Upon our return from Argentina, BB suggested meeting up for dinner. BBQ, always a crowd favorite – at least in our crowd – was quickly chosen and Smokin’ Q, the destination.
Late one Thursday night, we gathered in the near-empty place in midtown east. I wasn’t surprised to see how empty it was- it was recently open, and pretty late for dinner. As we sat there, idly examining our menus, discussing our choices, and just chatting, a few minutes had passed before finally one of us decided to flag down the waiter.
“We’re ready to place our order,” she said politely.
The waiter looked surprised for a moment, and finally said, “Oh, this is cafeteria style. Place your order up at the front, and we’ll bring it to you.”
We all shrugged; no big deal, and hustled to the front to place our orders.
‘scuse the blur… I was really tired that night
StB‘s ribs, baked beans and collard greens. Review to come…
HB’s ribs, baked beans and potato salad.
My two-meat platter. I had to try the ribs, and I am pretty much in love with pulled pork (yes, I would marry the porcine goodness, if that were legal, although I’d promptly get jailed for um, eating my partner, and then I’d marry some more, and ooh…). Funny story: I actually ordered macaroni & cheese and fries as my sides, since I didn’t want beans, envisioning, well, beany goodness with lots of beans and lots of… gas… later. I have to be in the mood for beans. Mac & cheese is so easy to make but so easy to f* up, so I like to try this at various BBQ places to see how good it is… and some places try to church it up just too much using fancy cheeses, which I’m sure is great sometimes, but sometimes you just want some mac & cheesey goodness even if it’s not glamorous! Enough of my rant. Back to the funny story. So I ordered mac & cheese and fries, at the cashier’s recommendation (when I asked- she said beans first, which I said no to). When my platter came out, I passed it along since I didn’t order beans, but the owner came out and said “Oh those are for you, I wantd you to try them because I really think you’ll like them!”
And you know what? I did. I liked them bes out of any of the sides I tried, and was really glad he’d insisted on my trying them. Not too beany- sometimes baked beans are super thick and just beany goodness, which can be good, and wasn’t what I was in the mood for that night- but almost a soup of beans and pulled pork or brisket pieces insterspersed and delicious in the smoky flavors and the sweetness of the beans. Wow, these were good. I might even say – dare I say it? – the best baked beans I’ve ever had.
***Disclaimer: I can’t say I’ve had a whole lot of baked beans in my life, but yeah, these were the best I’ve had so far.
The fries were standard, good for munching but not outstanding.
The pulled pork was absolutely delicious as well, extremely tender, fatty in all the right ways, and succulent. The ribs, however- well, I’m of the belief that there are two kinds of ribs in this world: falling off the bone tender ribs, and… not. Since I grew up eating the “not” way, I actually prefer the falling off the bone tender kind, that you don’t lift to your mouth and chew. While that has its merits, it’s not my preference, and these were definitely the kind you bite off the bone. Good, but not my cup of tea- I always find these a bit dry and in need of some BBQ sauce (which was supplied on the table very handily, sweet and smokey or spicy).
The mac & cheese took a while to come out, and the owner kept coming out to apologize- I’m guessing they were just being made, which is fine in my book! When it was finally ready, he brought out two for us to try, as an apology. It was alright, didn’t stick out in my mind, and my friends all tried some and thought it was only alright as well.
The owner, interestingly enough, came out to offer us dessert on the house as well, and talked to us for a bit about his previous restaurants and the restaurant business in general. He was a really nice guy, really friendly, and something of a character. Definitely a nice touch to a great evening.
As for dessert- well, once he said Gael Greene said his banana pudding was fantastic, we all decided to give that a go. I’ve never had banana pudding before, but having read Homesick Texan’s recipe for banana pudding a few months ago, I was keen on trying it.
Each dessert arrived piled high in a soup bowl, and we all exchanged looks that said “Uh, is he kidding us? We’re not going to finish that.” I’d even packed half of my dinner to go (for lunch the next day) – and mind you, it was really delicious the next day, oh my, I’m drooling just thinking about it – but back to dessert. I dipped my spoon into the banana goodness and was pleased to find… it tasted like bananas. I liked it, though not enough to finish more than a couple of bananas coated with pudding (I’m not a big sweets person, you see), and was a bit confused, perhaps disappointed to find no cookies strewn throughout like Homesick Texan’s version. HB said it tasted like artificial banana candy. StB said it was only alright, and BB echoed these sentiments, while I valiantly tried to like it, since I’d liked the owner and found it a shame to have a meal ruined by a bad dessert.
All in all, it was a good night, a nice, casual place for a quick dinner with friends, or perhaps even a lingering one to catch up, drink a few beers and eat some finger lickin’ food. I would definitely go back, though the location puts it off my beaten path and isn’t near anything I’d be going to afterwards. The pulled pork was really good though, I dare say. (Still not better than Dinosaur BBQ, my favorite BBQ place!)
Yvo says: Worth checking out, if BBQ is your thing. A big flat screen TV showed sports, and when some young frat-looking guys entered the place, the owner asked them what they fancied on the TV, switching it to… I believe it was gymnastics (you can’t make this stuff up). I liked the homey feel of the place, and having the owner come chat with us is always nice. The prices were completely reasonable – my entire meal came out to just over $20 – and the food was solidly good, with some stuff reaching outstanding, and other stuff being alright. I’m sure there are other things on the menu we didn’t discover that are great, too!
recommended
krunkymunky says
have you been to hill country?
(mouth watering)
Khanh says
I was never a fan of pulled pork…until I tried Dinosaur BBQ! and those potatoes dipped in butter (can’t remember what they’re called)…absolute artery clogger but ohhhh soooo gooood.
I second Hill Country only for their beef ribs and you gotta mix a little bit of their lean and fatty brisket. I do not eat coleslaw anywhere else but at Hill Country.
The best mac&cheese I’ve had is at Chat&Chew in Union Square.
Love your site!
soopling says
I’m down for eat outings!