Lakota Bar-B-Q

My lady and I found the Lakota BBQ folks at a country fair held at Hancock Shaker Village. We both found our meal to be a wonderful BBQ experience.
All the meats were served hot and juicy. The portions were generous by my standards. I typically do not favor brisket because it tends to be too dry for my taste. However the Lakota brisket looked quite juicy. So I ordered a plate with half brisket and half pulled pork. The brisket was indeed quite juicy and flavorful, especially with the «au jus» they provided as an add-​on. The pulled pork was wonderfully smoky, moist and bursting with pork flavor. I enjoyed the tomato based BBQ sauce they use with the pulled pork. The sauce was not hot, but laced with what I would call traditional BQQ sauce spicing.
We found the side dishes to be exceptional. I am not a fan of cold slaw. The slaw served with my platter was not drowned in mayo. It was crisp, fresh and bursting with flavor that totally complimented the BBQ. I found the BBQ beans another taste treat. It was made with navy, kidney and black beans in a gentle BBQ sauce with a touch of green pepper. Totally enjoyable.
Lakota BBQ was a great afternoon BBQ experience for my lady and I. Well done Lakota crew!

Smoking meat low and slow is a religion that I have practiced for 30 years, and my standards are orthodox: do pork like they do it in eastern North Carolina and brisket the way its done in west Texas. Lakota promises both but does neither — nor do they serve anything that tastes like legit barbecue from other traditions.
Ran into these folks at a street fair in Pittsfield MA one afternoon while passing through, just as I was jonesing for some Q. The custom rig they pulled to the fair was impressive: dual vertical/​direct and horizontal/​offset cookers — fired by hardwood — and the aroma drew me in like a gnat to a flame. But the brisket was tasteless shoe leather and the pulled pork a meaty mush (no pull strands) drowned in a forgettable tomato based sauce. The sides were little better: bland, watery and fibrously chewy beans with a helping of cole slaw swimming in thinly seasoned mayo. Only the cornbread was respectable — but they only served up a 1″ cube of this with each meal (seriously?!)
Ok, so street fairs are not restaurant cookery and should be judged less harshly (hence the two stars) — and I get that this is a catering outfit that probably mostly does fund raisers for local municipalities, fire departments and churches — but hey — at least serve up edible Q if you represent yourself as flamboyantly skilled as these folks did. Disappointing at any price and even my dog, who likes Q, would not eat the rest of my brisket.