Tender at the Rib - Exploring BBQ Around DC

With a year and a half of traveling to DC on a fairly regular basis now under my belt, I still don't really have an opinion on what's the best barbecue anywhere in the area. So much of what I've tried is pretty bad; bad enough where I have no remembrance of the names. There was some place up on 14th St NW that sucked. Badly. It had the appearance that it might be good - big stack of logs in the front window. Inside, just a bullet-proof glass window where you ordered and picked up...like at a bank or a post office. To no avail. There's Hogs on the Hill. Which may have been good on one of my visits, but was really not on my next time back. And a few others. But then there was this, which I stumbled upon one afternoon while taking a drive with a friend to have lunch...

Remember, we were going to lunch, so we didn't stop. We stopped on the way back instead. To greet this guy, who was manning the smokers...

And selling his wares out of this portable unit...

It's The Tender Rib, which is evidently parked right smack dab in the middle of this parking lot, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere out near RFK Stadium, on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. Actually, it's on Benning Road NE, if that helps. They fortunately have a website to go along with their bricks and mortar operation, since we'd just had lunch and didn't order anything. But he ran over to our car and insisted we try at least a taste of his ribs...

So how were they? Simply, the best ribs I've tried in the area. And actually, maybe as good as any others I've tried. Pink ring, nice and smoky, Tender, juicy with just the right amount of chew. A rub that's not overpowering but complimentary to the flavor of the pork. There wasn't any sauce on these samples; they didn't need any. I can't wait to try out all their barbecue and a trip to the restaurant is in our immediate future...

Interestingly enough, there's another guy who operates his smoker in a parking lot and out of an old bus parked off of Rhode Island Avenue. In a Safeway parking lot. It's called Mr. P's Ribs and Fish. Supposed to be good. Last time I stopped there, Mr. P was closed. And I can't forget, of course, about the big news; Hill Country BBQ has opened a huge (300 seats) restaurant in DC, two weeks ago in the Penn Quarter neighborhood. Currently, it has a lot of people confused; about the quality, about the ordering and about the whole ticket shebang, which works sort of like Katz's, so here's a tip...if it works for Katz's, it works. I'm going to let it settle in before Significant Eater and I head over there for what I hope is some damned good brisket.

Finally, on my drive down to DC this past Wednesday, I made a stop at Red, Hot and Blue Barbecue, which is just outside of Annapolis, and an easy hop-off, hop-on from Route 50, from which it's quite visible. I've heard about them for a long time (there are 3 Maryland locations and it's a franchise - who knew?!) and figured I'd bring home a sack full of stuff so SE and I could eat 'cue and watch the finale of Top Chef. I brought home a sampler of ribs, brisket and sausage.

And you know what? The Top Chef finale was so much better than our dinner, it wasn't even close.