(03/05/06)

Bar-B-Q Restaurant, a roadside watering hole just off I-95 in Milford, seems like the kind of place that might have flourished in the 1950s, when Boston Post Road was still a big deal. The place has a speakeasy-meets-rat-pack vibe, with lots of wood paneling and the emphasis on booze over barbecue. At noon on a Sunday there were already 3 customers at the small bar, drinking beer and shots.

The menu here is more generic bar fare, with a few barbecue items such as pulled pork sandwiches and beef and pork ribs. I tried the pork rib lunch plate, which comes with fries. The server graciously offered a substitution of onion rings and I accepted. The ribs were smallish babybacks, coated in a cherry red sauce and grilled. Inside, the meat was white and fairly dry and flavorless. The sauce was good, supplying a tasty mix of sweet and tangy, but not good enough to rescue boiled and broiled ribs.

The onion rings were crisp and delicious; I wish there were more of them (by comparison, Uncle Pete's in Revere, MA gives three times as many, plus a second side, for less money).

The bottom line: This is convenient lunch that would make a better-than-fast-food pit stop off route 95 during a trip between New York and Boston, but there are better barbecue choices within a half hour’s drive.