Review: The Tender Rib

It’s not every day that we get to do our thing alongside Washington Post BBQ columnist Jim Shahnin. Jim joined us during our latest excursion to swap some “Q” stories and speak generally about the region’s barbecue. Look for his write up on our blog in the coming weeks at The Washington Post.

Our chosen restaurant for this honor – The Tender Rib in Temple Hills, Maryland. 

The Tender Rib is a familiar name to many in this area.  Although it has only been a brick and mortar restaurant for less than a year, the Tender Rib truck has been a constant sight at street festivals and events throughout the city. No worries, despite its newly found  home, on the weekends, you can still find the Tender Rib truck serving up an assortment of foods outside of RFK stadium. Just follow your nose and look for the big red and black truck billowing smoke.

The Tender Rib restaurant grabs your attention from the road with a large smoker fired up and smoking in the front parking lot.  After our meal we were looking forward to investigating it further only to learn that it was purely for decoration and advertisement… In that case – Mission Accomplished! The smoker that they use to cook the meat is inside.

The food itself was very similar to other restaurants in the area. Smokey, but you did notice a liberal salt coating. Individually, although we both ordered our usual half rack, our plates were mixed. One was meatier than the other. A few of the less meaty ribs were over cooked and lacked the subtle tug off of the bone that the meatier ones had. Additionally, some of the smaller ribs lost its texture very quickly.

When first served, the bark on the ribs was crispy, but as the temperature chilled, so did its texture -- becoming jerky-esque. We couldn’t figure out exactly what it was but our best guess is they coat the ribs with some sort of honey based mixture, giving the meat a distinct golden hue.

The sauce was also very similar to other local establishments.  We ordered the mild sauce (on the side of course).  It was sweet and was ketchup based with brown sugar. The sauce complimented the ribs well.  We also sampled the hot sauce – it definitely had a nice kick to it.

The sides were complimentary of the meal.  We recommend the cole slaw.

Presentation: 8
Tenderness: 7
Taste/Smoke Flavor: 7
Sauce: 7
Overall Impression: 7

Recommendation: Overall, the Tender Rib -- in texture and taste is very similar to the carryout’s we have reviewed in D.C. further cementing our feelings that there is a D.C. style, but more on that in the future. Of course what makes The Tender Rib stand out compared to some of the other D.C. venues -- it was nice to have a seat other than the tailgate of our car while we enjoyed our meal.

The Tender Rib, Inc.
3443 Branch Ave.
Temple Hills, MD 20748