Tag: Restaurant Review

Smoker’s BBQ Pit Restaurant

Sign at Smoker’s BBQ PitThis is a restaurant that started from a purchase of a commercial smoker as a hobby. The ‘retired’ owners of Smoker’s BBQ Pit purchased a smoker for making ribs at home and found that everyone said the ribs were so good they should sell them. So they bought a spot of ground, put up a small trailer with two windows (one for orders, and one for pickup), and thought they’d sell ribs on the weekends to the vacationer’s in Ocean City, MD. That was about 10 years ago, and the weekend hobby turned into a fulltime operation for the couple.

The original Smoker’s BBQ Pit trailer is long gone. It was a small trailer with a smoker in back. They served up some delicious BBQ Pork Baby Back ribs, pulled pork, and homemade side dishes. The new Smoker’s BBQ Pit restaurant is larger, but it’s still based on a trailer, and still has a smoker in back. The new double-wide trailer still has the two window set up for ordering and pickup but it’s expanded and has a dining room for folks to eat at.

The food that these folks make is simply fabulous. Everything they serve is homemade, like you can remember your grandma making, and is absolutely delicious. We always eat here at least two times when we vacation in the Ocean City Area. Their ribs are simply out of this world. They have awesome pulled pork sandwiches. Their smoked tuna is incredible. The coleslaw, potato salad, applesauce, garlic green beans are always fresh and homemade. The green beans are always cooked right and still have some crunch to them. Prices are fair and the serving time is around 10 minutes.

Smoker’s BBQ Pit is a seasonal restaurant that open from May until mid-September, when the owners fly south for the winter :). You’ll find them generally open from 6am until 11pm in the main part of the year, with shorter hours in May, and September. When you go, you’ll hear all of the customer’s raving about how good the food is and how they found the place.

They also serve breakfast! Delicious homemade breakfast, cooked to order.

You’ll find this restaurant located in West Ocean City on the way to Assateague Island. On the right and almost directly across the street from Ocean Petroleum. From Ocean City, Take US Route 50 West (Ocean Gateway) about 1 mile, Left on Stephan Decatur Highway, and about 1 mile on right.

Smoker’s BBQ Pit (Google Map of Smoker’s BBQ Pit Restaurant Location)
9711 Stephen Decatur Hwy (MD Route 611)
West Ocean City, MD 21842
410-213-0040
smokersbbqpit.com

Pho Song Long Restaurant Review

Update: As of 2012, this restaurant is no longer in business.

Rank: 5 Stars (of 5)

Pho Song Long Restaurant Google Map
11542 Middlebrook Rd.
Germantown, MD 20876
301-515-1464

Open 7 days a week
9:30AM – 8:00PM

Pho Song Long RestaurantThis is a Vietnamese Restaurant that was started in 2003 as a strictly Pho (pronounced fuh) Soup place. The owners are originally from Vietnam, so they have native knowledge of the foods of the region. Pho Song Long now has quite an extensive Vietnamese and Southeastern Asian menu. The soups are delicious, and come in small and large bowls. For most people the small bowl is plenty — it’s fairly large and is more than a quart. The service at this restaurant is fast. I eat at Pho Song Long for lunch once or twice a week, and the food is usually served within 10 minutes of seating. They can get busy on holidays for lunch, so on those occasions there may be a wait for seating but most of the time there are a few seats available. Pho Song Long has attracted a diverse based of customers of both Asian and non-Asian descent. It’s always a good sign when you see lots of Asian customers at an Asian restaurant.

I’ve had several of the Beef Noodle soups including the meatball, round steak, and well done brisket (and the many varieties of mixes of these) and all were well made and tasty. All of the soups from Pho Song Long come with the standard accompaniments of lemon wedges, bean sprouts, green onion, cilantro, and Thai basil. Pho soup is usually served along with chop sticks and spoons. Forks are available on request.

Of the other entries on their menu, I’ve had the Singapore Noodles, which is a mixture of shrimp, pork, and vegetables with noodles and it’s highly recommended. They also have a noodle bowl with cut up spring rolls, pork, and vermicilli with a sauce that is delicious. This is one of the places that has so many good foods to order that it’s hard to choose a new one when you’ve already had 10 great tasting meals that you’d want to have again. I wouldn’t be afraid to try anything else on the extensive menu that the have. The portions are large, and some entrees like the Singapore Noodles could serve two when ordered along with an appetizer.

For appetizers, Pho Song Long offers Spring Rolls and Garden Rolls that are simply out of this world. Make sure to order a set of cooked spring rolls, the quality is absolutely fantastic.

Most of the entrees are priced in the $5.00 to $7.00 range, with some of the more expensive entrees approaching $10.00.

Pho Song Long also offers several vegetarian menu items for those groups that may have vegetarian friends seeking a place for everyone to meet for a meal.

The atmosphere at Pho Song Long is clean and typical of the several Vietnamese pho soup restaurants in the area. Furnishings are simple quality tables, with comfortable chairs.

Directions: From Bethesda, Rockville: Take the I-270 freeway north to the first Middlebrook Road Exit. Turn right into first shopping center on right.

From Frederick, Germantown: Take I-270 freeway south to Route 118. Make left at light onto Germantown Rd. Make right onto Frederick Rd. Turn right into shopping center after crossing Middlebrook Rd.

The beef soups Pho Song Long offer are:

Pho Tai

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak.

Pho Tai, Chin

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak and well-done brisket.

Pho Bo Vien

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with meat balls only.

Pho Tai, Nam

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak adn well-done flank.

Pho Tai, Gau

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak and fat brisket.

Pho Tai, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak and bible tripe.

Pho Tai, Gan

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak and and soft tendon.

Pho Tai, Nam, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done flank and bible tripe.

Pho Tai, Nam, Gan

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done flank and soft tendon.

Pho Nam, Ve Don

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with well-done flank and skirt flank.

Pho Chin, Nam, Ve Don

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with well-done brisket, well-done flank and bible tripe.

Pho Tai, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon and bible tripe.

Pho Tai, Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done brisket, fat brisket, soft tendon and bible tripe.

Pho Chin, Nam, Gau, Gan, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with well-done brisket, well-done flank, well-done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon and bible tripe.

Pho Tai, Nam, Gan, Sach

Vietnamese Beef Noodle soup with eye round steak, well-done flank, soft tendon and bible tripe.

They also offer a couple of Chicken Noodle soups:

Pho Ga

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle soup with tasty natural chicken broth and shredded chicken meat.

Mien Ga Song Long

Vietnamese Chicken Vermicelli Noddle soup with tasty natural chicken broth and shredded chicken meat