Phat Tabb’s is putting Idabel, OK on the map for BBQ
IDABEL, Okla. (KFOR) – Good barbecue has a way of making itself known to people who appreciate it.
Sometimes it happens through the senses we know about, but news also spreads out like smoke in the wind.
Tabb Singleton counted on that kind of magic and his own skills when he limped home to Idabel a Covid fugitive and found a closed down hamburger stand to make a last stand.
His philosophy, “We wanted to keep staples the same, brisket, ribs, but for us to not get bored with what we were doing.”
He’d worked for years in New Orleans best restaurants, and even mid-pandemic, trusted in his dreams.
“I always wanted to open my own place,” he states.
Barbecue isn’t something a lot of cooks are willing to mess with, but Tab knew enough to spice his briskets with more than salt and pepper.
Sharing one of his secrets, he tells us, “When we’re spritzing, we spritz it with a little bit of fish sauce, Worcestershire, and pickle juice. It enhances it and brings out more of the beefy flavor.”
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His burnt ends aren’t just brisket ends. Singleton uses beef belly, and babies it from there all the way to the plate.
“It tastes like a candied ribeye,” he says.
Tab closed his drive-thru but kept the takeout.
His simple dining room is newspaper on the ceiling and a large collection of hats hanging on hooks.
The real effort goes into the food.
“I fell in love with food,” he says of his decision to become a chef. “I love everything about it still to this day.”
Phat Tabb’s makes its own sausage. Hot links are made with chorizo and pepper jack cheese.
When jalapeno poppers are on the menu, he uses the whole pepper.
“And we use smoked beef cheeks in it,” he continues.
Cooking influences aren’t just Southern, they’re international.
“We do brisket ramen. We make Thai food from it sometimes.”
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Phat Tabb’s is only open three days per week (Thursday – Saturday) from just before 11 a.m. until the food runs out.
On this day, that happens before the lunch hour is even complete.
Idabel is his hometown, but the rest of the barbecue world is beating a path straight to his samplers.
Singleton credits a lot of his increased business to a couple of articles in Texas Monthly and his semi-final nomination to the James Beard Restaurant Awards.
He is a 2012 winner of ‘Chopped’ on the Food Network.
For more information on Phat Tabb’s go to phattabbsbbq.com.
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