I wrote about RG's BBQ Cafe on Tuesday. I loved ribs, collars and corn bread. Other people have snapped up specials like bacon-wrapped quail and barbecued lamb shank. This is new management for the U.S. 1 barbecue spot, and it's serious folks.
So use today's Groupon as an excuse. Rob pointed it out to me. For $10, you can feast on $20 of barbecue some time in the next four months. Stop in. I think you'll be happy to go back at full price.
They were closed today at lunchtime for "gas repairs." We were disappointed, but I guess not blowing up is important.
ReplyDeleteThey were open by 12:45. Pork sandwich was good, and the Old Bay fries were out of this world - right combination of extra crisp outside and tender but not mushy inside. The naked ones had plenty of flavor without even needing salt. Gadsby was on hand too - not willing to talk about Vanegas until negotiations and settlement are official, but said he's basically looking to make some investments in himself now after working for other owners for so long. A BBQ Cafe though? Odd hybrid, but it works. Cleanest I've ever seen the place.
ReplyDeleteWe tried RG's last night. At 8:30, the place was still pretty crowded. I had the BBQ Lamb Shank and, while it was not a large piece of meat, it was very tender, had good flavor, and went well with the mild sauce. The collard greens were very good as well, properly seasoned and not bitter. The pork ribs were excellent and fit the same mild sauce perfectly. I didn't get to try the pulled pork sandwich because my son ate it all, which he normally doesn't do, so it must have been good.
ReplyDeleteThey have 4 other sauces - a spicier one, which was a little hotter than the mild and more vinegary, a North Carolina sauce (didn't try), a sweet spicy sauce, which didn't go well with the lamb, and a smoky sauce, which was OK. Our preference was the mild sauce, which surprised me because I like spicy sauces, but I really liked the mild sauce, because of its good balance of sweet and tangy and tomatoey flavors, and the other sauces were modifications that weakened the flavor.
As mentioned above, the old bay fries were fantastic - worth the calories (but if you're watching calories, why are you in a BBQ place?)
The disappointment was the mac & cheese. It was gummy with not a lot of flavor, but with a bit of heat, which was odd in mac & cheese.
Worth returning to if I'm around US1 in the Laurel area. Don't think I'd make a special trip for it.