Sweet Cheeks Q & Some BBQ For You

Last night Brian and I finally got to try the new-ish BBQ place near Fenway Park that everyone seems to be raving about: Sweet Cheeks Q.  Sweet Cheeks opened in November 2011 and is chef-owned by the well known Tiffani Faison of Top Chef fame. 

I love some good BBQ and there aren’t too many place in and around Boston to get it. 

We had Red Sox tickets that night, so I met Brian after work for an early dinner before the game!  He got their before I did and grabbed 2 seats at one of the communal tables (basically you share with whoever else needs a seat).  In this type of atmosphere (casual & kind of noisy) I don’t mind that seating.  Wouldn’t recommend it for a first date or anything though.

Brian had already ordered a beer, so I scanned the menu and picked my own.

I’ve had Sweaty Betty before and remember liking it.  Refreshing, flavorful blonde ale.  They didn’t have too many beers on tap, but they did have a fantastic selection of bottles and cans!

To start we ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes.  Neither of us have ever had them.

Thick slices of juicy tomato, and a crispy browned coating.  They came with a sort of ranch dressing that had a nice kick to it!  With the ranch these were awesome!  The tomatoes themselves weren’t the most flavorful, but it’s not tomato season so it’s hard to complain. 

Maybe 1 minute later our meals came out!

I ordered the pulled chicken tray with sides of heirloom baked beans and the farm salad.  I also ordered a single biscuit instead of the sliced bread that usually comes with the meal.

If you only order one thing there…GET A BISCUIT!!!  O.M.G.  The menu has an order of a basket of 4 with honey butter on the side, but you can order just one even though it wasn’t on the menu.  AND make sure to ask for some of that honey butter.  WOW.

First of all the biscuit was HUGE.  Easily 4” diameter and so thick and fluffy.  Warm, crisp on the outside, tender and flaky on the inside.  That with the honey butter was a match made in heaven.  I’m drooling on my keyboard right now.

       

Brian’s tray:

Ribs, collards, and potato salad.

The pulled chicken was delightful.  Tender, juicy, flavorful…especially with their housemade BBQ sauce.  The table also had a bottle of their housemade vinegar sauce, and habanero lime hot sauce! 

The farm salad had tons of seasonal veggies, nuts, grapes, arugula, parmesan, and a mustard vinaigrette (I believe).  I loved all the veggies and it would of been perfect with just a tad less dressing.

I stole a lot of Brian’s collards.  Vinegary, and cooked with some type of pork which gave the greens an awesome flavor. 

I also stole a bite of the potato salad, 2 thumbs up.

The ribs were incredible tender, and not overly fatty.  I don’t mind fat, but hate actually biting into it. 

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the beans.  They were pretty good, but tasted way more like chili than baked beans.  Too smokey, too much cumin for me.  But they were still sweet, which I wouldn’t like my chili to be so it was just a conflict of flavors for me.  Brian really liked them though.

We still had time to kill before the game so we went with another round of beers.

Brian HAD To order this as we never see it ANYWHERE

I tend to not like overly hoppy IPA’s because they are usually bitter, but this one is just the opposite.  No bitterness, but just tons of hop aroma.  Delish.

All in all it was a great night.  Would have been better if the Sox won but what can you do?

 

Pretty good seats too!

Now with all this BBQ talk, I have the perfect contest you can enter!!

Eversave is giving away 2 of these prizes of $250 worth of delicious BBQ catering from Dickey’s Barbeque Pit! 

Now, there aren’t any Dickey’s in Massachusetts (closest ones are in CT, or in Portland, ME)…but this is open to anyone so maybe there is one near you.  But if there’s NOT…don’t fret, if you win you could also choose a $250 gift card to Omaha Steaks!!   Create your own feast with that prize!

Just enter HERE!  This contest goes until Sunday, May 6, and they will notify the winner on Monday, May 7!

And in case that doesn’t pan out for you, the folks at Eversave are letting me give away a $10 save reward (to use on any Save) to one of you!

In the spirit of BBQ, to enter for the $10 save reward, leave me a comment with your favorite side dish to order at a BBQ joint.  If you’re not a BBQ fan, then just your favorite other restaurant side dish!

I’ll choose a winner for the $10 save reward by 10 p.m. EST on Monday May 7th!