Pit Beef At Smokin' Hot In Glenwood

Pit beef sandwich at Smokin' Hot

Is there a better reason to hit than the road than pit beef?

Smokin' Hot in Glenwood is a casual bar and restaurant.  They clearly pack the place with music and crowds during drinking hours, but they have a nice menu with barbecue for lunch and dinner.

My first hit -- the pit beef piled high and served with Smokin' Hot's nine-pack of house-made hot sauce.  This isn't just "mild, medium, hot."  Smokin' Hot offers a real range of flavors -- from a mild mayo-base to vinegar barbecue to really smokey and spicy.

I broke down my sandwich and forked smoked meat into sauces that I had spread on my platter.  This is excellent meat.  Full of flavor, but still juicy and tender.  I'd love to hold a taste-test, but for now, I'll hold it against my favorite at Pioneer Pit Beef.  The choice of sauces isn't Baltimore traditional, but the meat is good enough to make its own way.

Keep Smokin' Hot in mind for when the weather warms.  The strawberries will ripen at Larriland Farm sooner than you expect, and Smokin' Hot make a perfect lunch stop.  People vouch for all the barbecue, and I want to try the ribs.

Smokin' Hot
2465 Route 97
Glenwood, MD 21738
(410) 489-6001

NEAR:  Smokin' Hot is in a shopping center on Rte 97.  It's just south of U.S. 70, which makes it an easy place to hit on the way back from Larriland.  From eastern Howard County, it's probably best to take Rte 32 or Rte 144 and then work over the Rte 97.

Cobbler And Hot Sauces At Smokin' Hot -- And Apparently Good BBQ To Go WIth Them

Hot sauces at Smokin' Hot

My friend DonkeyKong went to Larriland Farms last weekend for apple-picking, hay-riding, pumpkin-choosing, and cider-drinking and found lunch in Glenwood by stumbling on Smokin' Hot off of Route 97.

I'd just mentioned that Smokin' Hot was expanding in its location near Bushy Park Elementary and the Glenwood Library.  The Kong family ordered up, and they were so pleased that they took two pictures and knocked off a guest post.  But DonkeyKong was so excited by the hot sauces and dessert that I didn't even mention what meats he had.

Like every other place worth dining at in Howard County, Smokin' Hot was in a non-descript strip mall, but what wasn't non-descript was the great selection of house-smoked pit meats, phenomenal cobblers, and 12 original barbeque hot sauces delivered to the table for mixing and matching with your order.  

Sweet potato cobbler for dessert!

I'm a hot sauce junkie -- once even eating a peanut butter and salsa sandwich in college -- and there is no greater joy in my dining out than being presented with an array of sauces and testing them out on my index finger before a meal.  I probably could order just Smokin' Hot's condiments as a side and be satisfied.  The sauces range from a mayo-based "Alabama White" to a two vinegar-based sauces (one hot, one sweet) to honey-flavored smokiness to straight up peppery heat.  If I were a hot sauce mixologist (and there's no reason I can't be), this place would be my bar.  The only problem: The sandwiches and platters (while large) were too small for all my mixing and matching.

For dessert, we decided to devour a sweet potato cobbler.  The menu had an apple cobbler, a peach one, and a Dr. Pepper Chocolate cake.  All of them seemed to be straight out of a Southern cookbook, one where ham is a spice and soda is a necessary ingredient.  That means the desserts are great and non-non-fattening.  We discussed that for Thanksgiving we'd be taking an array of Smokin' Hot cobblers home to present as our own rather than try to create something far more pedestrian and certainly less pleasing.

Vittorio Opens In Glenwood (Former Pasta Blitz)

The new Vittorio restaurant opened in Glenwood on Wednesday.  This is the former Pasta Blitz, which changed names like several of that small chain.

I haven't been to Vittorio, but I'm happy for every opening, grand opening or re-opening.  The Vittorio folks have a Facebook page.  I'm unclear whether people are commenting in Spanish or whether my weak Spanish actually lets me read more Italian than I'd expect.

Anyone tried the food yet?

Vittorio
2490 Route 97
Glenwood, MD 21738
410-489-5800

NEAR:  Vittorio is on Rte 97 south of Rte 144 and U.S. 70.   It is close to, but south of, the Glenwood Library.

Pasta Blitz Keep Changing - Welcome To The New Anthony's In Clarksville And Vittorio in Glenwood

The local Pasta Blitz chain always seemed like a group that shared a name, but not a coherent identity and apparently not a single set of owners.

The one on Johns Hopkins Road became Facci Ristorante.  This week, the Clarksville location has changed its name to Anthony's -- as shown in the photo that Dave sent me.  Now Gianni has left a comment raving about the Italian wines at Facci and saying that the hostess there said the Pasta Blitz in Glenwood will take on a new menu and name as Vittorio.

Link: Smokin Hot On Grub Grade

Smokin Hot in Glenwood provided Adam of GrubGrade with a feast a day after his Thanksgiving feast -- and Adam recommends the barbecue and the kale with smoked turkey.  Adam talks up the pit club sandwich -- with some humor that makes GrubGrade worth checking out for local posts.  He would like some improvements on the in-house feel and the sweet potato fries, but he recommends Smokin Hot as one of greater Baltimore's better spots for barbecue.

Smokin' Hot Moving Indoors

Smokin' Hot and 'Q in Glenwood is taking the fire indoors.

Since last fall, Smokin' Hot has been a BBQ trailer operating the parking lot outside St. Andrews Episcopal Church.  Yesterday, I hear, they closed on a real estate deal to take over the space of a Glenwood restaurant that closed.

Look for Smokin' Hot to start taking customer soon in a soft opening with a grand opening later.

Smokin' Hot and 'Q (soon to open)
2465 Route 97
Glenwood, MD 21738
(410) 489-6001

I'm not naming the existing restaurant because I don't want to be mistaken about whether it has closed, relocated, etc.  I'm just pleased for Brett Arnold and the Smokin' Hot team.