Authentic Texas Barbecue
River City Catering - Smokin’ up Western Wisconsin and the Twin Cities Area
Our goal is to ensure that you receive high-quality food and superior service - provided in a warm, friendly atmosphere.
It’s Our Pit
That’s the secret behind our authentic Texas barbecue. The key to the juiciest, most flavorful meats is the hardwood smoke. For hours on end, award-wining “Pit Boss” Bill slow smokes beef brisket, pork ribs, chicken and pork shoulders to perfection. So skip the trip south and we’ll bring the Texas barbecue to you.
Whether you are planning a company event or a family reunion for 50 or 1,000, we will be happy to help you plan an event your guests will truly enjoy.
What is Texas-style pit barbecue?
“Barbecue” can describe two completely different cooking styles. Most people think of pulling out the grill and lighting the charcoal or starting up their gas grill when talking about barbeque. Although Texans utilize this method of grilling steaks, true Texas barbecue is slow cooking meat using a low, indirect heat for long periods of time. In Texas this style is what is known as “pit” cooking.
We follow the authentic method of cooking “Low and Slow” in an enclosed pit using indirect heat that’s produced by a slow-burning hardwood fire. The meat is smoked and cooked at the same time sealing in flavors of hickory or cherry woods (to name a few). Beef brisket, a Texas tradition, is just one of our many specialties and can spend up to eighteen hours in the pit, which will produce very flavorful, tender meat.
Pit cooking excellent barbecue involves patience and knowledge to master, but the rewards are well worth the trouble! One way to identify real pit barbecue is by the unique “smoke ring” produced. This is the dark pink ring that shows on the outside edges of meat cooked multiple hours in the pit, and sometimes smaller cuts of meat, such as ribs, will be dark pink all the way to the bone. When you see that “smoke ring” you know you’re eating real pit barbecue.
Let us help you plan a memorable barbecue event. Meals start at $10.00 and include your choice of meats, two side dishes along with homemade barbeque sauce and fresh bakery rolls.
Our Pit-Smoked Meats
Texas-Style Beef Brisket
Seasoned with our own specialty rub 24 hours before cooking, our briskets spend up to eighteen hours in the pit until they are smoky, tender and delicious. This is one of our specialties and what Texas-style pit barbecue is all about.
Pulled Pork
We season and cook our pork in the pit until it is smoky and delicious, then hand pull this tender meat for one of our most popular sandwiches.
Smoked Turkey Breast
Boneless, skinless, turkey breast seasoned with a special blend of spices and cooked in the pit until golden brown, tender, juicy and delicious.
Texas Hot Links
This delicious sausage was recreated from an early immigrant recipe. Fresh beef and pork seasoned with 14 herbs and spices are combined and cooked with hickory wood for a true authentic flavor and just the right amount of “heat”.
Smoked Chicken
Our chickens are marinated and seasoned in our special spice mixture overnight and cooked for hours with a slow-burning apple wood fire until they are tender and juicy.
Smoked Pit Ham
This delicious bone-in ham cooks for 12 to 15 hours in the pit with cherry wood for a great mild, smoke flavor.
Baby Back Ribs
These ribs are seasoned with our special rub and then cooked in the pit using a slow-burning hardwood fire. The most tender cut, these ribs are juicy and fall-off-the bone delicious!
Spareribs
St. Louis cut spareribs are the “T-bone” of ribs—meaty, juicy spareribs with the tip removed. We only serve the best part of the sparerib—where all the great meat is found. They are seasoned with our special rub and then cooked in the pit using a slow-burning hardwood fire.
Boneless Pork Loin
A lean cut that we rub with our special seasoning and slow cook in the pit until it’s smoky, tender and delicious.
Side Dishes
Bill’s BBQ Baked Beans
Bill’s own recipe! We slow cook these in the pit for 15 hours with our own sweet molasses sauce and chunks of smoked meat. Our most requested side dish!
Old Fashioned Potato Salad
Diced potatoes, boiled eggs, celery, onions blended in a rich tangy dressing. This is Mom’s recipe!
Caesar Salad
Fresh Romaine lettuce tossed in our made-from-scratch Caesar dressing and garnished with homemade croutons and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Creamy Coleslaw
Shredded fresh cabbage and carrots blended in a creamy old-fashioned slaw dressing.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Fresh potatoes served hot and creamy, flavored with just the right touch of garlic. No instant potatoes used here!
Buttermilk Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
Rotini pasta combined with diced tomatoes, black olives, and crisp bacon bits dressed with a homemade buttermilk ranch dressing
Tangy Italian Pasta Salad
Multi-colored rotini pasta, ripe olives, spicy pepperoni, cherry tomatoes and freshly-shredded parmesan cheese tossed in our tangy Italian dressing.
Macaroni & Cheese
A southern BBQ staple and you’ll love ours! Our homemade creamy four-cheese sauce will make this your new favorite. This is not the “blue box” standard.
Buttermilk Bacon Mashed Potatoes
Fresh mashed potatoes blended with tangy buttermilk and thick-cut bacon pieces - no gravy needed with this hearty dish.
Santa Fe Slaw
Sweet and Heat! Fresh shredded cabbage tossed with our sweet chipotle pepper sauce brings a delicious and unique twist to coleslaw.
Services
Delivery
River City Catering will deliver* a delicious meal to your site ready to eat with no cleanup hassles! Your menu selections and disposable serving utensils and is delivered in sealed foil pans – hot food, HOT and cold food, COLD!
You tell us what time you would like your meal delivered and we arrive on time – no equipment to clean up or return. You can dig into River City Catering’s barbecue with all the trimmings and then discard disposables and your clean up is complete – a perfect combination for your next informal get together.
Full Service
We will provide full-service buffet-style catering for your event, including linen-covered serving tables and uniformed staff onsite to set-up, attend and clean up your buffet. Buffet packages include homemade barbeque sauce, fresh bakery rolls, disposable plates, flatware and napkins.
Beverages are available for an additional charge: bottled water, coffee, assorted premium sodas, iced tea or lemonade.
Add one of the following desserts for $1.25 per person
- Fresh Baked Cookies
- Fresh Lemon Bars
- Watermelon Wedges
- Double-Chocolate Brownies
If you have a favorite dish or special family recipe you would like to include in your menu, please don’t hesitate to let us know – we are happy to help personalize the menu to your tastes.
* Delivery fees will be applied.