Where is the Best BBQ? (Cincinnati, Hamilton: college, inspection, live)

[goyguy]

Interesting - nobody's mentioned Goodie's, on Hamilton Ave, yet, nor has Lena's on Seymour Ave been brought up, or Rasheeda's on Montgomery Rd. There's also a small BBQ place in the Roselawn Center Building now. I don't have an opinion on them either, b/c the fam NEVER went out for 'que while I was growing up. The folks are from SC (mustard/vinegar sauce rocks!) and I guess the Cincy version didn't appeal to 'em. We'd always go to Maurice's Piggy Park or a similar place while in "Clumbya" or Charleston, but not once in da Nati did we ever indulge. A 'que joint is not a 'que joint unless there're piles n' piles of firewood outside, though.
"Everybody" knows that the best 'que is often not found in a restaurant anyways. You have to drive around AA communities on hot summer evenings. One never knows when someone will have a smoker fired up in a parking lot or along the sidewalk. Last August while I was in town, I rode past the corner of Tennessee Ave and Reading Rd and spotted several sweeeeeet-smelling clouds of smoke. A long line of people had formed between the smoke and the street. Wouldn't'cha know, the operator of the car I was in is a vegetarian. No 'que for goyguy.
And, since way before Facebook it's been a somewhat popular practice in lower-income Black households, from Walnut Hills to Lincoln Heights, to transform the kitchen into a 'que factory to help pay the bills. Family members discreetly put the word out on the street when they're open for business, and those who get there before the cops do are able to enjoy delicious BBQ and other soul food. The hosts earn some extra coin under the table and the customers leave with some true "home cooking." Being cursed with a sheltered suburban upbringing, I only learned of this through stories in the paper when one of these operations got busted. Do they still go on? Maybe - probably - but nowadays slinging crack is a faster and more lucrative way to get by in the underground economy.
I've made a mental note to put BBQ Review on the list of places for a future C-D meet-up.

[Sarah Perry]

You'll also find home-cooked meals sold in corner bars around town--I know of one where it's an every Saturday afternoon event. Probably not much chance of them getting busted, since an unfamiliar face in that place would be the equivalent of a blinking neon sign.

I once got takeout from Goodies that was so bad I had to throw it away. Must have been an off night, since I don't see how they could stay in business if the food is always like that.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by goyguy

I've made a mental note to put BBQ Review on the list of places for a future C-D meet-up.

BBQ Revue would be a great place for a meetup. It was once a Frisch's restaurant, so its a pretty big place for what is mostly a carryout.

[goyguy]

Mr 1010, if you show up Hartwell Girl & I promise to be nice. We could talk about our cats since that's something we can all agree on. LOL

Last I heard about Lena's was a year or so ago, when the owner was crying poor-mouth and had the chutzpah to ask the city for a financial bailout. The food was supposed to be excellent, if you could get the slackers out back to realize that you were there and wanted some!

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Mr 1010, if you show up Hartwell Girl & I promise to be nice. We could talk about our cats since that's something we can all agree on. LOL

Last I heard about Lena's was a year or so ago, when the owner was crying poor-mouth and had the chutzpah to ask the city for a financial bailout. The food was supposed to be excellent, if you could get the slackers out back to realize that you were there and wanted some!

Don't get your hopes up. Jack the Cat keeps me pretty much occupied at home. Right now, I need to visit the loo but Jack is asleep on my lap.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by goyguy

I've made a mental note to put BBQ Review on the list of places for a future C-D meet-up.

Then we can go next door and bowl a few frames.

[goyguy]

KT's in Reading got some fame a while back b/c of an "anatomically correct" female mannequin in a bikini the owner had placed in front. Nobody's been there either, eh?

[Ohioan58]

Here's kind of a forum spelunking exercise: on Roadfood.com there are several threads about SW Ohio eats. A few of the members discuss barbecue options around the tri-state. The posts on BBQ are scattered so I'll just post the links to the relevant threads:

Southwest Ohio and Environs (Open Chat)

WhereToEat: Cincinnati and N.Ky (open chat)

I hope the corporate interests here don't feel that these threads are directly competitive with this board.

[kjbrill]

My limited research tells me there are 4 basic regional styles of BBQ in the US. Of course, there are hundreds of variations.

1. Carolina style
2. Memphis style
3. Kansas City style
4. Texas style

Would anyone care to expound on the differences?

[goyguy]

There's only one "Carolina" style? ROTFLMAOASTC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Rolling on the floor laughing my arzz off and scaring the cat!)
Fetch the kindling for the heretic who would venture such blasphemy! (j/k)
North Carolina 'cue sauce is tomato-based, while that of SC calls for mustard, and both have vinegar in the mix. No confusion, and no contest; SC's 'cue rules. When the extended family gathered for my grandmother's funeral in NC, during the search for a place to eat in the small town afterwards we happened upon a 'cue joint with cords n' cords o' firewood piled outside - the mark of authenticity. "Mmmmm," said I, the clueless Yankee, "let's go there!" I got quizzical stares, and we ended up at a chain steakhouse across the road.
Sometime every August there's a gimongous national BBQ cook-off on the banks of the Mississippi in Memphis which draws hundreds of competitors from all over. What better place and time than in one of the 'cue capitols by the side of a lazy river on a beastly hot day? (Using the same logic, New Englanders are the #1 consumers of ice cream in the country, with spikes in sales every winter...) I read a few years ago that a team from nowhere else but Cincinnati was gaining in the rankings each time they showed up. What style they were cooking with, I don't recall.