Absolutely fabulous lunch here the other day after our trip to the quirky, fun Bayernhof museum…read more Like any really good BBQ place, you smell the goodness before you even get there. In this case, a *giant* smoker is just outside the front door, and man oh man, is it loaded with yumminess --- ribs, chicken, brisket. (Faint!)
The place, originally opening in the 1890's (!!), is a real throwback, despite their having to rebuild sometime ago after a bad flood.
The current owners - with their families - are some serious hard workers, and the output is just terrific.
One of the owners waited on us, a charming Pittsburgher (not sure if it was Chad or Nick) who has an infectious passion for both good beer and his fine food.
I got the recommended oatmeal stout which I really enjoyed - smooth, nutty, flavorful. My husband enjoyed his wheat beer. Both of these from the fairly extensive draft list.
The food is the real star, tho.
Our foursome started with fried green tomatoes - a nice crunch with a good, lightly spicy wing-style sauce. AND ---- the favorite of all of us: smoked chicken wings. MOMMA. These are a signature item for good reason. Order a 1/2 dozen or dozen. They are on the medium side, plump and juicy, with a tasty dust. Perfectly cooked. Apparently they start smoking them in the morning! Dreamy!
The owner brought us some fabulous sauces, along with homemade blue cheese dressing, for dipping. The highly-popular "Moonshine" bbq sauce was our fave, hands down. The House sauce was a bit plain but good. The 1/2 n 1/2 - with House sauce and (I think) Carolina BBQ sauce was good. Next time, I'll try their habanero bbq sauce - I think they call it "Hot Hooves."
My friend & I split the pulled smoked chicken sammie with a side of really good, home made collard greens. The greens were quite good - not bitter at all - high praise from this Southern gal! The sandwich was great - with chunky bits of smoked chicken, but honestly - you could just eat those fab smoked wings!
My husband enjoyed his brisket sandwich. I'm not a big red meat girl, so I can't speak to the flavor.
My sister in law got a straaaaange experience -- the gigantic pretzel with 2 smoked meats (pork & chicken) accompanied by a side of Mac & cheese. She wanted to have leftovers, and boy did she get her wish! Yikes. Too weird for me.
They have a small outdoor space at the back. We enjoyed the front section with the giant bar. There's also more seating in the back.
They have special nights for their delicious food---- those fab wings are super cheap on Tuesday; cheaper meat platters on Wednesdays; & Saturdays are cheap tacos ---- the place was once a taco/Mexican restaurant, apparently.
We will most definitely be back!!!