Review: Hogs on the Hill

If you have come in and out of D.C. by car then there is a good chance that you have seen this DC establishment. "Hogs on the Hill" has the advantage of being in a prime location on New York Avenue in N.E. D.C. The large sign indicating it's location claims that if you venture inside, you will have "D.C.'s Best Hickory Smoked Barbecue". If you've read our blog, then you know what we think about proclamations such as that -- they are usually downright false. 

The atmosphere of Hogs on the Hill is pretty straight forward with a worker taking your order behind bullet proof glass and not much room to make yourself at home much less sit down. The typical D.C. takeout place that you will find outside of any normal tourist route. Get in and get out, with some food. We did just that and as usual used our trusty vehicle as a tailgate. On appearance the ribs looked like they could be half decent, but taking our first bite we knew that we had stumbled upon a place that didn't quite live up to BeltwayBBQ standards.

The issue is pretty clear with Hogs on the Hill -- the sauce. The sauce has an overpowering candy sweetness to it that one is more likely to encounter glazed on a piece of General Tso's chicken in Chinatown. If indeed these ribs were hickory smoked, you'd never know. The ribs also happened to be a bit overcooked from what we could tell. In all honesty, after a few ribs each, we decided we had to keep driving down New York Ave. towards Bowie, MD for a visit to our favorite establishment to satisfy our BBQ fix.

Presentation/Visual: Tenderness: 6
Taste/Smoke Flavor: 6
Sauce: 3
Overall Impression: 3/4
Recommendation: We can't in good conscious recommend you come here. Keep driving, even as tempting as it is to stop by for dinner when your stuck in endless traffic on New York Avenue heading home.

Review: Mr P's Ribs and Fish

It was just a parking lot in Northeast D.C., with a broken down bus. Don't judge us, we were excited as ever to visit a BBQ joint we had heard to be "authentic". After reading reviews such as this one, how could you not look forward to it?

Entering the strip mall parking lot we first encountered a seemingly broken down bus that looked pretty dead to the world, and we were getting ready to give up on our adventure before exploring further down the strip mall. Our hunger did not lead us astray, what are the odds of a second seemingly broken down bus in this parking lot? Pretty good.

For most folks this bus would probably scare them away, but for us this was a good sign. A place not full of itself, nor advertising that it was "the best of (insert area)", which usually leads to actually finding "the worst of (insert area)". We were getting good vibes and decided to go with the ribs, cole slaw, and potato salad. This came with a few slices of regular white bread....a must for any BBQ establishment worth it's sauce.

The portion of ribs was more then fair and was well smoked. The taste of the bark was fairly simple and the meat did not give off the taste of any sort of complex rub mixtures. It was pretty simple, well smoked, and well cut. This is solid, working man's BBQ. No frills, but it's done right. The sauce too was simple and down home as were the sides. There aren't any benches around, so if you are hungry be prepared to do a little tailgating in the parking lot.

Presentation:7

Tenderness: 8

Taste/Smoke Flavor: 7

Sauce: 7

Overall Impression: 8

Recommendation: It's worth making a trip out to Northeast D.C., and if you are in the area on a regular basis, it's worth working it into your regular weekday lunch plans once in a while. Good solid BBQ, you won't get the "wow" factor, but what you will get is BBQ done the way it is meant to be. Any place that doesn't write that they are the best all over the walls, and yet turns out Q better then most of their competitors in the area are good folks in our book. Check them out.

Mr. P's Ribs and Fish
514 Rhode Island Ave. NE
(Safeway parking lot - operates 11am-7pm Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays)

Casting Call for BBQ Cooks Aspiring to Open Restaurant!

We got an email from CBS asking us to pass on the info below. If you happen to apply please let us know so we can follow your progress!

WASHINGTON DC OPEN CALL
Date: Monday, February 22, 2010
Time: 10am – 3pm
Location: Zentan Restaurant/Donovan House Hotel
1155 14th Street NW, Washington, DC

We are looking for:
    * Two to five person teams with pre-existing relationships (brother and sister, mother and son, husband and wife, etc.) who would love the chance to prove that they can run a restaurant.
    * A dynamic front of house and back of house duo. One person on the team will run the front of the house and the other person on the team will be the chef and run the kitchen. All levels of experience (culinary school trained to home cook, little or no restaurant experience to a lifelong career in restaurants) will be considered.
    * Lots of energy and charisma! We're seeking personalities that pop.

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to contact me or visit our website at www.24hourrestaurantbattle.com. Anyone who is interested in attending the open call can contact us at casting24dc@gmail.com

Updated Info on New BBQ Joint in DC (Hill Country)

We've heard for several months about the future opening of Hill Country (www.hillcountryny.com), a well regarded NYC BBQ establishment, in the downtown area (410 7th St NW).

Mount Vernon Triangle Blog has some fresh information through Hill Country's liquor license application.

Looks like they be serving up live music to go along with their Q. We can't wait to review it.

Review: Bubba's BAR-B-Q

By the amount of pigs and awards on the walls of Bubba's BAR-B-Q in Falls Church, VA, one would be lead to believe that they are in for a treat. It is unfortunate that there is no way around the fact that Bubba's is just plain mediocre. We aren't sure where all the awards and local news write-ups came from that grace the walls of the establishments, but whatever those folks had to eat was not what we where having.

The ribs had a boiled flavor to them, with a sauce that had more of a gravy taste and texture to it. We realize that BBQ is not always an exact science and establishments have days off. So we might be able to chalk up our negative experience to just that, a bad day. However we can't in good conscious tell you to go out of your way to visit, so if you go, go at your own wallets and taste buds risk.

Presentation: 6

Tenderness: 5

Taste/Smoke Flavor: 3

Sauce: 3

Overall Impression: 4

Recommendation: If you are trying to knock out all the BBQ places in the area in your own BBQ search then you should probably stop by just to mark it off the list, but don't expect anything you can't get at your local grocery store frozen food section.

Bubba's Bar-B-Q

7810 Lee Highway

Falls Church, VA 22042

www.bubbasbarbq.com