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District BBQ - Bristow, VA

I've driven past this place a couple of times while I was working, and yesterday was the day I finally decided to stop in and try it.  I'm a fan of all of BBQ's many wonderful varieties...KC, the Carolinas, Memphis dry rub...but my preference is of course Texas BBQ.  Brisket and ribs smoked slowly over a low fire, sometimes for over 12 hours.  My dad's got a pretty simple recipe of yellow mustard coated over the brisket as the binder, and the S&P all over.  But it's the smoke...and I think the smoker...that really makes his briskets amazing.  He gets up at 4am and starts the fire for meat that will be served that night.  

But Kansas City has some pretty amazing BBQ as well, and so I was excited to try this place.  When I pulled up, they didn't look like they were open, and the webpage only has the Vienna, VA location on it.  But I saw some people walking around inside, so I figured I'd check it out.  

The inside is very clean, but has the red and white checkered tablecloths that are at almost every BBQ place I've ever been to.  The menu looks like Dickey's, with almost the same font and menu layout.  But the meat selections were kinda strange...brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and pulled chicken.  They also had smoked chicken and chicken wings...but no sausage.  I think it might be because the restaurant is halal, which is fine by me (though I did miss me some sausage)

I should have gone St. Louis ribs, but I was in a brisket mood, and Yelp said I should try the burnt ends...the hazy IPA of the BBQ world...so I ordered a 2 Meat Plate with beans and potato salad as my sides.  The food was ready pretty quickly, and I was giddy with excitement to dig in.  

I loved that it came on a aluminum tray with butcher paper...made me feel like I was back at Kreutz's Market.  The brisket was good, though sliced really thin, like a ribbon.  I'd never had brisket like that before, but I didn't mind it.  I couldn't get any real smoke taste from it, but I enjoyed it anyways.  The smoke was definitely evident in the burnt ends...charcoal-y and sweet.  Like meat candy.  Both meats were pretty tasty, and they had a selection of sauces at the front to try out.  

The XXLocoXX sauce was HOT...a little surprised at that, but it was good.  Their regular sauce was ok too, and I had to try the Alabama White Sauce, which is something I only heard about once I moved out here.  I also picked up some Carolina Vinegar sauce and some Mustard sauce, which was
delicious...probably my favorite.

The sides were good too...potato salad had just the right amount of mustard, and the beans were AMAZING...I'm not usually a bean guy, but I loved that it wasn't just navy beans in there, but different types of beans in a sweet sauce with some meat.  The hamburger bun came with it, and really that's the only thing I'd have to say was a disappointment...I'd much rather have a couple of slices of white bread.

All in all, I really enjoyed District BBQ, and look forward to coming back when I'm in the area.  Next time, though, I'm getting the ribs.



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