As mentioned here, I was rooting for Adam's Rib. Lots of others were too.
Now, apparently it's closed.
This sucks. I really liked their food AND their people, and I think the place was just hitting its stride. The pulled pork was fabulous, their spicy sauce was great, they had a good lunch special...oh, and JUST TWO DAYS AGO it was named Pitch's Best Barbecue (South Region) for 2009.
Again, this sucks.
4 comments:
Damn, that didn't last long. Speaking of ill-fated BBQ spots, I had lunch at Matchstick again today - pretty solid, although I'm more interested in their breakfast after being pleased, but not blown away by their BBQ. It seems that I have a hard time justifying eating BBQ that isn't OK Joe's or Gates. Or Bryant's. Or Hayward's. Or C. Withers for that matter - if you haven't been there, I highly recommend it. The 3 smoked chicken wings & 2 sides for $5 is a steal. The smoked Mac 'n Cheese...oh dear...
Yeah, I don't think Matchstick is long for the world either. And you and I differ in the sense that I can always justify eating barbecue, at least when I'm not trying to be healthy. I've been meaning to check out C Withers, so maybe that will be my next stop. I hear they have cheesecake cornbread too.
I thought Adam's Rib was too elaborate for a BBQ joint. I think every piece of equipment in that place was brand new and the menu was too large. It must have cost a fortune to rehab that space too. That being said, this surprised me since the place always seemed to do good business.
I had Matchstick for the 1st time recently and thought the BBQ was way better than Adam's Rib. The sauce in particular is high on my list. Still might not be enough to save it from oblivion, since it can't even fill that tiny space with customers.
For me, I don’t know that it felt too elaborate for a JoCo BBQ joint. However, you’re right about the investment in rehabbing the space—the building itself was a friggin’ DUMP before they moved in. You’re also right about it seeming to do good business; the owner indicated they were about $150/day in sales (that’s probably 15-20 paying customers) from breaking even. I just don’t know how you can invest that much money in startup if you’re only going to be able to support 6 months of operation.
I’d be shocked if Matchstick makes it to 2010. Good food, but 39th Street’s high rent and a lack of convenient carryout just isn’t going to work.
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