• Home
  • Best of Lists
  • Reviews
  • DC Restaurants
    • NE
    • NW
    • SE
    • SW
  • MD Restaurants
  • VA Restaurants
  • Ask Rick
  • Home »
  • Best of Lists »
  • Reviews »
  • DC Restaurants »
    • NE »
    • NW »
    • SE »
    • SW »
  • MD Restaurants »
  • VA Restaurants »
  • Ask Rick »
 
 
Rick Eats DC A website devoted to eating in DC
  • Recent Articles & Reviews

    • Queen’s English Still Reigns
    • Branching Out at Imperfecto and Joy
    • Tom Sietsema Dropped Stars From His Restaurant Reviews; I’m Adding Them to Mine
    • What I Did on My Sabbatical
    • The Best Things I Ate in 2021
  • Archives

    • December 2022
    • October 2022
    • August 2022
    • December 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • December 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
  • Categories

    • Articles
    • Best Burgers
    • Best of Lists
    • Best Pizza
    • Cheap Eats
    • Featured
    • NE
    • NW
    • Restaurants DC
    • Restaurants MD
    • Restaurants VA
    • SE
    • SW
    • Uncategorized


Don't Miss a Thing
Enter your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:

The Best Things I Ate This Week (August 6, 2021) — 2Fifty Texas BBQ, Taqueria La Placita, and Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly

Posted by Rick Chessen

 

Yep, six months off and I’m back already. When I adopted “the best things I ate this week” format I probably should have thought that one through. But posting every other week doesn’t really work. I don’t think anyone — at least anyone outside of Colonial Williamsburg — would be interested in a blog called “the best things I ate this past fortnight.”

One new feature alert before we get to the food. My webmaster/son Daniel has added an “Ask Rick” section to the website for any and all questions you may have. Visitors coming to town? I can help you find the perfect spot. Looking for a place to bring fussy friends who don’t like “weird” food? I can help you find new friends. It’s sort of like one of those AOC “Ask Me Anything” sessions on Instagram except without the charisma. 

 

2Fifty Texas BBQ, 4700 Riverdale Road, Riverdale MD

Beef brisket, burnt ends, and pork ribs

The Washington Post pronounced 2Fifty Texas BBQ the best barbecue in the DC area and I’m not arguing. The brisket is terrific — particularly eaten on-site at peak juiciness — and those burnt ends will make your knees buckle. The pork ribs and chicken are excellent too. I’m looking forward to trying the other meats, especially the foot-long beef rib with a pound of meat on a single rib. A slab of those and you’re pretty close to Fred Flintstone car-tipping territory.

 

Taqueria La Placita, 5020 Edmonston Road, Hyattsville MD

There are a lot of taquerias closer to where I live, but when I need my fix I usually find myself schlepping to this old-school standout in Hyattsville. To give you a sense of how anti-trendy La Placita is, you won’t find social-media-darling birria tacos on the menu but you will find tacos translated as “pork lip” and “meat head.” As in most situations in life, when in doubt go with the pork — the fantastic pastor, the carnitas, and the chorizo — and maybe throw in a carne asada for good measure.

Interestingly, La Placita is only a few minutes’ drive from 2Fifty BBQ. The Hyattsville-Riverdale area, for those unfamiliar, is in Maryland just across the DC border from Brookland/Catholic University and has some of the best and most diverse food in the DC area.

 

Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly, 5268-H Nicholson Ln, Kensington MD

Papa B’s Fried Rice and Lechon Belly

Chef Javier Fernandez opened Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly in 2018 in the shadow of the old White Flint Mall (aka “The place you know something happened with Lord & Taylor but you have to Google it every time”). The lechon belly gets top billing and rightly so — the crackly skin is like pork candy and the meat is rendered beautifully. But what keeps me coming back is Papa B’s fried rice, one of the best fried rice dishes in town. It has a lot going on, including homemade sweet Longanisa sausage, chicken, egg, various veggies/herbs, and the ingredient that puts it over the top: crab fat butter, which essentially is the yellowish gunk inside a cooked crab. What is it? Never you mind. Suffice it to say that it plays a role in the crab’s digestive process. It’s edible and delicious and you’ll never know it’s there. But you’d miss it if it weren’t.


I may be a few days late next week. I have the same big birthday coming up as Barack and, like him, it’s been a massive effort to scale back my party to just family and a few close friends. Of course, that also means dealing with George and Amal’s second big disappointment in a month and haggling with Oprah about her non-refundable tickets. I think I can placate the former with a fall visit to Lake Como and I have some Delta miles for Oprah. If all goes well, look for a post Sunday or Monday.   

This entry was posted in Articles, Restaurants MD. Bookmark the permalink.
← Previous Post Next Post →

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*



Don't Miss a Thing
Enter your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
  • Home
  • Best of Lists
  • Reviews
  • About this site
  • About Rick
  • Contact
  • DC Visitors
  • DC Restaurants
  • MD Restaurants
  • VA Restaurants

Website by MightyLittleWebShop.com