Anyway, about a month ago I received an email from the owner of Q BBQ & Tequila- Tom Stewart, asking me to stop by his place to talk about BBQ and hand out sometime. One thing I’ve learned over the years both as a fan of BBQ and as a novice BBQ competitor, is that BBQ guys love to talk about their BBQ as much or more than most sports guys love to talk about sports, which meant this visit could be a lot of fun.
I showed up on a Monday night around 7 PM with a healthy appetite from a long day of traveling in from Chicago. Right away Tom and I got along famously, and ordered some food and drinks.
As the night went on, great plate after great plate of food came out of Q BBQ’s kitchen. And as good as the food was, I loved hearing the stories about what had inspired each dish, and how Tom’s North Carolina family roots were influential to each dish’s creation.
We started the night with some great tasting breaded tilapia fish tacos, fresh fried hand cut corn chips and a guacamole appetizer.
The journey across the menu continued on with a rib sampler plate of three regional styles of BBQ ribs; Kansas city, Memphis dry rubbed, and a North Carolina sweet. Each was slow smoked with hickory and very good, the North Carolina being my favorite. A plate with a half BBQ chicken materialized at our table, it was succulent and flavorful.
No self respecting North Carolina BBQ man would let you escape his restaurant without you trying out some his pulled pork. Tom was no different; the pulled pork was heavenly, with just the right amount of smoke flavoring that tasty brown bark and moist pork perfectly. The house made sauce complemented and tied it all together exactly right. Q City BBQ easily gets my vote for having one of the best tasting pulled pork's I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
Among the great food that night was a homemade mac ‘n cheese with a great top crust and a hand shredded coleslaw that Tom said was shredded with his Pop-Pop’s old mandolin, a necessary tool for getting that perfect north Carolina style cut he was raised knowing.
The final highlight of the evening was the impromptu Tequila tasting, the place is called Q BBQ & Tequila after all! We did a flight of hand picked Tequila’s from Q BBQ & Tequila’s venerable Tequila selection, and I got a nice education about how to “taste” Tequila the right way.
Tom and his family that help run the place are OUTSTANDING hosts, and really put out a great product, Philadelphia is truly blessed to have such a great BBQ establishment run by such a great family.
Q BBQ & Tequila
207 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: (215) 625-8605
http://qoldcity.com
Taste: 9
Experience: 9
Value: 9
Score: 9
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