This Top 100 restaurant gives out free meat while you wait in line
I'm not a patient person, but I have a high tolerance for standing in line. I've braved a four-hour line for the brisket at Franklin Barbecue in Austin. I conquered the queue at Howlin' Rays in Los Angeles for hot chicken. I sacrificed two hours for the famous crab omelette at Jay Fai in Bangkok. To me, lines are a test of will, a temporal moat you must face to reach the castle of great food.
Few lines in the Bay Area are as intimidating as the one at Fikscue, the smoking hot barbecue joint in Alameda that MacKenzie Chung Fegan and I included on our list of the Top 100 restaurants in the Bay Area.
Despite opening over a year ago, Fikscue continues to lure swarms of people who travel from as far as London to taste its fresh blend of Indonesian flavors and Texas-style smoked meats. Chef-owners Fik and Reka Saleh call it Indo-Tex, with bold smoke deepening Indonesian dishes like rendang and noodle soup known as soto pandang.
The toll for attaining these delicacies: about one to two hours of endurance. However, overcoming the line doesn't have to be a daunting task. It can be fun, so long as you make it so. As a line veteran, I'm here to demystify the wait at Fikscue as well as share pointers for how to plan your visit.
First of all, the wait is the wait. You have to accept that. Kill time by making an event out of the visit and invite the whole gang. Sensible people bring chairs. Some pre-game with giant boxes of desserts, others with beer or batched cocktails. Everyone has their own strategy for passing the time.
On my most recent visit, I filled time with making coffee. I grabbed my portable power bank, a temperature-controlled gooseneck kettle and a small table. This wasn't my first rodeo; Mario Cortez, my colleague and fellow coffee enthusiast, and I once brewed coffee at a carnitas truck in Oakland, though the water took a while to come to temperature. This time, learning from the past attempt, I ground my beans ahead of time and brought pre-heated water in a thermos to speed up the boiling. By the time I arrived to Fikscue, the line was already spilling over to the auto repair shop next door. It was close to 11:30 a.m., so I had half an hour to brew before the line moved inside. Within minutes I was pouring water through the grounds in concentric circles. This was my version of tailgating.
While you wait, staff come around and offer samples of chopped brisket, sliced jalepeño sausages or some of the current specials. Fikscue knows the physical cost of waiting in line, so it's adopted a practice from Texas' barbecue culture: Franklin Barbecue gives idling patrons brisket wrapped in white bread while Snow's BBQ provides free beer.
In an effort to be more transparent with its audience, the Alameda restaurant now puts up a poster listing its meat inventory, updated hourly. 'It was necessary,' said Reka Saleh. 'We wanted to give a better experience.' The dino and beef back ribs are the first to go. On my last visit, both were out by 3 p.m.
For my previous outing in March, I waited a little over an hour before I sank my teeth into juicy sausages. But it's worth noting that I happened to stop by on Ramadan. Fikscue is a halal restaurant, a favorite of the community, but, according to Reka, lines are shortest in the month of the holiday.
If you can't stomach the line, try going after 2 p.m.
While you may miss out on ribs with this counter-intuitive approach, you'll likely still be able score some of the Indonesian dishes — the strongest offerings. Opt for the terrific brisket rendang ($23), smoked beef stewed in chile and coconut milk paste, served with rice with curried kale and a fried egg. Certain barbecue items like sausages ($8) and melty brisket ($36 per pound) are often available later; you just have to try your luck.
Recently, the Indo-Tex barbecue joint, which only opened Saturdays and Sundays, added an evening service on Wednesdays. Favorites like the back ribs are on the menu as well as new offerings like a burger, a hot dog and lumpia — all flavored with smoke. Later this year, the operation will debut its San Francisco location at Thrive City with longer hours, according to Reka.
The demand for Fikscue remains high, but don't let it deter you from visiting. You can make the line fun. If you lose sight of that, just remember: Persistence will be rewarded with delicious barbecue you can't even find in Texas.
Fikscue. 5-9 p.m. Wednesday; noon-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. 1708 Park St., Alameda. fikscue.com or 510-463-1303
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