Joy Godfrey
Half rack of ribs with Tha Smoke Shack signature sauce
This quirky food truck serves up a spectrum of tender, perfectly cooked meat treats, courtesy of owner Michael Baker, a Florida native whose family has been in the barbecue business for generations. Though his father specialized in competition barbecue, Baker's personal style is more backyard, smoking the meat in question until it easily falls off the bone. The menu items range in price from $8 to $13 and include everything from brisket, pulled pork, chicken and turkey legs to baby back ribs, spare ribs and sausage. For a few dollars more, a half rack of ribs costs $15 and a full rack $32. These are served with a side of lip-smacking barbecue sauce that comes from a secret Baker family recipe. It's impossible to stop eating them once you start, as the pork is perfectly roasted to a crisp sweetness on the outside and cooked to juicy perfection within. Baker dry rubs his meat twice throughout the smoking process, which can take up to 10 hours. Turkey legs are brined overnight and rubbed in olive oil before being smoked for six hours, and the results are moist and sizzling with flavor. Sides range from $1 to $3 and include a rotating selection of classic Southern comfort food—potato salad, sweet tea, cornbread, collard greens and occasionally sweet potato pie. It's one of the best lunches in Santa Fe, hands-down.
Lunch and Early Dinner
Tuesday-Saturday
.$.
St. Michael's Drive and Cerrillos Road, 505-303-8808
