When I pulled into the parking lot of Pit Boss BBQ, and I mentioned to my beloved that her sister and her family liked to eat there, her exact words were, “but I bet they don’t dine in.”  After a morning spent cutting up the tree that was felled  during the recent windstorms,  we had worked up quite an appetite, and barbecue was on my mind.  I had two choices, in two different directions, and we decided to head into town for lunch.  I had attempted to eat at Pit Boss some number of months back, but when I arrived they were opening late that morning and I had a meeting that made me change plans.  That was the day that I tried Hambones instead.

Walking in the front door, we were immediately standing at the counter, looking at the menu above the cash registers.  Reading left to right, the menus covered pork, brisket, burgers, ribs (both baby backs and short ribs), chicken, sides and “Hot Deals” (specials and combos).

From the table, looking back at the register

I kept looking up and down the menu and couldn’t find a combo anywhere.  Well, there was one – 3 half-pound servings of meat with 2 family-size sides – but I think it was supposed to be for two or more.  What do you do when you can’t find a combo plate?  You make your own.

A pork sandwich (they really should mention those nasty pickles);

A brisket sandwich (again, with the nasty pickles) with one side (fries); and

a half pound of rib tips, with cornbread.

There you have it.

So how did the combo work out for me?  The pork sandwich was chopped very finely and came out pre-sauced.  In retrospect, I should have asked for a pulled pork sandwich, dry.  Of their two sauces, I didn’t care for their house barbecue sauce at all and the best feature of their hot sauce was that it was really hot.  The brisket was very good, with just the right amount of fat.  The buns on both were grilled, and had they not had those nasty circles of pickle juice on them, would have been perfect as a side for my plate(s) full of meat.  We also learned that Jo loves rib tips, as every time I turned my head (she may have yelled “Look over there!” a couple of times), when I looked back I was another rib tip short.   They were excellent – crispy and warm – particularly when dipped in the hot sauce.  Here’s the before and after.  You can tell how much more I enjoyed the brisket (and we enjoyed the rib tips) than I did the pork.

Speaking of the other half of the table, she settled for a single entree – baby back ribs, with two sides – baked beans and slaw.

The ribs were meaty and the meat pulled off the bone easily.  On the sides, the slaw was vinegar-based and supposedly good, the baked beans were apparently made with the hot sauce, as they had some “heat” to them and the cornbread was very dense with a top that we couldn’t identify.

So how does it look when two people have that much food in front of them?  Kind of like this:

I noticed as we were eating that the restaurant was kind of smoky.   And got progressively smokier – so much so that when we got home, I realized I smelled like I had been in a smoker.  Definitely something to consider if you have some place to be after eating.