(Sub) Urban BBQ in Rockville, MD

The tag line on Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide is "All food is ethnic food." That's not usually our mantra in seeking out restaurants, but this week, we decided to go with it. On Sunday, we set out to disprove the notion that you can't get good barbecue around these parts. Did we succeed? Only somewhat.

One of Marta's co-workers, who was in the military for four years, frequently asks her about our "missions" and informed her that we only have enough members to constitute a squad, not even a platoon, and hardly a brigade. Nevertheless, we persisted in our willful ignorance and set out in our Brigade Chariot for Rockville, Maryland. We were pleased that, upon arrival at Urban BBQ, there was a long line at the counter. Many times, when we arrive for our late Sunday lunches, we are the only ones in the restaurant.

We don't understand what is urban about this setting, but we accept it.

Usually we order a few appetizers and entrees and share everything, but this time we each got our own platter of meat and sides, and sampled each other's food. We ordered chopped pork, pulled chicken, brisket, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and corn bread. And Georgia peach sweet tea, of course.

We love a table packed with delicious food.

Creepy dude does not appreciate our dining club.

The meat was really good, the pulled chicken especially. And the additional dipping sauces were delicious. I don't know anything about barbecue regionalism, but they seemed to represent the gamut of American barbecue traditions. There was a yellowy one with mustard, a red one that was thick and spicy, and a thin vinegary one, among others. We each got an enormous piece of still warm corn bread.

The macaroni and cheese was fine, but not amazing, although we appreciated that the pasta was al dente and not mushy, and that it was topped with extra cheese. The coleslaw and cornbread were also pretty good, but the sweet tea, alas, was not up to par.

I will almost always love a meal if it comes with that many dipping sauces.

One of the reasons we went to Urban BBQ this weekend, is that Adam is doing his next review on DC barbecue options, including the new Hill Country in Penn Quarter and Rocklands in Glover Park. We decided that the meat at Urban BBQ was the best, but the sides at Rocklands were far superior. And that Hill Country (according to Adam) is just terrible.

Overall review from Marta: "I was nervous about this outing, because I don't like barbecue, but I am happy."

For our next trip, we are thinking of going back to our roots, and heading out to Falls Church for some Vietnamese eats at Present, which is a nearby competitor to Four Sisters, which we loved.