Chopbiscuit on the road dining review: Firefly's Barbecue - Marlborough, MA

Bodacious baby...!

Welcome to another delightful Chopbiscuit inspection of some of the USA's most frequented saloons, dining halls, dive bars, food trucks and high end bistro's. At least one of your humble contributors is on the road virtually every week and luckily have the opportunity to dine at some of the finest institutions and loathsome watering holes known to man. Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, some deity would permit us to be pirates and savage our nutriment.

I like eating. It fascinates me. I sit and look at the food for hours. I often eat while laying down in my hotel room with a bib in my lap and my outlook calendar open. Eating is my tweeting, except it's much cooler. Food is often made into the celebrity of carnage, which makes us appear to be pompous and scarce in regards to the act of eating itself. You eat because you fuel. I eat because I'm hungry. I eat because it's my job. I go out to these establishments to consume their lineups.

I then judge it.

Firefly's BBQ
350 E Main St
Marlborough, MA
(508) 357-8883

Cuisine: Standard American Barbecue
Neighborhood: Marlborough Junction, MA
Price: Under $20


It was a Tuesday night in Needham, MA and after a long weekend in Chicago - many of us were looking forward to hitting the hotel room early for some much needed rest. No, instead we drove about 45 minutes away to grub on some hearty barbecue. Why? Because we love our country. *wink* Firefly's Barbecue in Marlborough, MA is the local icon for great American BBQ. After living in Syracuse, NY for almost ten years, my gold standard for for this category is the one and only Dinosaur BBQ. For my money, Dino is the BEST BARBECUE IN THE WORLD.PERIOD.

According to their chef and founder Steve Uliss:

We had a tradition of excellent cuisine in New England, but fans of fine home-cooked Southern fare thought you had to head down to Tennessee, Texas, or the Carolina's to find authentic bar-b-que and all the fixin's.  So I started dabbling with bar-b-que when I was working for a hotel group based in Memphis. I started entering some contests and, slowly but surely, I started winning them.

When you walk into the restaurants, you're welcomed with a Southern-style greeting and feel, along with the mouthwatering aromas of authentic American barbecue. They smoke the meats for up to 12 hours, blending apple, cherry and hickory woods to create the signature red smoke ring that identifies the genuine low-fire, slow-cooking process of good BBQ. Uniquely, they offer four different styles of ribs sauces from around the South including North and South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. It's definitely trying to hit your deep-seeded barbecue taste buds.

What I ingested:

Big. Ass. Plate.

As many do when they visit BBQ and rib joints, you lose all self control and order enough food to feed an NFL football team. I ordered a St. Louis ribs and pulled pork combo. I ordered some North Carolina slab sauce for my pork with cornbread, cucumber salad and sweet potato pecan pudding. I was a little disappointed with the Carolina slab sauce in that it didn't have the acidic vinegar bite that most eastern Carolina sauces denote. I know, I know - I'm an "Eastern Carolina" BBQ fan and an East Carolina University Alumni. The ribs were nice and tender and had good, rich flavor. The best part of the meal was surely the sweet potato pecan pudding. As a Bill Cosby puddin' lover, this one measured up to some of the classics.

It was a comfortable and decent experience, but like I said earlier in the post - I'm a Dinosaur fan true and true. It's a tough standard for any rib joint to meet in the world of slow cookin' barbecue. If you're ever in Marlborough, MA or anywhere nearby, it's worth a trip to taste a barbecue Tour de America right in the northeast.

Chopbiscuit on the road dining review: Route 7 Grill, Great Barrington, MA

Three words...

Farm to table.

I love to support and visit places that have a huge connection to their community and places that support their local farmers, growers and creameries. Route 7 Grill in Great Barrington, MA is just that place. Not to mention, the Gourmet Mag listed them as one of their top 10 Farm to Table restaurants in the country.

Being a Southern boy,  you add BBQ to that list and I get as excited as a puppy with two peckers! Yep, I just said that. Any way, I decided that yesterday would be the perfect time to visit since I was only 30 min from there. It was cold and the Spring snow was turning into rain, as I walked in I was greeted by Amanda & Lester who were as warm and friendly as that kick ass fire Lester had in the fireplace that divides the bar area and dining room.

This is the kind of place that you visit while traveling and get really disappointed  because they are not located directly next door to your house. Lester's wife and two beautiful kids arrived about the same time as I did so this gave the place an even more warm and cozy feeling.

I started with the smoked wings, the BBQ version of course.  Another perfect example of,  so excited I forgot to take a picture but all I can tell you is they were brined perfectly and smoked to perfection. They were served with lightly pickled carrots & celery which caught me a little off guard, but they were amazing.  I have been on this wing kick for about 25 years and these were among the best of the best. Take that Buffalo!

The rub on the outside of the wings gave them flavor without over powering the delicate flavor of the chicken and the brine allowed the chicken to remain moist during the smoking process. Next course up,  BBQ Chef tasting for One.  This plate would make any Southerner Happy just with it's portion size and the chef chose wisely for me: a mini pulled pork sandwich, ribs and a large smoked chicken breast. The special also included two sides and I chose the kale, because I needed some balance and the New England beans. I was so into the BBQ that I didn't notice until half way through my meal that I had gotten home style fluffy whipped potatoes. Don't worry R7G,  they were so good I couldn't bear to send them packing back to the kitchen.

This was really a great BBQ plate smoked by a true pit master. The BBQ sauce was good but I like a little bit more sweetness to balance the smokiness.  Other than my on preference for sweet sauce this was a joint that I want to visit for many years to come and considering my many upcoming Boston trips, I'm sure I will partake.  I'm sure Lester & crew will either get tired feeding me or put me to washing dishes to pay rent at that bar stool that I will call home. 

Great Barrington is a great little town filled with fun places to shop, eat and you will see more post by me about this town in the very near future. Thanks Lester for making my drive to Boston giving me a full belly & happy one.