Review of The Pit, Raleigh

            One of the first things that I was told upon moving into North Carolina was that I had to try the barbecue.  However, over and over again, I would be told that the best barbecue comes from shady, holes-in-the-wall places.  In fact, one person told me that the closer the building was to being condemned, the better the barbecue was.  And in my first eight years in North Carolina, those statements held true, time, after time, after time.  However, The Pit at 328 W. Davie Street in downtown Raleigh turned my barbecue world upside-down! 

            Now, I’ll be honest, I never heard of The Pit until I saw an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay and noticed that he was just around the corner in Raleigh.  He was challenging The Pit’s pitmaster Ed Mitchell to a rib throwdown and what really through my head into a tailspin was when I heard that Ed Mitchell cooks his ribs in about 20 minutes.  As everyone seems to know, ribs, barbecue, etc., are all cooked low and slow, but Ed Mitchell must have known better, because he ended up beating Bobby. After showing the online menu to Megan, it didn’t take must prodding to convince her that the next time we were in Raleigh, we’d need to eat at The Pit. That following Thursday, we decided to visit The Pit for an early lunch at 11:00.

            Upon seeing The Pit, you can easily tell it blasts the theory of a shady barbecue hole right out of the water.  The Pit is a brick building in downtown Raleigh with huge walls of glass in the front and a seating area adjacent to the entrance for those who like to eat outside.  When you enter the building you see that The Pit is an upscale barbecue joint.  There is a large bar to the left with many wooden tables where you can eat/drink/enjoy yourself.  If you continue the few steps to the hostess station, you see that the dining room is pretty classy. All along one wall is a row of U-shaped booths, where all of your guests will sit in a semicircle, while the waiter has access to everyone.  They use a “team” waiting mentality, where you do not necessarily have one specific waiter, but instead there is a team of 3-5 waiters who continually look after a section.  I don’t think our glasses of sweet tea ever got less than 2/3 full.  Looking beyond the tables you can see into the open-air kitchen where everything is being prepared.  Seeing huge puffs of smoke released every time they open one of the grills is commonplace and makes your mouth water in anticipation. 

            For our appetizer, Megan and I ordered the Pumpkin Skillet Cornbread.  While there were many other options such as Fried Pimento Cheese, Fried Green Tomatoes, Barbecue Fries, a House-made Pickle Plate, we felt the Skillet Cornbread was something we could not pass up.  The skillet was huge and came with a side of maple butter. The Cornbread was sweet and melted in your mouth with only a hint of pumpkin taste, which was good for me.  Most of the “pumpkin” flavoring seems to be the combination of cinnamon and nutmeg in the bread.  The maple butter however was a great addition that helped to accentuate the hint of “spice” in the bread.  It started off our meal with a bang, but let’s face it, you go to The Pit for the barbecue. 

            For Megan’s main dish, she ordered the Chopped BBQ with sides of Fried Okra and Sweet Potato Fries, while I ordered the Baby Back Ribs with sides of Mac n Cheese and Cole Slaw.  The Chopped BBQ is pit-cooked overnight and seasoned with Eastern North Carolina vinegar based BBQ sauce. Once cooked, it is hand chopped and diced and ready for the serving. It was good BBQ, nothing that will cause you to shout from the rooftops or remember it fondly years later, but it was good moist, meaty barbecue.  Her fried okra was good, but nothing spectacular, personally I do not like okra at all, something about the texture, but Megan loves it and mentioned that it was decent. The Sweet Potato Fries were very good, they were crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside.  Megan described them easily as the best part of her meal, but keep in mind that potatoes are her favorite food. I stole quite a few because I enjoyed them as well.
       I chose the Baby Back Ribs, the same ones that allowed Ed Mitchell to beat Bobby Flay in the Throwdown.  While I first had to question whether or not they were fully cooked, I mean ribs in 20 minutes?  That seems a little questionable.  However they were fully cooked and amazing.  The meat tore from the bone easily with a fork, while still having a nicely crisped edge on the outside. The flavor was smoky, but not overwhelming.  The sauce they use is a slightly thicker, more tomato based sauce than Eastern NC but equally delicious.  The ribs were full in flavor and possessed the perfect balance of meat to fat ratio. My macaroni was just ok.  It was slightly greasy and overcooked, I would probably not order it again on my next visit.  The cole slaw was just average at best.  It was in a standard white cream sauce, but it was thick-cut cole slaw with long chunks of slaw, definitely not my preference.  Also, I have taken a recent liking to mustard based or vinegar based slaw instead of cream based. 

            All-in-all, our visit to The Pit was very enjoyable and turned my barbecue world upside down with their quick cooking ribs.  The meat was juicy and delicious, the appetizer was exceptional, the sides were mediocre, but the service was good.  We definitely plan on visiting The Pit again in the near future, but keep in mind that you want to get there early.  They open at 11:00 seven days a week and by about 11:45 the place is packed with a long line going out the door and a sizeable wait. The Pit has no shortage of customers and they all know that this is the classy place to get your barbecue on!

Category	Scale 1-5 stars
Food Quality
Food Creativity
Service
Atmosphere

 Value for the price                                                 

Addendum: When we went back for dinner another time, we arrived at 4:50 only to have an hour and a half wait for a table.  The service was subpar with drinks going empty for a long amount of time.  The ribs were undercooked, but the barbecue fries were amazing.  Really how can you go wrong with seasoned fries topped with pork barbecue and pimento cheese.  I’d recommend them again.  While I’m sure we will be back to The Pit again, our original high standards for the place have decreased. Also keep in mind, they do not take reservations on Saturday nights.  I’d recommend sticking to a weeknight for The Pit.  Also, now that Pitmaster Ed Mitchell has left, I wonder what changes are in store for The Pit.