There was some place up on 14th St NW that sucked. Badly. It had the appearance that it might be good - big stack of logs in the window. Just a window behind bullet-prof glass where you order and pick. To no avail.
There's Hogs on the Hill. Which may have been good on one of my visits, but was really not on my next time back. A few others. And then there was this, which I stumbled upon one afternoon while taking a drive to have lunch...
Remember, we were going to lunch, so we didn't stop.
We stopped on the way back instead. To greet this guy, who was manning the smokers...
And selling his wares out of this portable unit...
It's The Tender Rib, which is evidently in this parking lot, in the middle of nowhere out near RFK Stadium, on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. He fortunately has a website and a bricks and mortar operation as well, since we'd just had lunch and didn't order anything.
But he ran over to the car and insisted we try his ribs...
How were they? Simply, the best ribs I've tried in the area. And actually, maybe as good as any others I've tried. Pink ring, nice and smoky, Tender, juicy with just the right amount of chew. A rub that's not overpowering but complimentary to the flavor of the pork. There wasn't any sauce on these samples; they didn't need any. I can't wait to try out all of his stuff out of restaurant. Soon.
Interesting enough, there's another guy who operates his smoker in a parking lot and out of an old bus parked off of Rhode Island Avenue. In a Safeway parking lot. Mr. P's Ribs and Fish. Supposed to be good. Last time I stopped there, he was closed.
And I can't forget, of course, that the big news is that Hill Country has opened a huge restaurant, two weeks ago in Penn Quarter. It has a lot of people confused, both on the quality and the whole ticket shebang. I'll let it settle in before I head over there for some damned good brisket.
