Midland, WASH — Matt Henning is a BBQ guru. He's eaten barbeque all over the Midwest and Deep South and brought back everything he's learned to his own joint: My 4 Sons BBQ.
“It's all about touch and feel,” says Henning. “It's not so much about time and temp.”
Most of his plates will fill you up for under ten bucks, especially the menu item that caught the eye of a local food critic: the bbq sundae.
“My third child, Ryan, he's a foodie,” says Henning, who has, as you might have guessed, four sons. “He likes watching Food Network.”
Ryan told his dad he needs to make a barbecue sundae like the one he saw on TV.
“And this is a kid that doesn't like food touching,” says Henning.
Oh, there's a lot of food touching going on here!
“So we've got our creamy smoked mac on the bottom,” says Henning. “It's got four different cheeses in there. It's got a really nice stringy gooey texture to it.
“Follow that up with our smoked baked beans. Our recipe. A really nice tangy bean.”
Next comes your choice of meat.
“So you want a rib, you want burnt ends, you want brisket, you want pulled pork, or pulled chicken, we'll throw that on top,” says Henning.
Then comes a layer of coleslaw.
“Kinda weird,” admits Henning. “Cold stuff on top of hot stuff but it works!
“And then we finish that off with our house-made barbecue sauce."
The cherry on top of this sundae is actually a pickle
“My wife's recipe from her grandma,” says Henning. “It's a great pickle. The boys love it.”
One bite is like a kaleidoscope of flavors. You've got tangy, sweet and smoky all at once.
So what does son #3 think about My 4 Son's latest offering?
“He's still not sure about eating it, but he loves the concept,” laughs Henning.
Customers love it too. After all, you're talking about a pound of food for just seven bucks.
“Oh it's great,” says Lee Hensley. “It's got a lot of different flavors. It's got a little bit of crunch from the cabbage. It's got the sweet from the beans and the meat.”
All of which leads to one earnest question: after you eat this sundae, what's for dessert?
“The brownie,” says Henning. “Again, it’s my wife's creation. She makes an amazing brownie and if you want something sticky, something sweet, something chocolatey, it's the way to go.”
My 4 Sons BBQ is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 to 7.
My 4 Sons BBQ | 9823 Portland Ave E, Tacoma, WA 98445 | (253) 777-4677
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