Georgetown BBQ

Made a quick stop for dinner after visiting the grandparents. Headed over to Georgetown and decided on a southern influenced BBQ joint on M street- Old Glory. This used to be one of my favorite restaurants growing up; I would go here almost every year for my birthday with the fam. The food is authentic and fabulous, the ambiance is vibrant, and the staff incorporates memorable moments that keep you coming back like a big surprising rubber stamp on the table as soon as all are seated as well as complimentary tootsie pops with your check. I love these kind of touches.

We were seated near the kitchen which was nice, the grill aromas were enticing. Along with the kitchen, we were near a ruckus group of your typical DC young professionals being yuppy and somewhat obnoxious; I would guess at least 4-5 drinks into their nightly binge.

Our waitress was at our table in minutes. She came bearing sweet corn muffin gifts.

These are significantly smaller than the biscuits that used to be offered, but still very good...and bottomless.

I had a hankering for something traditional-either brisket or pulled pork. I decided on the pulled pork platter, with two heapin sides of collard greens and BBQ red beans. My bf Ross is never as hungry as I am so he opts for an entree that only comes with one side but still seems filling; loaded baked potato with beef brisket topped with beef brisket and a side of cole slaw. Minutes later, our dishes are brought out to us.

The pork was perfectly moist and lightly seasoned with a significant smokey taste. The beans were a nice mixture of spicy and sweet with tidbits of bacon, the collard greens which I usually get as a side was a bit saltier than normal and also had bacon- needless to say there was a lot of bacon accents throughout.


I can't vouch for Ross' dish as I didn't have any, but I will say that his comments on the coleslaw were- "I have had a lot of coleslaw and this is the best I have ever had."

Upon seeing my dish I figured, oh goodness me, this will never be enough...I should order the starter I had been eyeing earlier. As the runner set my dish down, I asked for an order of hush puppies. Seconds go by and they are brought out to us.

Crispy on the outside filled with warm potato and bacon on the inside, with a hint of warmth from minced red peppers. The best part was the accompanying aoili of sorts with a hint of spice that added the perfect amount of moisture to the potato filling. And yes, I ate them all.

What I like most about BBQ is that you can start with a base taste and dress it to your liking; this can be done using the sundry of available house BBQ sauces at Old Glory. BBQ purists will argue that sauces can take away from the dynamic nuances of the BBQ itself but I see it as accessorizing and by no means detracting from the taste but instead embellishing :)

I wasn't able to find descriptions on each individual sauce but they all have their own unique nuance and range from your standard dark and sweet BBQ sauce to a more vinegary option with a hint of mustard. They are all good and I honestly use pretty much all of them...

There is an awesome outdoor patio/bar area that would be fun in the warmer months and also for drinks with friends. I just noticed on their site that Old Glory is affiliated with several other restaurants as part of the Capital Restaurant Concepts group. That sort of makes it seem a bit less authentic since its grouped with a bunch of other unrelated concept restaurants but it doesn't make it any less good. I am familiar with one of the other restaurants, Paolo's and am a big fan also. There is one in Gtown and also one in Towson. There used to be one in the harbor but I think it was recently closed.