While Nashville is definitely a pork BBQ type of town, sometimes you have a hankering for something smoky, but different.  For us, that means Brisket, Mesquite smoke, and maybe some tex-mex influence.  Judge Bean’s fits that description perfectly, and offers lots of different options than your typical BBQ place.

As an appetizer, we ordered chips, salsa and guacamole.  The salsa was very different.  It was served warm and was very spicy.  We preferred the guacamole, which was a nice blend of creamy guacamole and chunks of avocado.

So, I guess different for me just means brisket and sausage, but on this particular day, they turned out quite well.  The Brisket had a well defined smoke ring and slightly tangy-spicy flavor to it.  Sauce is at every table, but honestly, it’s so tender and still juicy, that you don’t really need it.  The smoked sausage takes on a small bit of smokiness, but really folks, it’s sausage!  I also have to urge everybody to try the cowboy beans at the Judge’s.  While the menu declares them “not a sleeping partner’s favorite” (uh, Sarah could not be reached for comment before publishing), they are so thick, soupy, and spicy it’s really more like chili than anything else.

The tamale plate comes with a choice of chicken or beef brisket.  I decided to try both. The chicken was good, but the brisket tamale was amazing. The tamales were moist and full of flavor.  Personally, I preferred the brisket taco.
I was really glad I got the sauce on the side.  I feel like the sauce can overwhelm the taste of the tamale.   The corn was excellent and the green beans were spicy, but very good.