Q it Up in LeDroit Park
Written by DCist contributor Spencer Ackerman
Never mind the endless D.C. barbeque debate. Neither minds nor palates will ever change in this feud of provincialism. Texans, you might as well stop reading here. For anyone who wants some real, no-nonsense Carolina pork barbeque, however, get out past gentrification's reach and into B & J North Carolina BBQ in LeDroit Park. This, my friends, is as authentic as it gets: you get a nose full of vinegar the moment you open the door to this run-down shack of deliciousness.
Run-down it certainly is. The restaurant consists of three bench tables and a makeshift lunch counter that hosts more stools than elbow room. Nearby is a jukebox that, on Sunday at noon, blasts Boyz II Men's "End of the Road." A TV out in the middle of the floor carries a local politics round-up while the handful of customers flip through the papers. The tables carry cloth flowers, and there is at least one clock which features Jesus. Bums will ask you for cigarettes, so either fork 'em over or prepared to get confrontational. Atmospheric this ain't.
The food however, is on point. My friends and I opted to sop up Saturday night's alcohol with the signature pulled-pork sandwiches. The pork itself is excellent; it's chin-dribbling juicy, but ill-served by the floppy white bread that carries it (Or rather, whitish bread. I thought it was just white bread, but one of my companions thought she saw some wheat in there). Better to just eat the meat with your plastic fork. And be sure to squirt some of chef/owner Bobby Donaldson's homemade hot sauce on each bite; you can see the pepper flakes floating along in the flavored oil, and the taste is something else. The coleslaw, like everything in B & J, is made from scratch, and you get a creamy, peppery bite of cabbage to complement the mush that the bread turns your pork sandwich into. Donaldson also does a mac & cheese that could use a helping of salt but has a great savory crust. All three dishes—which is way more than you can eat—plus a cup of coffee, will set you back a mere nine dollars.
Donaldson himself is an irrepressibly gregarious host and native of Columbia, South Carolina. His first 25 years in the cooking game were at the defunct [ck] Holloway House on 14th and New York Avenue NW. In 1972, he opted to open his own place, taking his perfected southern recipes ("Just start from a vinegar base," he says) to the post-riot corner south of Howard University. His clientèle is "kinda regular," but he deserves more. And, for the record, on the BBQ question, Donaldson remarks, that Texas "is good, but I like North Carolina better."
B & J North Carolina BBQ
238 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
202-387-3000
Photo by grundlepuck submitted to DCist's Flickr Pool.