Possible new BBQ restaurant?

[TheBoatMan]

Rosie and others,

I read over on nj.com about a new BBQ place in Madison called Pop's on Lincoln Place. Apparently the chef used to work for Emerils?

A place opened in Madison called Pop's and it is on Lincoln Place. According to the Menu, the owner/chef worked in Emerils and the menu suggests it. Po Boys, Ribs, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Fried Chicken, Burgers with Maytag Cheddar and the like. The place is basically take out but has some tables in the rear part of the restaurant. Everything has a touch of "Bam!" to it from the Cajun Fries to the BBQ sauce

Curious if anyone has any information regarding this place. Thanks.

[Rachel Perlow]

Is Lincoln Place the street with the movie theatre by the railroad station? If so, there used to be a Tiffany's BBQ take-out there, maybe "Pops" took over that location?

[Rosie]

Haven't heard anything and will check it out as soon as I have a chance. You do know that the "F" word "Food Bytes" and the name Rosie are not allowed on NJO?

[Rail Paul]

Is Lincoln Place the street with the movie theatre by the railroad station? If so, there used to be a Tiffany's BBQ take-out there, maybe "Pops" took over that location?

Lincoln Place -Yes, Tiffany's (or similar) - Yes, and Pop's -Maybe.

I'll take a ride down there on Monday and check it out. Tiffany's never impressed me (wonder how they got to use that name, isn't there a big bbq place in MoPlains and Montville with the same name?)

Madison and Chatham both seem to have a disproportionate number of restaurants for relatively small towns. All those office parks must help, but dinner's sometimes tought to get, too.

[glenn]

Haven't heard anything and will check it out as soon as I have a chance. You do know that the "F" word "Food Bytes" and the name Rosie is not allowed on NJO?

Nor is a certain infamous eguletter, AHEM, allowed to post.

[Rosie]

I called and the owner wasn't there. Whoever was on the phone sounded very young. I'll try again.

[dbrociner]

Yes, its on the street with the movie theater-train station and yes its in the spot that used to be Tiffany's. I've eaten there several times and its good for lunch or a quick bite. I've had the pulled pork sandwhich, the jumbalaya, the shrimp po boy. All were good. The owner may have worked with Emeril but this isn't going to be like eating at NOLA. He's a nice guy, I talked with him a few times. They share the dinning room with Romanelli's next door which should tell you everything you need to know about the ambiance in the place. Only let downs were the corn bread (dry as dust) and the lemonade but I'll eat there again in the next ten days. Hope this helps, David.

[Rosie]

Hey David---haven't seen you here in a long time. Welcome back. Let us know where else you have been dining.

[Poots]

After reading about it here, I decided to check out Pop's in Madison. Went for lunch yesterday, 7/24, around 12:30. Small storefront, when entering, there were two small tables and a counter with an open kitchen behind. Menu board is on the wall, and you can order there and have your food brought to you in the shared dining room with Romanelli's. The dining room had around 8 tables, but looked to have more room behind a hanging plastic wall where some construction was happening.

I had a pulled pork sandwich and an order of Cajun steak fries. This is definitely a casual eatery, but the employees were extremely nice and brought my food quickly(5 minutes). Looking around the dining room, i didn't see another person eating BBQ, so I don't know what volume of business they've been doing. The pulled pork wasn't a sloppy-joe like mush i've gotten at some places. It was some larger pieces of meat, with an adequate amount of sauce. I would have liked a little more sauce on the side for dipping, but didn't feel like making the effort to walk back around the corner to the counter to ask for it. I don't know exactly what's traditionally the bread for a pulled pork sandwich, but they use somewhat of a sub roll. This was fine with me, and i was quite happy with it. The sandwich is served with a square of cornbread. The cornbread looked good, with two grill marks on it for whatever reason i don't know. While I was happy with the sandwich, the cornbread was a vast disappointment. It was dry, and almost flavorless. The only thing that could have saved it was 1/4 stick of butter melted on top. The fries were typical steak fries, but were covered with what seemed like Paprika, and Chili powder. They really weren't all that interesting, and i only ate a handful.

I would go back, b/c i want to try the ribs and the fried chicken, and now i know where i can get a decent pulled pork sandwich. However, I think they have a little work to do.

[TheBoatMan]

Thanks for the review Poots.

[pnapoli]

finally got to visit this place. had the pulled pork sandwich, cole slaw, cajun steak fries, and apple smoked brisket w/ pecan-corn relish. the sandwich was large, and quite good, except that i wasn't nuts about the sub-style bread. the brisket was interesting--very flavorful, served on a bed of potatoes, pecans, corn, scallions. the sandwich made me too full to eat many fries, but they were pretty good, not greasy. the slaw was just OK. the menu is pretty small here, and includes a few catfish dishes, a shrimp po-boy, and of course, chicken and ribs. didn't have dessert but saw a very tempting carrot cake at the next table. dbrociner is spot-on about the ambience--there is NONE--it felt slightly weird having a server in this place.

[tkrongold]

Tried Pop's a few months ago - ribs were pretty good, but not outstanding. the pulled pork was very good. But for really fabulous ribs try Hot Rod's BBQ in Mine Hill. These are dry rub ribs. they are excellent. Everything at Hot Rod's is really good.

[Rosie]

Thanks for update. Finks seems to be the BBQ restaurant of choice of many eGulleters!