About Fat Pete's Barbecue
You can’t be all things to all people, but this Cleveland Park barbecue emporium is sure trying, cramming North Carolina chopped pork, St. Louis ribs, Alabama white sauce, and even Thai satay under one roof. The results, predictably, are erratic.
While the burnt ends—extra-smoked bits of brisket—won’t transport you to Kansas City, they do have a hearty meatiness and good char. (The same can’t be said for the Texas-style brisket, which came out dry as saddle leather.) That Carolina-inspired chopped pork, soaked in vinegar, made for a pretty good sandwich, but pulled pork was wanly flavored, even with the array of sauces you can sample.
The dry-rubbed baby back ribs, pink and smoky, plus the creamy slaw and warm hushpuppies, are the strong-est offerings, but even they couldn’t keep us from dreaming of a road trip down south.
Preferably to one destination at a time.
This article appears in our October 2014 issue of Washingtonian.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
