A New BBQ Joint by the Housatonic
Posted by: Dan Shaw
Posted on: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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Vicki Halliday grew up in Texas, and her good ole girl attitude is reflected in Smokin Barbecue, the West Cornwall restaurant that she co-owns with her friend Dan Evans. Less than a hundred yards from a prime fishing and canoeing stretch of the Housatonic River, Smokin Barbecue is the type of joint where you can arrive in your waders or wet clothes, and sit down to a draft beer and baby back or country style ribs (in two sizes: $12.95 or $19.95), which come with a choice of a side such as potato salad or baked beans. The greenest thing on the menu at Smokin Barbecue is coleslaw, and Halliday says that she’s not planning to make changes any time soon. “This is my idea of a real barbecue place,” she says in a Texan twang, which means no reservations and no credit cards, either. There are old fashioned pinball machines to help pass the time if you have to wait. “Most kids who come in have never seen them before,” says Halliday. “They get a real kick out of them.”
The search for the right barbecue sauce for the ribs was easy, because it was Dan’s homemade sauce that inspired the restaurant in the first place. And it’s a picture of Dan dressed as an aborigine (at a Halloween party several years ago at Mohawk Mountain) that became the label for Dangerous Dan’s Sauce, which is for sale at the restaurant ($6.50) as well as local markets. “We started bottling the sauce last year in Russ’s kitchen,” explains Halliday, referring to Russ Sawicki, who owns the nearby Wandering Moose restaurant. “And people went crazy for it. People use the sauce to spice up Bloody Marys and meatballs, and vegetarians put it on tofu. They use it for the damndest things.”
9 Railroad Street; 860.248-3127
Thursdays (after Memorial Day) 5 - 11
Fridays 4 - 11
Saturdays noon - 11
Sundays noon - 5
Cash only
