I realized that if Uncle Frank's was in a strip mall with neon lights -- if it was easy to find -- the restaurant wouldn't have the same casual ease and friendliness. And lacking that atmosphere, the barbecue just wouldn't taste as good.

Uncle Frank's Barbecue (in the back of Francesca's) 2135 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View (650) 964-4476
Open for lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Saturday noon to 2 p.m. Open for dinner Monday through Saturday 5 to 8 p.m.

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