MD BBQ Joint Named One of Nation's Best: Food & Wine

MARYLAND — Food & Wine released its list of the "Best Barbecue In Every State" recently, and restaurants from 30 states made the cut, including Maryland.

The food site considered barbecue from across the country, and noted that Texas and the Carolinas don't hold the final word on what is acceptable in lip-smacking, finger-licking food.

"We celebrate the very best brisket and whole hog wherever we find them," the editors said. "It is most definitely about the meat, and whoever is patiently working the pit."

Maryland had one BBQ joint that made the rankings. The food and dining website ranked Jake's Grill in Cockeysville among the best in the country, although it said Jake's is actually a pit beef specialist.

The restaurant at 11950 Falls Road in Cockeysville calls itself the best-kept BBQ secret in Baltimore, offering pit beef sandwiches, pulled pork, smoked ribs, chicken and sausage with a casual, neighborhood vibe.

This is strictly a lunch or early dinner venue. They close up at 4 p.m. weekdays and 5 p.m. on weekends.

The menu is sparse and focused on the basics with five kinds of sandwiches, sausage, ribs and two side: mac and cheese and coleslaw.

If you've never been there before, Food & Wine describes it as a "nearly-rural idyll, and then, there's a grubby vinyl-sided shack, those absolute clouds of smoke, and a parking lot most likely overflowing with cars, if we're anywhere close to lunch time."

"This is one of the finest pit beef joints, in one of the country's finest cities. ... Cooked over charcoal, this is essentially the roast beef sandwich of your dreams, smoke-kissed, pretty in pink, thinly sliced, piled on a roll and crowned with a wallop of tiger sauce, which is basically horseradish and mayonnaise," Food & Wine said. "Pit beef is just as important to Baltimore as the crab cake, or anything crab-related."

What's your favorite Maryland barbecue spot? Tell us in comments.

The writer also gives a shout-out to Pioneer Pit Beef in Catonsville and Chaps Pit Beef at 5801 Pulaski Highway in Baltimore.

Details On Jake's Grill

• Phone: (410) 308-0022
• Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday