Pittsburgh Rib Fest, Pittsburgh, PA

July 2010 update: While I haven't seen official word from the Steelers or Heinz Field, from what I can tell the 2010 festival will be held over Labor Day weekend, from September 2 - 6. The festival will kick off that Thursday evening (September 2) as the Steelers host the Carolina Panthers in the final preseason game.

August 2010 update: The Steelers have finally confirmed what I reported here weeks ago. The 2010 Rib Fest will indeed take place over Labor Day Weekend. See their press release for the full schedule of musical acts and activities. As usual, we'll be there getting our fingers messy with sauce!

As fall edges into winter here in Pittsburgh, I've been reminiscing about one of my favourite annual traditions in this city, the Pittsburgh Rib Fest.

At the end of every summer, barbecue teams descend on Heinz Field for a long weekend of outdoor grilling and competition. While awards are handed out at the end of the weekend for the best ribs, best sauce, and so on, the festival is moreover an opportunity for barbecue lovers to wander the area and sample some great ribs from around the country. Menus vary from vendor to vendor, with the one constant being pork ribs and sides like slaw and baked beans (although you should ask before you order since it seemed like most beans came from a can). Many also sell barbecue chicken and pulled pork, while brisket, beef ribs, and corn bread can be found too. Aside from the dozen or so barbecue joints, kiosks also sell Pennsylvania country fair staples like lemonade, funnel cake, and frozen custard.

But as regular readers of this blog know, I get most excited by barbecue. So every year, I make the trek down to Heinz Field and get 3-bone rib samplers (for $5-6 each) from as many different vendors as it takes to fill me up. If you're not craving a particular regional style of pork, there are many other ways to help you decide which ribs to eat. You can go with the stand with the shortest lines, the one that has the most trophies or award banners, order from the vendor with the catchiest slogan, or perhaps support the stand where the grillmaster is also pulling double duty as MC. It's hard to go wrong.

This year Tam and I started with Bad Wolf Barbecue ("The K.C. Legend", surprisingly based out of Toronto) which combined an impressive array of award banners with some kitchy statuary.


The Bad Wolf ribs were very good without being mindblowing. I'll give them points for the sweet sauce which made for both sticky fingers and a nicely caramelized, slightly charred crust on each rib. The ribs were also quite juicy, not having been cooked to the point of falling off the bone, and maintained a lot of richness from the fat which hadn't fully rendered out of the meat. Are they beautiful, or what?


We thoroughly enjoyed every bite.


Not yet full, we wandered the length of the festival before deciding that our second stop should be at Ron's Ribs ("The King of Ribs"), based out of Mansfield, OH. A huge factor in our decision was this larger-than-life size poster of the King of Ribs himself.


There's a lot to be said for a man who can proudly don a crown on top of his chef's hat, epaulettes, a golden sash (literally proclaiming him the "King of Ribs and Sauce"), five medals (presumably for excellence in ribs and/or sauce), and white gloves (not very practical for a barbecue grillmaster), without a hint of irony. And is that a scepter he's wielding?

While waiting in line, we noticed that the King himself was manning the grill, thankfully having traded in his scepter for a pair of tongs and his crown for a King of Ribs ball cap. After purchasing our ribs, we settled down on the curb and pulled them apart with our hands. These were exactly my style. Achingly tender, lean, and with a perfect balance of sauce to smoky pork. Long live the king!

The Pittsburgh Rib Fest takes place outside Heinz Field and generally runs over the long weekend which contains the first Pittsburgh Panthers home football game in late August or early September. Check back on this page in the summer of 2010 for an update on the upcoming festival's exact schedule.

Similar events periodically take place across the country. The Kansas City Barbeque Society keeps an excellent searchable list of events they sponsor on their website.

Carl's Perfect Pig Bar B Que, White Bluff, TN

This is the third of several accounts of outstanding meals that we ate as Tamar and I traveled through Tennessee over Thanksgiving week, 2008.

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I guess it's natural that in the process of seeking out amazing new restaurants to write about, I'm going to make some mistakes. Lesson #1, learned when hunting for Carl's Perfect Pig, which is 30 minutes west of Nashville, Tennessee was to make sure to bring a good map. Unfortunately, we didn't bring a map at all, let alone a good one, and were relying on a printout of directions from the internet which for some reason had taken us away from main roads and had us winding through rural Tennessee. It was after dark, our stomachs were empty, street signs were sporadic, and once again, we were in a race against time. Carl's closed at 6 PM, we were nearing 5:30 PM, and, to make matters more stressful, we had tickets for Nashville's Grand Ole Opry for 7:30 that evening.

"Turn left to stay on Old Columbia Road," our directions instructed. But was that the hard left, or maybe the slight left up the hill? Should we wait until the railroad crossing?

"Turn right to stay on Old Columbia Road," we were told 2 miles later. But were we still on Old Columbia road? Had we made the correct turn in the first place? Was there anyone we could ask for directions? Weaker relationships have shattered under this kind of stress, but inspired by visions of smoked pork, we somehow made our way far enough north to hit Highway 70, and raced east until Carl's red awning beckoned in the distance. It was 5:50 PM, ten minutes before closing time, and any lingering tension in our car dissolved as we entered our destination.


We were quickly seated and didn't waste any time ordering. Seeking both to validate Carl's claim of perfection and wanting try out some Nashville area "Meat and Three" dining, we both opted for the Ribs and Three, a half slab each with our choice of three vegetable sides. Tam opted for the baked beans, slaw, and fried corn while I chose the squash casserole, turnip greens, and mac and cheese. We were asked if we wanted to try their new fried corn bread instead of the usual side of bread, and I doubt if there's a rational person who would refuse that offer.

We had barely settled in when mountains of food arrived at our table, and after hours on the road, it took all our will power to stop and snap a few photos before diving face first into our meal.


After one bite, Tam excitedly proclaimed the ribs to be the best she'd ever eaten, and it was hard to disagree. They had great smokiness, were tender and moist, and fell right off the bone. Unlike our Memphis ribs from a few days earlier, they were cooked with the sauce so that the flavours permeated the meat without overwhelming its pork essence or being overly sticky or saucy. The sugars in the sauce caramelized slightly, resulting in the slightest crispiness but without a speck of burned meat to be found.

The sides ranged from great to mind-blowing. Our favorites were the slaw and the squash casserole. The coleslaw was vinegar-based without a hint of mayo, was seasoned with mustard and celery seed, and was nothing short of phenomenal. The squash casserole consisted of circular disks of yellow zucchini, stewed until meltingly soft in a creamy orange cheese sauce. It was velvety smooth, salty, and fantastic. The fried corn bread turned out to be hot, freshly-griddled cornmeal pancakes, and were perfect for mopping up Tam's baked beans.


We washed down our meal with bottomless glasses of sweet tea. If there is one thing that northerners need to learn how to do right, tea could be it. It was so perfect that we begged our waitress to fill up take-out cups with us for the road, which she happily did. Styrofoam cups in hand, we promised to return. Even if we had to drive the full ten hours from Pittsburgh just for the meal, it would be worth it.

Dinner did cause us to miss most of the first act that night at the Opry, but I don't think either one of us regretted our choice for one moment (especially since we still caught Little Jimmy Dickens, saw Charlie Daniels tear up his fiddle on The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and Hootie himself lay down his number one country hit.) While Carl's claim of perfection is pretty bold, it was impossible for either of us to dispute. Especially when washed down with glasses of sweet tea and country music. I doubt Tennessee evenings can get any better.


Carl's Perfect Pig is located at 4992 US Highway 70 E in White Bluff, TN. Google Maps will give you terrible instructions on getting there from the west, so call (615) 797-4020 for information or bring a good road map. Show up hungry. Really hungry.

The Bar-B-Q Shop, Memphis, TN

This is the first of several accounts of outstanding meals that were eaten as Tamar and I traveled through Tennessee over Thanksgiving week, 2008.

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It was the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving and we were driving south through Kentucky on our way to Memphis, Tennessee. Since I moved to Pittsburgh, this is a trip I’ve wanted to take for a number of reasons. This year, I finally had the chance and the perfect travel companion. Our itinerary was busy, but food was one of the primary considerations in our route planning. We were to arrive in Memphis on Wednesday night, spend Thanksgiving there, visit Graceland on Friday morning, and then get back on the road and head east towards Nashville.

Glancing at our dashboard clock and making some quick calculations, it appeared as though we were going to arrive in Memphis around 9 PM. After consulting my prepared list of targeted eats and making a few phone calls, only one place stayed open that late, The Bar-B-Q Shop, widely reputed to be one of the best ribs joints in Memphis, and thus by association, anywhere in the world. But they were closing at 9, so it was going to be a close call. Visions of succulent ribs and barbecue sauce motivated me as I accelerated faster towards our goal.

But time was not on our side. We were resigned that we might miss out on the evening’s dinner, and because of all restaurants being closed on the next day's holiday, would also be deprived of getting our fingers dirty until Friday. Depressed, we were starting to consider other options. In Dyersburg, TN, we debated pulling over at Bad Boys BBQ, whose storefront marquee promised a free gallon of sweet tea with every “Butt Job” order. Although it’s unlikely that I’ll ever legally have another chance to walk into an establishment and say “one butt job, please”, we drove on, still dreaming of The Bar-B-Q Shop.

However, after pulling out her cell phone, Tam made a discovery. While we started the day in northern Kentucky in the eastern time zone, somewhere on our 8 hour drive, we must have crossed a boundary and gained an hour! A Thanksgiving miracle! Our car’s dashboard clock was now an hour fast, and we had plenty of time to reach our dinner destination.


We eventually made it to Memphis and pulled into a parking spot across from The Bar-B-Q Shop with almost exactly an hour to spare before closing. Starving and thirsty, we were seated at a table by the window and took about five seconds to decide on our order: ribs (we ordered the rib dinner for two) and plenty of cold beer. Wanting to savor the spectrum of Memphis rib styles, we opted for half wet, half dry ribs. The dinner includes a full rack, a generous stack of Texas toast, and two servings of beans and slaw.


The dry ribs were simple yet superb. The dry rub was not overpowering, and consisted mostly of salt, sugar, and paprika. The sugar caramelized slightly on the outside of the slab, giving the ribs a nice, solid crust. Mother Chorizo liked it so much, she was licking it off the ribs before eating. The subtle aromas from the rub let the deep pork flavour of the ribs be in the limelight.

Equally good were the wet ribs. The porkiness was masked with a generous coating of tomato and vinegar-based sauce, which was nicely spiced to give it a little heat and complexity. The meat was so tender that eventually I started pulling it off the bone by hand and licking my fingers clean after each bite. Divine.


The beans were the best we ate on our trip. They were studded with bits of smoky pork and finely diced dill pickle to give it an amazing depth of flavour. They were perfect for mopping up with the thick, buttery toast.


It had been a long day on the road, but after this feast, every mile seemed worthwhile. We washed our meal down with a couple of glasses of Killian’s on tap, and in the spirit of the holiday, gave thanks to the invention of time zones which allowed us to enjoy this meal.

The Bar-B-Q Shop is located at 1782 Madison Ave, Memphis, TN‎; Call (901) 272-1277‎ for information.

You can order their sauces and rubs online at http://www.dancingpigs.com/.