DC & DelMarVa BBQ Club

[otello]

just got through - open 11 to 8 on sundays. cash only. no seating.

[Busboy]

As I mentioned above, Rock Creek park is a quick jaunt from there. Hell, so is my house, but the front porch only seats 8.

At any rate, I'd be happy to cruise for an easy-to-find -- and shaded -- picnic site, meet up at the Pit and guide people there, if folks want to eat somewhere beside their cars.

May need a volunteer to guard the site whilst ribs are procured, or we can take our chances.

[bbq4meanytime]

I'll eat at Busboys, Rockcreek or in my car. Just tell me where to meet.

[Turtleboy]

The Rib Pit is. . . to use a politically incorrect term, Ghetto.

Dingy and dirty, it's only a tiny walk up counter with no seats, and barely any place to congregate. There is a thick wall of bulletproof glass that separates you from your order taker.

But ohh.....

Those ribs...

[Malawry]

I have too much going on this weekend, but will try to make a future gathering if possible. Have fun!

[otello]

why don't we just meet there at 1pm and take it from there?

[mktye]

why don't we just meet there at 1pm and take it from there?

Sounds good!

Any distinguising characteristics so we'll recognize you otello?

[otello]

why don't we just meet there at 1pm and take it from there?

Sounds good!

Any distinguising characteristics so we'll recognize you otello?

i'll be wearing a red baseball hat and (hopefully) with my wife, unless an estate sale captures her fancy.

[Busboy]

I just drove by the place -- it is literally 2 minutes from Rock Creek Park. Of course, scoring a picninc table is another matter....

And, lest there be any confusion, while the Rib Pit itself is kind of a grimly decorated establishment, the surrounding neighborhood is a thriving, multi-ethnic, multi-income neighborhood that may bear further exploration, based on its Latin and Carribean restaurants and markets.

Edited June 26, 2004 by Busboy (log)

[bbq4meanytime]

I'll be there, 1 pm. Save me parking spot

[Busboy]

Do we have a rough count? I guess I'm in, w Mrs. Busboy. Has the motorcade to the park gone from suggestion to assumption? Should we all remember to bring our own beverages?

[mktye]

If it is not a problem, our friend Mrs. S would like to come along, so that would be three of us.

We'll keep an eye out for your red baseball cap otello. Mr. mktye's military haircut will probably give us away, if not, our lost & confused expressions will also be a clue.

Going to the park seems an excellent idea to us as long as someone leads the way--we tend to lose all ability to navigate whenever we are on that side of the Potomac. Should we bring along some chairs in case a picnic table is not available?

[hwilson41]

Hi folks; I'm a little late to this party, and won't be able to join for at least three weeks due to vacation, but a word about Johnny Boy's Ribs on Rt 301 just south of La Plata. They used to be the best Q in that part of MD hands down. But it has passed from an older head to an heir, and the word I get from one who definitely knows is that all the wood smokers have been replaced by ovens that run on natural gas. It used to be Hickory. NG BBQ might be good, and can be great, but IMHO it'll never touch the genuine wood smoked stuff. Just a thought, and a comparison with one who is doing true wood smoking would be very interesting.

THW

[otello]

All who can make it are welcome. I'm going stop for drinks prior to getting there. I'm bringing a chair. So we're:

otello (plus one more possibly)

mkte +2

busboy

bbq4meanytime

hillvalley

anyone else?

here's a map:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?count...arch=++Search++

Edited June 26, 2004 by otello (log)

[hillvalley]

I'm in

[otello]

The inaugural meeting of the DCBBQ club took place yesterday. We all met at the Rib Pit at 1pm. After some introductions, we placed our order:

3 slabs of pork ribs

2 pulled pork sandwiches

2 brisket sandwiches

2 large sides of greens, beans, mac 'n cheese and coleslaw

Total: $100.76 (about $11 or $12 a person)

Somehow the rib tips we planned to order got lost in the shuffle. What shuffle, you ask? Well, it seemed like everyone who came into the place to order, which was take out only, insisted on talking to (make that yelling at) us about the food, their bathing habits, and current events (like the drowning of the poor kid who was the rowing coach from UVA in the potomac; I'll let someone else tell that part, which was VERY funny - no, I'm not crazy or depraved, you had to be there). It's not like we were looking to talk to these people, believe me, they were clearly looking to talk to us, and boy they did. It took about 20 minutes to get the food after ordering (there was only one guy taking orders behind the two-inch thick glass, hence the wait) and during that whole time we were regaled with tales from the locals.

After we got the food, the convoy drove west to Rock Creek Park, where Mrs. Busboy and the Busboy's daughter/photographer had secured picnic area 26 for our enjoyment. We set up shop and dug in. Perfect day for a picnic.

How was the food, you ask? The consensus I think was that the food was good, not great. Their sauce was too sweet for our collective taste. Meat-wise, I liked the non-baby back pork ribs the most, but the sweetness of the sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the meat. Next time, and for future outings, I think we'll get the ribs dry, and sauce them to our own taste.

Somehow the sauce for the pulled pork was even sweeter than what was on the ribs. Not a good thing.

As for the brisket sandwich, I rank it between the ribs and pulled pork, but hardly special.

I liked the greens the best, finely chopped with lots of flavor. The slaw and beans were nothing special. The mac 'n cheese was good, as well (but, then again, I love mac 'n cheese out of the box).

The place is legit, cooking with wood (I couldn't tell what type - should have asked), reeking of smoke aromas (the glass partition notwithstanding). The meat had the smokey flavor we all seek, but was comprised by a BBQ sauce that the group for the most part seeks to avoid.

I think the assembled group prefers more bite to the BBQ sauce, and this place's sauce didn't have it.

As we do more of these, I think we'll get the ordering down pat. Given that the place was takeout and we had to drive to the picnic area to eat, it turned out great. This was probably as logistically difficult an outing as we're likely to encounter.

Having said all that, for $11 or so a person (excluding drinks), the value was really outstanding. Having a group of eight or so (or more) permits us to order and sample alot of different things and not worry about waste.

More importantly, I enjoyed meeting everybody and the good conversation. I think that we have the beginnings of a good group. Thanks to all who made this happen. See ya next month.

Otello

[hillvalley]

The greens were even better at midnight after I doctored them up a bit. A little bit of vinegar goes a long way.

otello summed up the food very nicely. They need to take the sweet out of all their food. But even sweet BBQ in the park with other food freaks on a beautiful Sunday is always delicious.

I think the regulars got a big kick out of us standing around waiting for $100 worth of BBQ.

Thanks to otello for setting this up and to Mrs. Busboy and Princess Busboy for saving out picnic spot. We should add a bottle of hot sauce to bbq4me's picnic box for future sweet encounters

[bbq4meanytime]

Otello, nice summary. There was something off (in addition to/other than the sweetness) about the sauce. Ahh but you can't beat BBQ in the park on a nice day. I'll be sure to stock some hot stuff too next time.

Edit: that Pupusaria 2 doors down makes some good pupusas revueltas too!

Edited June 28, 2004 by bbq4meanytime (log)

[mktye]

More thank-you's to otello from us and Mrs. S.-- we all had a great time and are glad you got this group started. Also thank you to the busboys for the logistical assistance and to bbq4meanytime for bringing his big box of essential picnic items.

When I tasted some of the BBQ sauce on a piece of that oh-so-yummy-bread, I noted there was celery seed in the sauce (but none in the coleslaw ). Perhaps this was the "off" taste in the sauce? I also concur with the general consensus of too much sweet and not enough hot.

I'm having lunch this Wednesday with a friend from Port Tobacco and I'll quiz her on what is currently considered the best BBQ in Charles County. Also, I'll ask if she has any ideas for something else to do while down there (but I can already imagine her hysterical laughing...).

Looking forward to the next get-together and I'll be sure to wear olive drab cargo pants and a black shirt!

[hillvalley]

Looking forward to the next get-together and I'll be sure to wear olive drab cargo pants and a black shirt!

You know we spent hours coming up with that outfit

By the way, on behalf of everyone else, your husband is wrong. You can bring your bread anytime you want. Please tell Mrs. S that she is welcomed at any and all future meetings.

[mnebergall]

Looking forward to the next get-together and I'll be sure to wear olive drab cargo pants and a black shirt! 

You know we spent hours coming up with that outfit

By the way, on behalf of everyone else, your husband is wrong. You can bring your bread anytime you want. Please tell Mrs. S that she is welcomed at any and all future meetings.

What, the club has a uniform? No one told me about that. I will have to notify my haberdasher. Or is it a sort of camoflauge only for use in urban-suburban club meetings, and not meant for the more serious rural investagatory work where they might not understand?

[hillvalley]

I reheated the rest of the greens for a late night snack. They are vile. No amount of doctoring could fix it. Just mushy, salt flavored greens. I think with the one bite I fullfilled my sodium intake for the next few weeks. So sad.

[mktye]

I finally had the opportunity to talk with my friend about Charles County BBQ places. Her thoughts:

Their favorite BBQ is T&J's on 225 between La Plata and Indian Head. She said their sauce is not overly sweet. This place is also a long-time favorite of employees of the Indian Head Navy base and Mr. mktye has eaten there before (but only had the chicken which he liked).

She also said George's on 210 in Indian Head is pretty good, but they go more for the excellent collard greens than the BBQ (they prefer T&J's).

Another place she recommended is B&J's on 210 (the purple building) across from the National Colonial Farm. However, she does not think they have ribs, only pulled pork and ???

Lastly, she is not a fan of Johnny Boy's on 301 either and said she finds their BBQ dry and non-descript.

As to other things to do while in Charles County... The National Colonial Farm off of 210 has a nice picnic area with a great view of Mount Vernon across the river. They also have farming exhibits and heirloom breeds of farm animals (chickens, pigs and such).

General Smallwood State Park in Indian Head is another option for sitting and eating the BBQ. We just need to be sure to bring the insect repellant!

My friend has never been, but said that Hard Bargain Farm (also off of 210) has occasional evening concerts. More info. here.

As to logistics... T&J's and George's are only about 5 miles apart, so it would probably be worth it to go to both (at the very least to try the greens at George's). B&J's is about 10 miles up the road from George's. So, if we don't mind somewhat lukewarm BBQ, we could also try to hit all three and then picnic at the National Colonial Farm.

[hillvalley]

What happened to the pics from last time? otello? bbq?

[otello]

What happened to the pics from last time? otello? bbq?

I will get them up shortly. Sorry for the delay. How about July 31st for the next meeting of the club?