Food

7 New Barbecue Joints to Try Around DC—With Outdoor Seating and Takeout

All this outside time = barbecue boom!

Federalist Pig. Photograph by Scott Suchman

There are lots of new restaurants and pop-ups for all your smoked meat (and veggie) needs, and all offer carryout and/or outdoor seating.

Clarity
442 Maple Ave. E., Vienna
Chef Jon Krinn recently built an entire kitchen in his upscale restaurant’s parking lot, complete with a cabinet smoker, Argentinian rotisserie, and grill. It’s turning out classic ribs and brisket as well as specials like family-style suckling pigs. A yakitori menu is on the way.

Federalist Pig Hyattsville
5504 Baltimore Ave., Hyattsville
Stellar Adams Morgan ‘cue carryout Federalist Pig plans to open its second location, in Hyattsville, this spring. In the meatime, pitmaster Rob Sonderman is helming a new mobile barbecue trailer in the joint’s parking lot. A custom-built, wood-burning J&R Smoker turns out specials such as pork-belly burnt ends and sandwiches, all to go. Also popping up: Fedwich, a barbecue-sandwich operation housed at Dupont Circle’s Kramerbooks.

Money Muscle BBQ
8630 Fenton St., Plaza 5, Silver Spring
The folks behind All Set in Silver Spring are behind this food truck, which roams Montgomery and Prince George’s counties (orders can also be made for pickup in Silver Spring, or delivery). The regional menu is a nod to chef Edward Reavis’ native Emporia, Virginia—a small southern town near the North Carolina border. Look for NC-inspired pulled pork, Texas brisket, smoked wings, and more.

Mountain Song Barbecue
109 S. St. Asaph St,. Alexandria
At this Neighborhood Restaurant Group newcomer, which is popping up at Old Town’s Columbia Firehouse, pitmaster Matt Deaton prepares slow-smoked meats using Virginia-oak-and-hickory-fired pits. It runs Friday through Sunday during the fall, and the team is scouting a separate brick-and-mortar location.

Ruthie’s All Day
3411 S. Fifth St., South Arlington
Chef Matt Hill, the former culinary director of the Liberty Tavern Group, branched out with this family-friendly, modern ‘cue restaurant in a historic chocolate factory with a roomy patio. True to name, you can start the day here with counter-service coffee and breakfast sandwiches before moving onto all-day, full-service dining. The “meat and three” tradition gets an update with proteins like bacon-wrapped trout or smoked duck—all from a wood-fired Argentinian grill.

Smokecraft Modern Barbecue
1051 N. Highland St., Arlington
Seasoned pitmasters get creative at their new Clarendon spot. In addition to competition-winning pulled pork, St. Louis ribs, and Wagyu brisket, you’ll find smoked crabcakes and fire-kissed spaghetti squash on the patio. They’ve also launched a ghost kitchen, Etta Faye’s Chicken Shack, inspired by chef William Burke’s grandmother.

Wild Tiger BBQ
1201 S. Joyce St., Arlington
There’s nothing traditional about “ramen-rubbed” barbecue—and that’s the point. Moon Rabbit chef Kevin Tien and Bun’d Up owner Scott Chung play to their Vietnamese and Korean roots at this Pentagon Row pop-up, which is slated to run through May. Think meats rubbed with Shin-style ramen spice, sides such as kimchee pimiento cheese, and bao slathered in Szechuan honey butter.

 

 

 

Food Editor

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.