Blue Ribbon BBQ. An Old Favorite.

Blue Ribbon BBQ’s West Newton location is a few minutes from my grade school, and I think it was sometime in 5^th or 6^th grade that I discovered it. My friend Nick told our geography class that he was starving himself in preparation for an upcoming homeroom lunch. The homeroom teacher had decided that he’d get his guys (the school was all boys), a barbecue “feedbag” — ribs, chicken, pulled pork, cornbread, baked beans, cole slaw. Nick had forgone dinner the previous night and that day’s breakfast in preparation for the meal.

Alright, full-disclosure, I wasn’t a committed foodie in 5^th and 6^th grade, but having grown a full 14 inches during those two years (and standing at 6’3”, skinny and uncoordinated – just ask my soccer team), I did not pass on any opportunity to eat. Whatever this Blue Ribbon place was, I knew it must be good.

When I returned back to my grade school a few weeks ago to give a talk with a friend on Vietnamese food and culture to a group of 4^th graders, I took the opportunity to go back to Blue Ribbon.

Blue Ribbon’s West Newton location transports you from the cold New England day straight to the South. It’s not a huge space, with an ordering and food preparation counter taking up most of the restaurant. A few stools offer customers a place to eat, but the delicious food, although it’s served in quantity, doesn’t require much of a seating — it doesn’t take long to inhale.

A chain link fence chicken wire fence (Editor’s Note: Matt hadn’t looked closely enough at the gauge of this wire. Thank you to reader, Hunter, for your astute observational skills.) provides the “sneeze guard” to separate the customers from the busy employees. It’s not clear who is being protected from whom. Ravenous customers anxiously watch their food being prepared, many looking ready to jump over the counter and grab their slabs of ribs. The whole place smells of smoking meat and BBQ sauce. Not for the veggie lover.

Once again, Blue Ribbon did not disappoint. This time, I sampled the carnitas burrito. In the tortilla, were delicious pork, rice & beans, cabbage, salsa, cilantro and sour cream.

Oh, and make sure to get a lemonade, iced tea, or combination of the two when you go to Blue Ribbon next – free, serve yourself refills!