Roadhouse Now Open!

For months I passed 1700 Beacon St. in Brookline and noticed my mouth would water. The cause was anticipation of a new BBQ Smoke House preparing to open. The flashy red and black building which formerly housed a Vinny Testa's, now hung a sign calling it Roadhouse and advertising BBQ.

After months of waiting, the Roadhouse (a sister restaurant of the Publick House) opened its doors this week. I read some very harsh reviews about the opening on Yelp. Most of the reviews were about poor service, lousy food, mentions of food poisoning but otherwise great beer and atmosphere. Needless to say, I was entering the smokehouse last night with guarded enthusiasm.

We first stopped at the Provisions Store adjacent to the restaurant. As the name would imply they sell provisions or essentials. They have about 20 different imported beers (mostly from Belgium), cheeses, chocolates, olives, mustards, bottled sauces, and tourist crap like T-shirts and mugs. You buy each bottle of beer separately, although they supply a cardboard six-pack holder, so you tend to buy six. For our mixed selection of six it cost $27, not cheap.

For dinner I had a Radeberger Pilsner, Chili, and Half a rack of pork ribs with cornbread. They were changing the keg apparently on the beer, so it took a long time to reach me, but once it did, it was great! The chili was tasty and fresh but had an over powering tomato taste. It was as if they added tomato sauce to the chili. The pork ribs were clearly smoked, as evidenced by the pink color of the meat. They fell off the bone and were smoked well enough but there was something off. I would not recommend these ribs to my father, the real judge of ribs. The best part of the meal was by far the cornbread, make of that what you will! We tried the regular corn bread and the jalapeño pepper cornbread! Really great texture, taste, and fresh! The jalapeño cornbread was unique and had more flavor than any other of the foods we had that night.

The service and food were not bad but not fabulous either. The real reason to visit the Roadhouse is the beer. Since they just opened, it is understandable that there are some kinks to work out. I'll probably try them out again.