Still on business travel this week, tonight, decided to try out the Epic Smokehouse on South Fair Street in Arlington, VA (19-Aug-2014). It was within walking distance of the hotel. This place was had lots of glass windows and upscale seating and a modern look, not sure how to describe it? The interior of the restaurant was black, the walls, the tables & chairs and the staff uniforms. There was no smoky aroma and BBQ type character that I like when walking up to and entering a BBQ restaurant. No trophies, no ribbons, or any pig statues to be seen.
The wait staff boasted a view of the kitchen so you could see what was happening. However, from my view, just saw the upper half of folks in the kitchen and didn’t see any food prep action. I am not a kitchen guru, but I saw nothing that looked like a smoker.
The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable of the menu choices.
After looking over the menu, decided to try the pull pork platter. The pulled pork platter was $15.00, which came with a side of fries, a small bowl of “slaw,†and some shoestring onion rings that topped the pork.
I prefer a cold refreshing beverage or two with my barbeque, however there was no beer listing, just a wine menu. Had to ask what was on draft and ended up with two of the Port City IPAs that were $6.00 each. I also split an appetizer of burnt ends that rang up at $5.00 each.
The food was just average at best, at least what I ordered. The pork was not dry, but it didn’t really have any smoke, not even a hint. There was no bark, it just looked oven baked, just not my style. The slaw was really dry, just thinly sliced cabbage with some caraway seeds, again, not what I like in a slaw.
Would I go back and try something else, --probably not. There were a lot of folks, not really many empty seats. Perhaps I just didn't order one of their signature dishes. Oh well....
One more day/night left to try another place before heading home.
The wait staff boasted a view of the kitchen so you could see what was happening. However, from my view, just saw the upper half of folks in the kitchen and didn’t see any food prep action. I am not a kitchen guru, but I saw nothing that looked like a smoker.
The staff was friendly and very knowledgeable of the menu choices.
After looking over the menu, decided to try the pull pork platter. The pulled pork platter was $15.00, which came with a side of fries, a small bowl of “slaw,†and some shoestring onion rings that topped the pork.
I prefer a cold refreshing beverage or two with my barbeque, however there was no beer listing, just a wine menu. Had to ask what was on draft and ended up with two of the Port City IPAs that were $6.00 each. I also split an appetizer of burnt ends that rang up at $5.00 each.
The food was just average at best, at least what I ordered. The pork was not dry, but it didn’t really have any smoke, not even a hint. There was no bark, it just looked oven baked, just not my style. The slaw was really dry, just thinly sliced cabbage with some caraway seeds, again, not what I like in a slaw.
Would I go back and try something else, --probably not. There were a lot of folks, not really many empty seats. Perhaps I just didn't order one of their signature dishes. Oh well....
One more day/night left to try another place before heading home.
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