I have never eaten at Swadley’s Bar-B-Q, mostly because I’d rather spend my precious time writing about the small-town, country-based roadhouse smokehouses where mom and pop serve some of the best barbeque this side of the Red River. Patrick sent me one the other day I have to hit up soon.
It never fails, however, that as soon as a piece is posted, eventually some tasteless drone of popular opinion will invariably comment “Dude, you don’t know good ‘cue! You need to go to Swadley’s! They’ve got the best ‘cue in the state, brah!”
So I started to think…maybe they might have a point. I mean, Swadley’s has catered some of the biggest and best conservative events in Oklahoma over the past few years, culminating in last Saturday’s right-wing “Keep the Georgia Senate Red” shindig at Castle Falls, with such Okie politicos like Gov. Kevin Stitt, Senator James Lankford and Senator Jim Inhofe in attendance.
With people paying up to $5,000 a ticket, I figured this barbeque has got to be something special. The same Saturday of the Georgia event, I decided that it was time to go ahead and give Swadley’s a try, stopping by the restaurant at 2233 W. Memorial Road. It’s the one that has the large illuminated crucifix out front, a testament to the fact that Jesus would probably eat here, pork be damned.