Hill Country BBQ

BBQ is one of those down-home comforting kind of meals that just feels like a great big hug when you eat it. And sometimes its hard to find really good BBQ thats not over cooked or over processed or accompanied by sides that taste like it came out of a can or a blue box. Because BBQ is not just about the meat. Ok, its mostly about the meat but its also about the side dishes that come with the meat, things like mashed potatoes, mac n' cheese, corn, cornbread...

My brother-in-law turned us onto a great BBQ joint in DC called Hill Country.  Its a unique dining experience with some great BBQ, great sauces, and great sides! Its not like a regular restaurant where the waitress brings you everything.  She brings your drinks (served in glass mason jars...how cute!) and then she gives you a ticket.  You then take your ticket up to the counter to order your meat. You can choose from beef brisket, ribs, pork chops, chicken, game hen, even sausage, among a variety of other items.  You can also order by the slice, by the rib, or by the link, as much or as little as you want.

Its a little chaotic as the meat servers are constantly shouting out meat orders for people and then they mark it on your ticket as you pick it up.  But its also kind of cool because its not like any other place I've been to. And the meat is so juicy and tender and smoky, all wrapped up in brown paper.

aahh, the messier the better! Yumm!

Once you have your meat in hand, you move over to the "sides" counter.  Baked beans with burnt ends (yumm!), mac 'n cheese, collard greens, German potatoes, sweet potato bourbon mash (you know I couldn't pass that one up!), cole slaw, potato salad, cornbread...the list goes on. And again they mark your ticket.

Then you can sit down and enjoy your meal for a while, scarfing down barbecued, saucy meat like a ravenous animal and barely using a spoon to scrape out the sweet potatoes from the bowl, all while downing a mason jar full of ice cold sweet and tart lemonade.  Man it doesn't get much better than this!

sweet potatoes (left) and cornbread (right) with honey butter

Then if you're not too full, you can take your ticket back up for seconds or sidle up to the dessert counter for some rice pudding, a pb&j cupcake, a slice of red velvet cake, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Unfortunately we were too full for any of that but they all looked very yummy! Can't wait to go back next time I get a hankering for some good ol' fashioned BBQ!!