Homing In on Barbecue Perfection at D.C. Takeout

Good barbecue is hard to find.

I cover restaurants throughout the region, and a couple of years ago spent several weeks eating at more than 40 barbecue joints from Frederick County to St. Mary's County and from Gainesville to Annapolis. Some places that have great pulled pork have dry, overcooked ribs. Others have great potato salad or pie but gray, mushy pork. One place had great tart-yet-sweet coleslaw but nothing else noteworthy.

So I was skeptical when a neighbor suggested I try a nearby place, just across the street from the Takoma Metro station. I haven't been impressed with any of the other little takeouts around our area's Metro stop and didn't hold out a lot of hope for the Red Line Grill.

Boy, was I wrong. The Red Line Grill is Washington's hidden barbecue jewel.

It doesn't look like much. A Caribbean restaurant used to occupy this storefront along what passes for the business area of the District side of Takoma. There is a line of wooden booths along one side of the restaurant, but most of the space is taken up with the meat-smoking area in the rear and by the kitchen. There is a small counter in front and a cooler for soft drinks.

There are no hokey down-home sayings plastered all around, or spittoons of (bad) salted roasted peanuts. Bottles of hot sauce don't line the walls. The main decorations are the homemade cakes, cooked by a friend of the owner, sitting on the front counter. It's more a takeout place than a real sit-down restaurant.

Don't hold that against it.

John Smith took over the restaurant in January from a friend who had opened it a year earlier. Smith may have learned his barbecuing in New Jersey, but he learned very well.

The Red Line Grill is one of those rare places that gets almost everything right. And it's all prepared on the spot by Smith, his brother Keith Robinson and other members of the family. He smokes the ribs four hours, but the pork and brisket get eight hours of smoking.

The pulled pork sandwich has long shreds of flavorful, moist pork shoulder meat with just enough crispy edges to make it interesting, topped with a tomato-based, slightly sweet sauce, similar to what I grew up with in Georgia. The sandwich is piled high with meat on a really good kaiser roll. The beef brisket, chopped somewhat finer than the pork, is just as good.

And the ribs -- giant, meaty hunks -- are cooked just right. The meat doesn't slide off the bone, but it releases easily when you take a bite. The same, slightly sweet barbecue sauce is applied to the ribs, just before they are served. A half-rack is easily enough for two.

I can't recall another barbecue place where the pork, beef and ribs are all so good.