Vegan Barbecue Sandwich at Khyber Pass Pub

When I visited Khyber Pass Pub for a tasting of their preview menu prior to opening (Khyber Pass Pub has now been open in it's new, Southern food inspired reincarnation since November 2010), I lamented that there wasn't a vegetarian/vegan barbecue sandwich on the veg-friendly menu.

The owners and chef of Khyber Pass Pub rectified that situation very quickly — I believe I saw a tweeted picture of the vegan barbecue sandwich a few weeks or so after their opening — but it took me a little while longer to pay a return visit for some 'cue.

The vegan barbecue sandwich comes with a heapin' mound of soft seitan stands drenched with vinegar-tomato sauce, topped with sweet coleslaw, all on a soft, but substantial roll. This sandwich is a dripper, but, oh, so good. The barbecue sauce is extremely tangy, and a bit spicy, so it's hard to taste the coleslaw, especially since the neutral-flavored seitan doesn't counteract the vinegar in the sauce like pork would.

I was especially wooed by the side of vegan collards — perfectly braised with bits of garlic and celery cooked to sweet oblivion in a flavorful potlikker that would give traditional ham hock potlikkers a run for their money. Really, some of the best collards I've had in this town.I'll also recommend the big-ass Mason jar of Bourbon and lemonade, which I believe is called Louisville Lightning on the cocktail list. Makes me wish I were at a real barbecue, sitting outside soaking up the sun.

Khyber Pass Pub
56 S. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-238-5888
Bar: every day 11am-2am
Kitchen: every day 11am-1am

El Camino Real

Can't decide if you want Mexican or Texas bbq? Do you like mounds of seitan? El Camino Real in Liberties Walk has you covered!

Endless chips and salsa are not complimentary at El Camino Real. They'll set you back $1 per person, which is a tad lame, but the chips do come dusted with a tasty mix of spices, if you're into that (I am). Smoked pico de gallo and salsa verde will be your chip dips.

Pitchers of margaritas are di rigueur, and our passion fruit margaritas, one of the fruit flavors of the day, did us just right. We did not measure the contents, but my gut feeling (and from experience) is that the pitchers at the popular and neighboring Cantina Dos Segundos are a tad larger, albeit $2 more expensive. El Camino Real lets you spice up your margaritas with cayenne and chili, though. But they don't do frozen margaritas, like Dos Segungo does. Ah, the margarita conundrum!
This crispy fried jalapeno popper (one of four) stuffed with cheese and topped with a sweet and tangy homemade apricot red onion marmalade, might be one of the best jalapeno poppers I've ever had. I have a thing for sweet and tangy onion marmalade, though.
That would be melted cheese in that there popper. (I keep typing "pooper.")
I blame the boy's expert enchilada-making family, but if there is an enchilada in sight, it's on his plate. Cheese, seitan, fried egg, and fried corn dough made soft with red chili sauce. What's not to like? Well, El Camino Real puts a crispy fried tortilla under all that mess adding an unexpected and desirable crunch. It's like a way, way, way better (and different) Taco Bell Double Decker.
This picture is a little deceiving, but there is a ton of locally made Ray's seitan bathed in bbq wing sauce on that plate of veggie wings. And it's not even the double order. At $7.50 for the normal order, I'd consider buying seitan from El Camino Real instead of the grocery store if I lived a bit closer. Tangy, mustardy, with a little heat, the only improvement to the wing sauce for my tastes would be to make it a tad sweeter . . . but not sickly sweet.

El Camino Real: a little bit Mexican, a little bit Texas bbq, and a whole lotta seitan.

El Camino Real
1040 N. 2nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19123
215-925-1110
Lunch: Mon-Fri, 11am-4pm
Dinner: 5pm-1am, bar til 2am
Brunch: Sat & Sun, 10am-4pm

Percy Street Barbecue

I'm not from Texas, and I've never eaten Texas barbecue, but that don't matter, 'cause I'm not here for the barbecue at Percy Street. I'm here for the sides!

I have eaten sides at a few real Texas barbecue joints, but it was so long ago that it might as well have never happened. So, this will not be a "this ain't how they do it in Texas" review of chef Michael Solomonov and Erin O'Shea's recreation and interpretation of Texas barbecue.

A bar slinging whiskey cocktails will greet you at the door, and then Percy Street opens up to a rustic, large open space with long wood tables for larger parties, and brown easy-to-wipe pleather-topped two tops. Two large menu blackboards are hung on rolling doors, and ample light shines through the wall of front windows in the daytime.

A roll of paper towels are brought to the table so you can help yourself to all the napkins you want. Fill up your glass from a large jar of water brought to the table, as well.
Percy Street gives a nod to vegetarians and vegans with a vegan chili on the menu, but unfortunately not all of their veggie sides, which come in cup or bowl size, are vegetarian.

Vegetarian: vegan chili, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, chopped salad, and green bean salad.
Not vegetarian: root beer chili, pinto beans, German potato salad, collard greens, and black eyed pea salad.

We got everything that was fit to eat, except for the green bean salad, which is only available at dinner. Also, note that collards are also only available at dinner. Not sure why they don't offer the entire menu all day, since the menu is pretty short, but they don't.
Mac and cheese is the lone side that does not come in both cup and bowl size, so if you want some mac and cheese you're just gonna have to pony up for the larger bowl size. The hot croc of crumb-topped, cheesy, greasy mac and cheese is good, and will make most happy, but nothing makes this restaurant-style mac and cheese stand out from all the others around town. Props for using macaroni noodles, though.
The mayo-based cabbage and carrot coleslaw gets better as you eat it down; the bottom of the cup marinates longer in the dressing and is more flavorful than the top. A little umpf from maybe a tad more acid or sugar might brighten up the whole thing from top to bottom, but not a disagreeable coleslaw at all.
A soupy stew of black beans, seitan, carrots, and tomatoes is spiced with chili powder, and besides being slightly salty, is a fine chili, but no better than most chilis I've sampled at friend's house parties. I never even considered ordering the chopped salad, but my partner did, and this dish turned out to be my favorite despite being topped with two of the worst deviled eggs I've had in recent memory — filling was strangely silky, like pure mayonnaise without the grainy texture and body the cooked egg yolk provides that's normally added back in, and way too salty. But underneath those deviled eggs is a melange of black beans, lettuce, shredded carrots, red onions, avocado, and scallions smothered in a creamy buttermilk dressing spiked faintly with dill. If you like macaroni salad (hi!), you'll love Percy Street's chopped salad.
And, you know the real reason I was at Percy Street was to try the banana pudding, don't ya? So good, yet so disappointing. The vanilla pudding is gourmet, luscious and brimming with vanilla bean flecks, but at the bottom of the cup there is only one soft wafer (maybe two?), and only one or two banana slices. It's like making Tiramisu with only one Lady Finger. Such a tease. Props, though, for adding the two Nilla wafers to the top before serving, so they're still crunchy. Even with the pudding component being so great, I don't think I'd order the banana pudding again.

When it was all said and done I enjoyed the food and atmosphere of Percy Street, but felt I was eating at just another sleek Philly restaurant. There's something missing from the experience and food that doesn't resonate barbecue house. Missing homespun, from-the-heart character, maybe? The food's fine, but it ain't got no soul.

Percy Street Barbecue
900 South St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
215-625-8510
Lunch: Sat and Sun, 11:30am-2:30pm
Dinner: Sun-Thurs, 5-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5-11pm, bar til 2am

Pig Out BBQ Pit

A reader recently called my attention to the fact that Pig Out BBQ Pit, with locations in downtown West Chester and Glen Mills, serves vegetarian barbecue alongside the normal meat barbecue. I said, "sign me up," and then did little poking around the internet to find their menu and see what others had to say about the place.

Main Line Today voted Pig Out "Best NC BBQ" in 2009, but, interestingly, over on WC Dish, a great food blog focusing mainly on West Chester eats that also has listings of restaurants where readers can comment, had widely conflicting opinions of Pig Out, and even a comment from the owner speculating that the negative comments were from jealous competitors.

So what's the real deal? Were there comments from those out to sabotage, and possibly even comments from those close to the owner hyping the place (oh, both happen all the time), or was it all just simply people with differing opinions? (Update: Do check out the comments on this post!) There's only one way to find out, and that's to go and form your own opinion.
First, we had to choose which location. The Glenn Mills location in a renovated 18th century blacksmith shop won out simply because they offer two free beers (Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, or Yuengling Lager) to diners who choose to eat on the premises. Free beer does not apply at the West Chester location.
Even with free beer, no one seemed to opt for the dining in option at the Glen Mills location when we were there, but there was a brisk takeout action going on when we first arrived.
The haul: Two small vegetarian spicy chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, twice baked potato with cheddar cheese, mac and cheese, corn muffin, and Yeungling beer.
But wait...these are real chicken sandwiches!

When ordering, we originally asked for the vegetarian bbq sandwiches, to which one of the two college-aged boys had to ask the other if they even had any. They didn't. He said they had the chicken. (Just so I get you straight here, in the vegetarian bbq department, Pig Out offers what they call a vegetarian bbq sandwich and a vegetarian spicy chicken sandwich) So, to be clear, since the boy said chicken and not veggie chicken, I said, "So, you don't have the veggie bbq, but you've got the veggie chicken?" Then proceeded to order two veggie chicken sandwiches. This was obviously very complicated for the two boys.

It turns out, the Glen Mills location had neither the veggie bbq nor the veggie chicken. We were not charged for the sandwiches, although the boys did briefly argue (not in a heated way) that we did order the chicken. Not cool.

Stuck my finger in the honey mesquite sauce and spicy sauce topping the sandwich, though. The honey mesquite is the redder sauce to the left, and is an extremely sweet ketchup-based sauce with mustard tones. The spicy sauce is the darker sauce to the right, and is also a very sweet ketchup sauce, but less so than the mesquite sauce, and not really spicy. The spicy sauce tastes exactly like the barbecue sauce from Kraft.

Other barbecue sauces available are mild, hot, raspberry chipotle, and buffalo wing sauce. Absolutely no vinegar or light tomato sauce available on the menu, which begs the question, how did Main Line Today award Pig Out BBQ Pit "Best NC BBQ" when there are no North Carolina-style barbecue sauces at Pig Out?If getting served chicken wasn't bad enough, the corn muffins are the kind you buy from Costco -- very little corn meal and dessert-like sweet. Does any one eat these things, outside of business meetings and desperation?
Does that mac and cheese look gluey? It is. And bland and a little chewy. And unbelievably, it's not the worst mac and cheese I've ever had. It's barely passable, though.
I laughed when my partner ordered the twice baked potato with cheddar, but this small, limp potato was the best thing we ordered. It's kinda hard to mess up a potato (well, you can under cook it) with cheese on top.
The creamy and sweet coleslaw tasted like it came from one of those large food service containers, and I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
And this is what we left behind. We ate the twice baked potato because it was the best thing, and we ate the mac and cheese and a few bites of the coleslaw because we were starving.

Needless to say, I was very upset with driving out to Glen Mills and not getting to try the veggie bbq, but I was even more upset about the sides. The Costco muffin (or what ever brand it is) is just unforgivable. What we could eat of our meal was comparable to a meal in a school cafeteria.
I never got the veggie bbq sandwich I originally wanted, and thought the review would be incomplete without trying one, so called the West Chester location first to see if it was available before trekking out there. It was, so we headed out thattaway.

This time the owner was at the helm of the register in West Chester, and was much more engaging and, well, intelligent than the two hapless boys at the Glenn Mills location. The owner asked for our feedback on the vegetarian bbq sandwich and vegetarian spicy chicken sandwich, since he's never tasted them.

What? Shouldn't you taste what you serve?The vegetarian bbq sandwich is made of a shredded dark "beef" that my partner said had a brisket-like taste. We got the hot bbq sauce since the spicy was not to our liking. The hot bbq sauce is still a sweet ketchup-based sauce, but actually is spicy (hotheads will think it's not hot, wimps will think it's hot), and is the better of the three sauces we sampled.

Sandwiches are served on a soft hoagie roll, which suits the fillings fine. I know this is hoagie territory, but hoagie rolls are not the best bread for all sandwiches. A soft hamburger bun would do nicely here, providing less bread and a more authentic Southern barbecue experience if that's what Pig Out is aiming for.
Same sauce and same roll for the vegetarian spicy chicken sandwich, but the veggie meat is lighter and has breading on it, from, I assume, when it was a whole breaded chicken patty or nugget before it was shredded. The breading soaked up the sauce and became this weird, gunky, saucy substance.

If you have to go vegetarian, get the veggie bbq sandwich and skip the veggie chicken. (And I did tell the owner that the veggie bbq sandwich was better than the veggie chicken, and that the breading on the chicken was weird.)
We also tried the potato salad, since we missed it the first go round. Very creamy (almost soupy) and very sweet...just like from a large food service container! Now, I'd hate to call the potato salad and coleslaw food service items, if they're not, but I've never tasted coleslaw or potato salad that tasted like these except for when they did come from a food service container.

The vegetarian sandwiches are decent, although nothing you couldn't make at home with some soy meat, a hoagie roll, and a bottle of barbecue sauce. The gesture to the vegetarian community is nice, though.

Of course, the true testament to a barbecue joint is the real meat, but I can't speak to that. For me though, the true testament are the sides, and Pig Out failed miserably. Obviously they don't think it's worth the effort to make all of the sides from scratch, but it makes a world of difference. And it's easy, too. Well, maybe not as easy as buying from Costco.

Gordon Ramsay, are you out there? Pig Out needs you.

Pig Out BBQ Pit
138 Glen Mills Rd, Glen Mills, PA 19342
610-361-8200
Sun-Thurs, 11am-8pm
Fri-Sat, 11am-9pm

134 E. Gay St., West Chester, PA 19380
484-887-8107
Sun-Wed, 11am-8pm
Thurs-Sat, 11am-9pm

Bebe's Barbecue

Update: no longer open.

With the recent trip to Q Barbecue, and their disappointing sides still haunting me, I had to get myself pronto to the less than month-old barbecue joint, Bebe's Barbecue, to see if I could find better.

Named for the owner's grandmother, Bebe's is a casual Southern barbecue joint residing in an unlikely site -- the heart of South Philly's Italian Market. What Bebe's has going for it is the owner and chef is a real Southerner -- North Carolina-born and Mississippi-raised Mark Coates -- so I thought for sure I'd fare better than my last Southern side adventure.

Not only did I fare better, but I struck gold!
Ah, this is how you present a barbecue house! Bebe's is very simple inside, with only stools and a long counter lined with small paper trays of complimentary roasted peanuts, mustard tins filled with wet-naps, paper napkin dispensers, and bottles of hot sauce running along one wall , and, across the way (real estate is narrow in Philly), a register and Mark himself scooping up barbecue and sides from a line of warming pans.
All the sides at Bebe's are vegetarian, which is certainly not the norm -- collards and beans, baked or otherwise, at most places usually have pork -- but making sides vegetarian is easy to do without compromising the dish, and is very much appreciated by this girl. We ordered one of every side available that day (fresh corn wasn't available) and chose to walk around the corner to dine at Bardascino Park, which conveniently has picnic tables.
You know I ate the mac and cheese first! It looks right -- not made with a cheese sauce, but real Southern mac and cheese with bits of cheese visible. And it tastes right -- cheesy, but not greasy. This is the real deal Southern mac and cheese, not the ubiquitous, fancy "restaurant" stuff. Bebe's mac and cheese is done right without being overly greasy, as grease is the downfall of most Southern-style mac and cheeses. It's the closest I've ever come to eating mac and cheese like my Mom makes, so Bebe's hit the ball out of the park with this one, and won my affections!
The coleslaw is a finely shredded, Dixie-cut cabbage and carrots with mustard seeds, and dressed with a sweet and slightly spicy vinegar dressing. I have maybe a slight preference for coleslaw with creamy dressings, but loved this vinegar heavy coleslaw. Honestly, I love all styles of coleslaw.
The collards are scooped out of a hot bath of pot liquor before landing on your plate. The large leaves are slow cooked in the traditional way, so are soft, but nothing near as mushy and over boiled as I've experienced at some places.
The cornbread is just as it should be -- not sweet! I actually like both non-sweet Southern cornbread and sweet Yankee cornbread (yeah, that's what it's called), so can go either way, but if you're serving Southern cuisine you can't serve sweet cornbread without being called out as a fraud. My partner thought the cornbread was dry, but I had to remind him that this is not the sweet, cakey kind, and, in fact, Bebe's cornbread is not dry (I've had dry cornbread before, and it's nearly impossible to swallow, and this was certainly not the case with Bebe's cornbread).
One of Bebe's sides is sweet potato puree, and I have to admit that I've never had sweet potato puree. Bebe's sweet potato puree is a little too sweet and a little too heavily spiced with cinnamon and other spices, but certainly plate-licking enjoyable. I thought the puree was a little thin and difficult to eat out of the foil cups Mark made to keep the puree from running all over the plate, and would be much better presented as sweet potato souffle -- essentially a less runny sweet potato puree that's been baked and stiffened with egg. If sweet potato souffle -- a favorite family dish right up there with mac and cheese -- took the place of the puree, I'd slap a dress on Mark and make him my surrogate mom!
Bebe's offers little pies for dessert, and on our visit sweet potato pie with a struesel top was the pie of the day. Other than maybe needing a couple more minutes in the oven to brown the crust a little more, this firm and creamy sweet potato pie was right on. I felt like I was sitting at my family's Thanksgiving table! And you gotta have iced sweet tea! Bebe's sweet tea is excellent...sweet enough to be called sweet tea, but not so sweet it makes you cringe. And certainly not made with some fancy fruit tea blend, which has it's place, but not here. Just straight-up, righteous sweet tea!

Bebe's also serves biscuits on Sunday. I returned on the Sunday immediately after my first visit in an attempt to sample a biscuit (and get some mac and cheese and coleslaw), but, sadly, they were closed for Mother's Day. I'm gonna get a biscuit, and, when I do, I'll report back. Update: got 'em!

Of course, I can't tell you about the barbecue, but if the sides are any indication of the quality and authenticity of the food Bebe's is serving, that barbecue is sure to be good. It looks good!

Bebe's Barbecue
1017 South 9th St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
267-519-8791
Mon, closed
Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm
Sun, 9am-2pm

The website printed on Bebe's business card (BebesBarbecue.com) doesn't seem to be up at the time of the writing of this post (update: site's up!), so here's a scan of their rotating menu. Click to enlarge.

Q Barbeque and Tequila

A vegetarian reviewing a barbeque joint? I know it's not right, and is going to leave your questions about the meat unanswered, but when I saw that the newly opened Q Barbeque and Tequila Bar in Old City had banana pudding on the menu, I knew I had to check it out.

Not only am I a banana pudding aficionado, but -- and here I'll probably misquote my Dad, founder of The South Carolina Barbeque Assosication (he mourns my vegetarianism every time he sees me), quoting his friend and fellow association member, but I'll get an email after this posts from him to get the quote word for word I'm sure:

"The real test of a barbeque joint is not the barbeque, but the banana pudding."

Update: got the quote right!

And for me, the real test includes not only banana pudding, but also the classic Southern side dishes -- all foods that my born and raised Southern belle butt knows very well.

Barbeque joints are usually casual affairs where you place your order at the counter and receive your meal on disposable plates, or maybe even proceed down a buffet line. As I was walking toward Q, the former Philadelphia Fish Company turned barbeque and tequila bar in Old City, I was envisioning just such a place where I put my order in at the counter, but as I got closer, I was like, "Oh, wait a minute, this is Old City. I bet this is going to be a sit down, fancy restaurant," and instantly the images of all the barbeque places I've been to down South fizzled. (Yes, I have eaten barbeque before...and hash...mmm, hash and rice).Q is definitely a sit down restaurant with all the formalities of a server (at most barbeque joints it's just a server making the rounds with sweet tea refills). The interior has a moody pub-like feel with all the dark wood and prominent mahogany bar, making it hard for a diner to imagine they're at a Southern barbeque restaurant. And the cloth napkins and large white formal dinner ware does not help the imagination either. I would have liked to see a much more informal interior to transport me back -- you know, maybe some oilcloth gingham table cloths and paper napkin dispensers on the table.

I commend Q for putting a few vegetarian items on the menu, like the soy chorizo tacos, bbq spaghetti, and vegetarian quesadillas, but please tell me what any of those items have to do with Southern barbeque cuisine? Actually, bbq spaghetti is a Memphis, TN, barbeque house specialty, but is not wide spread.

Is Q taking cues from Northern Liberties' popular El Camino Real, which mixes two Texas regional cuisines, Tex Mex and Texas barbeque? When I think Southern barbecue, I don't think Tex Mex, but that doesn't mean Q can't mix the two if they want -- some of my favorite restaurants have odd cuisine combinations. And Q also adds burgers and a little New Orleans creole to the mix, as if to say they're a little unsure what to focus on, or what will bring in the money. Despite a soy chorizo taco not being an authentic barbeque menu item, I did order one, because, hey, I like tacos...and there wasn't a barbequed pulled seitan sandwich on the menu (hello, obvious!). The single corn tortilla taco with soy chorizo, cilantro, onions and queso came with a side of smokey tomato salsa and lime, and makes for a nice, cheap bar snack, but could have used a double layer of corn tortilla to help slow the escape of innards when the tortilla inevitably cracks. The soy chorizo was greasy and spicy, and tasted exactly like the soy chorizo sausage available at Trader Joe's.
My pescatarian partner ordered the fish tacos (meat tacos come three per order, but vegetarian tacos come one per order?!), and was disappointed that his tortillas were flour and not corn. He was not a fan of the accompanying salsa, so tried out the three barbeque sauces on the table to bring zing to his average fish tacos. The "Q sauce" is an extremely sweet tomato sauce and tasted strongly of powdered paprika. The "Sweet Sauce" is even sweeter. The "Carolina Vinegar" has a touch of tomato in the vinegar, and is the only sauce of the three that I would suggest putting on your meat, but, just like barbeque, barbecue sauce preferences are a legitimate reason for a fight. I'm a mustard barbeque sauce girl myself.

I tried as many of the sides as I could without busting a gut -- the sides are large portions served on huge white plates. The collards were out because they contained turkey. Turkey?! That's what our server said. I expect pork in collards, but not turkey.The cheese grits are a great Southern side, but in my experience, are not a typical side to accompany barbeque. No, matter; I love grits! Q's grits are quite good with hints of onion and garlic, and nary a lump in ours, but richer than I personally like. Q's grits sport an oil slick, thanks to the cheddar cheese, butter, and milk used to make them. I've actually never been served cheese grits with an oil slick around each grit.
The mac and cheese at Q is what I call "restaurant" mac and cheese, which is mac and cheese made with a creamy cheese sauce and bread topping. Most people love this style, but I'm not a fan. I prefer Southern style mac and cheese made with eggs and cheese not made into a sauce. And Southern style is what you'll find at most barbeque joints, soul food restaurants, and certainly in my momma's kitchen. Q's creamy mac and cheese with a mild hot pepper heat did not transport me to a Southern barbeque house, but will be passable for "restaurant" mac and cheese lovers. Potato salad was up next, and these perfectly cooked red potatoes with a creamy sauce studded with mustard seeds and green onions was the best dish of our ordering. I suspect sour cream was part of the sauce instead of straight up mayo (my preference), but still, a solid potato salad that I'd be proud to serve at a picnic.

The other two quintessentially Southern sides I wanted to test, but just could not fit in the belly, were the coleslaw and fried green tomatoes.
And how about the banana pudding? Gosh, I hope for all you meat eaters' sake that my Dad's friend was wrong about banana pudding being the real test of a barbeque joint, because Q served the worst banana pudding I've ever had. I didn't finish it. If I don't finish dessert, I've either died in the process of eating it or it's truly bad.

Instead of layering sliced bananas, vanilla wafers, and pudding while the pudding is hot, as banana pudding is supposed to be made (this softens the wafers and bananas), the bottom of the serving glass was filled with warm, caramelized, chopped bananas, then topped with cold pudding, then topped with warm, caramelized, bananas and wafers. There were no soft wafers in the middle of the pudding, which is just about the best part of banana pudding. And the bananas should be fresh and sliced, not chopped and cooked.

Also, the bananas in my cup must not have been ripe -- an absolute must for banana pudding -- because they were hard. Half of the bananas had the texture of undercooked potatoes. And the pudding was not a rich, smooth pudding as it should be, but oddly grainy.

Aware that the restaurant's name is Q Barbeque AND Tequila Bar, it still seems that Q's main focus is supposed to be Southern barbeque and cuisine, but the food I sampled and the restaurant's atmosphere did not exude authentic Southern barbeque joint vibes. Admittedly, I'm I tough customer when it comes to Southern dishes, but I was not convinced.

And how is that barbecue? Anyone?

Q Barbeque and Tequila Bar
207 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-625-9529
Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30-4; Sat noon-3
Dinner: Mon-Thurs 4:30-10:30; Fri 5-midnight; Sat 4:30-midnight; Sun 4-10:30

It's Unofficially Summer...

Pulled "pork" barbecue sandwich and coleslaw!!

And I’m officially happy! Summer rules, and this is why…

skirts, tank tops, flip-flops, high humidity, sweaty arms, ice cream, grilling, veggie kabobs, white wine, lemonade, glass condensation, late night bike rides, river-wading, swimming, Frisbee, the beach, bare feet, smell of sunblock, picnics, shenanigans, watermelon seed-spitting, garage sales, Slip-n-Slide, coleslaw, porch-sitting, thunderstorms, tree-climbing, hammocks, water guns, game of spotlight, warm nights, long days, gardenias, trampolines, fireworks, homegrown tomatoes, fireflies, spontaneous car trips…