Two Brothers BBQ in Presto PA is a Hidden Gem

Three signs that a BBQ joint will serve excellent food:

1) It's a trailer

2) Cash only

3) It shares a parking lot with a beer store

Two Brothers BBQ in Presto Pennsylvania (motto: "We let the Kindergarten Class name the town"), right outside Pittsburgh, shares all of the above qualities.

In addition with sharing a parking lot with a beer store, Two Brothers is also directly across the street from a fire department. So when you really sit down and think about it, Two Brothers has the best and most strategic location of any BBQ joint anywhere in the free world.

But Spicy Food Guy soooooo digresses.

Three more reasons to make the trek to Two Brothers: baby back ribs, pulled pork, and BBQ nachos. All excellent, smoky, juicy, tender. SFG usually orders a full rack of ribs, a pound of pulled pork, a container of cole slaw, and sides of cornbread cake and mac & cheese. Not all for himself, of course, for all the non-vegetarian family members of SFG (5 out of 6).

The one problem Spicy Food Guy has with Two Brothers is that the pungent smell wafting around the parking lot makes SFG's middle aged tummy growl like a pride of lions. But if you can get through that and a maddening drive home with BBQ smells attacking all your senses, the reward is ample and just.

Two Brothers, you want this. So says Spicy Food Guy.

Arthur's Tavern is a Carnivore's Dream

For reason's best left unknown to the American public, Spicy Food Guy recently found himself hungry and thirsty in Morris Plains, New Jersey. The motto of Morris Plains is "A Community of Caring". It should be "A Community Where Meat Eaters Gather to Gorge Themselves". But Spicy Food Guy digresses.

Fortunately, Spicy Food Guy was accompanied by Fun Meat Loving Friends of Spicy Food Guy (FMLFOSFG), and we had reservations at Arthur's Tavern. Arthur's is a meat lover's place, with a menu filled with steaks, ribs, pork chops, and burgers. The decor is western tavern with red and white checkered tablecloths. And best of all, the draft beer comes in 34oz "mugs" reminiscent of Bavarian beer steins. There is zero chance Spicy Food Guy or FMLFOSFG are going to leave with available space in their bellies.

Spicy Food Guy ordered the full rack of ribs, and the FMLFOSFG immediately across from SFG ordered the 24 oz ribeye. And for the hell of it, SFG and three other conspirators ordered the award winning cheeseburger, get this, as a side.

So Spicy Food Guy ate the ribs (which were succulent), a portion of his neighbor's award winning ribeye (medium rare, flavorful and juicy), and part of the famous cheeseburger (to die for), all of which was washed down with a really big beer. SFG then waddled home, happy and ready to hibernate.

Arthur's Tavern is not where you take your vegan girlfriend (who you should probably break up with anyway). It's a place you go to pig out. On meat. So says Spicy Food Guy.

Excellent Ribs at Jaspers

As always, for reasons best left unknown to the American public, Spicy Food Guy found himself flung far from home; this time landing in a restaurant named Jasper's in the Lone Star Sate. Traveltex.com, which bills itself as the tourism site for Texas, uses the tagline "Texas. It's like a whole other country." Is it just Spicy Food Guy, or does everyone else snicker when they here that because it sounds like Forrest Gump talking to Jenny when he's about to go to Vietnam? But Spicy Food Guy digresses.

Jasper's, which rightly sells itself as "Gourmet Backyard Cuisine", placed Spicy Food Guy in a state of agonizing indecision when it came time to select an entree. On the one hand were the baby back ribs, listed in the menu as one of "Bon Appetit's Top Choices for America's Best Ribs." Sounds like a gimme, eh? Bon Appetit, knower of all things in savory foods, crowning king the ribs of Jaspers. An absolute no brainer.

However, throwing a giant wrench into the culinary cogs of Spicy Food Guy's decision making was another possibility, the chicken fried bone-in ribeye. Spicy Food Guy loves chicken fried steaks. Spicy Food Guy loves bone-in ribeye. And here at Jasper's some inspired genius combined the two.

Spicy Food Guy had Menu Paralysis.

In the end, Spicy Food Guy went with the ribs, so as not to walk away from one of America's best. And delicious they were, crispy blackened edges, juicy and pink in the middle, tender, falling off the bone. Spicy Food Guy did not regret any part of the entree decision.

Bonus? The aged Gouda-ham mac 'n' cheese as a side. Creamy with smoky cheese. Melted in Spicy Food Guy's mouth.

Great menu, great backyard food. Jasper's is Spicy Food Guy's kind of place. Go there.

Armidillo's: Another Superb Ohio Based Rib Master

Spicy Food Guy recently reported how he enjoyed the recent Coors Light Kickoff and Rib Festival this past Labor Day weekend.

Spicy Food Guy especially enjoys Armadillo's, an Austintown, Ohio based catering business that produces a first class regional BBQ. The sauce is an interesting mix of Carolina and Kansas style that Spicy Food Guy believes goes best with Armadillo's ribs.

Not surprisingly, Armadillo's wins awards year after year all over the mid-west. Next year come to Heinz Field and give armadillo's a try. You won't go away hungry or disappointed. So says Spicy Food Guy.

Really Good Carolina Style BBQ in Ohio and Pennsylvania

Due to both good fortune and weather on Labor Day weekend, Spicy Food Guy got to spend several quality hours at the Coors Light Kickoff and Rib Festival, held every year at Heinz Field in the Steel City.

One of SFG's favorite regional BBQ teams, Old Carolina, was there cooking mountains of ribs (pictured here). Spicy Food Guy wolfed down a half slab covered in a very hot and spicy BBQ sauce called, kid you not, Screaming Beaver. If nothing else, the Old Carolina team is to be congratulated on their creative naming process for their sauces.

But alas, the folks at Old Carolina are just as good at cooking ribs and pork shoulders as they are at naming sauces. The ribs are smoky, tender, and have just the right amount of fatty juiciness. But if you want some of those ribs or pulled pork, you have to go to Massillon Ohio (official motto: "Massillon means more!" To which SFG adds, "more than just a meadow, but not by much") or Canton Ohio to eat at one of the Old Carolina Restaurants.

Or you could come to Heinz Field on Labor Day. Get a rack of ribs and a dose of Steelers. Can't be beat, so says Spicy Food Guy.

Best BBQ Sauce for Ribs

Spicy Food Guy is very particular about the type of BBQ sauce he uses on his home smoked ribs. Seven hours of hickory smoking go into Spicy Food Guy's ribs, which he turns every hour so as to apply a secret mopping sauce. Also, Spicy Food Guy uses a careful blend of commercial spices and brown sugar as his dry rub. The end result is a delicate smoky tender rack of ribs that Spicy Food Guy does NOT want to be overpowered by some chipotle-garlic-honey roasted-mesquite smoked BBQ sauce.

Enter Hogs Ass Hot Habanero BBQ Sauce. Made by the Sauce Crafters people. Hogs Ass is a former first place winner of Chile Pepper Magazine's Fiery Food Challenge. It has also won a Scovie award or two.

And Spicy Food Guy loves Hog's Ass simplicity. Starts sweet and gets hot at the perfect pace. No sneaky flavor undertones that undermine the delicate flavor of the rib. Hogs Ass seems to enhance the smoky taste of the rib, not hide or overwhelm it. And a nice full texture that lays nicely on the rib rack. Not runny.

Did Spicy Food Guy say hot? He meant really hot. A burner. Not for those guests who think Kraft Hot BBQ Sauce is hot, which it isn't. Hogs Ass ain't for no wusses and you shouldn't be wasting home smoked ribs on people who buy Kraft branded BBQ sauces.

So says Spicy Food Guy.

Best Rib Rub You Can Buy On the Internet

As Spicy Food Guy sees the world, one can either spend several dozens of dollars on paprika, brown sugar, chili pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and other secret spices; then spend several dozen hours configuring the correct mixtures to proclaim that one has formulated one of the world's best rib rubs (of which there are thousands), OR, you can buy a really really good one off the internet for five bucks.

To Spicy Food Guy, who is busy smoking ribs while simultaneously: 1) is immersing himself in the decisions of whom to bench and whom to start on his fantasy football team, 2) is trying to either participate in or referee a game of "Capture the Flag" with very loud children, 3) is attempting to open and close the smoker while keeping Large Dog of Spicy Food Guy (LDOSFG) from licking the dripping fat off the patio, the choice is simple -- Bone Suckin Sauce Seasoning and Rub.

Formerly known as Bone Suckin Sauce Rib Rub, the renamed rub (presumably so that it crosses over to chickens and other non-pork staples) is a spicy, tasty, and fabulous rub. A terrific combination of heat and tang and sweetness. While Spicy Food Guy understands the broader "seasoning" appeal of the current brand, he is somewhat disheartened that the Bone Suckin' people would depart from this rub's core essence, which is all about ribs, dammit.

Like any good rub, you'll want to really coat both sides of the ribs before smoking. After rubbing, do not forget to put the ribs back in the fridge for a couple of hours to let that flavor sink in.

By the way, the Children of Spicy Food Guy think that Bone Suckin Rub is too spicy for their tastes, so Spicy Food Guy uses Sutton's Bay Hog's Tale Rub, which seems to have less chili powder and more brown sugar. Or, for the truly spice averse, just use pure brown sugar.

Eat 'em up!