In praise of Mo Gridder's
I happened to find myself in the Bronx yesterday with a car, not too far from Hunts Point, so on the way home I took the opportunity to drive down to Mo Gridder's and pick up some 'cue that I haven't yet had a chance to try. As expected, in a fairly industrial area with auto repair shops and dead end streets, a big sign over what is basically a trailer announces the availability or ribs, brikset, pulled pork, etc.
Because it would be just me and the kids for dinner, I couldn't order an enormous amount, so I settled on a rack of ribs, a container of pulled pork and a container of baked beans, figuring this would allow a fair comparison to other places. It should be noted that I took all of this home and heated it in the microwave for dinner (this was the recommended way to reheat the ribs), so I assume it might even be better if I sat and ate it there.
The ribs were juicy, slightly smokey, with a perfect balance of fat to meat. IMHO, these were better than the ribs at RUB, Hill Country or Blue Smoke. I haven't been to dinosaur in a while, but I'd rate them a tie based on memory. The beans were delicious, a bit sweet, with lots of shredded pork in them. They are up there with RUB, I think. The pork was well-flavored, not too fatty, a bit dry (although it was served with a Kansas City style sauce that moistened it).
Overall, if this place was more convenient to mass transit it would be a top choice. On the other hand, if you're driving down the Bruckner during lunch hour, it's pretty easy off and on to get some solid 'cue.
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LNG212
May 16, 2008 07:53 AM
We had Mo Gridder's last summer (one and only time) because they happened to have a stand set up at a street fair (UWS). Had the pulled pork, and like you, thought it a bit dry but the sauce worked really well. It was good. Not that we'd go out of our way for it; but we definitely thought if they were around the street fairs regularly, we'd hit them up. (oh, and back then they said they'd be making an effort to be at more fairs in Mahattan; though I don't know if that actually happened.)
