The Pit Barbeque
“Ordered delivery – a pulled pork sandwich and half rack of pork ribs and two beef empanadas – they were so friendly on the phone, the food arrived in no time, and the portions were huge!”
“I particularly enjoy the chicken/ribs combo.”
“The black beans over seasoned yellow rice can tame a big appetite as a side and compliments ribs well.”
The Pit Barbeque
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Good food. Not a lot of seating if you want to stay, and they get the HS crowd if you're there at lunch time. Still, good barbecue. Love their ribs. They were very generous with their ribs when I was in there. Sauce was on the side which is great for me, I don't like a lot of sauce.
Great place to stop in and they do offer delivery.
I should have reviewed this place years ago when it first opened.
The first thing I ever tried was Garlic Shrimp! That was the start of a great relationship. Their rice is always perfect. My usual orders include: half combo chicken, rice, and beans/ half order garlic shrimp, rice, and beans, or beef empanada combo. Sometimes I'll get veggies or fries instead which are also great. Beans are oh so very tasty and the chicken is on point. Garlic shrimp still has my heart though.
They have the most perfect tasting hot sauce that is more tangy than spicy and goes so well with anything ordered. The flan is STILL my fave flan I've ever ever ever had. It's thick and creamy and flavorgasm worthy beyond simple words.
Yeah, I'll be eating here for a while.
I really wanted to give this place more stars. I truly did. But at the end of the day as Yelp would say "Meh. I've experienced better." I was truly let down by this BBQ place considering all the amazing reviews it has garnered. It is true that the menu is super affordable. In fact for $15 you can order a whole platter of beef ribs and chicken combo that comes with two sides. What a great deal indeed. But having a great deal is no reason enough to gain more stars in my book. Because first and foremost I always judge the food when it comes to restaurants. Unfortunately for my first visit to The Pit they truly fell deep in a hole that they could not come out of.
The food was not terrible. It wasn't spectacular either. If someone told me that they're selling Portuguese BBQ, they better do it darn well. And by well I don't mean the meat they serve. The beef ribs I ordered were beyond tough. The texture of the meat was rubbery and hard to chew, which is a pet-peeve of mine. BBQ places should properly cook meat to make it tender and juicy. The chicken was the better of the two meats. It had a nice flavor and was perfectly cooked. However it didn't blow me away as it should have. For dessert I chose flan. It (almost) made up for my disappointing beef ribs.
I came to The Pit Barbeque hoping to have a great meal with all the Portuguese barbecue flavor, however I came very disappointed. Like I said the place was not terrible but I've certainly experienced much better indeed.
Good: prices, portions, service and chicken.
OK: BBQ sauce and rice.
Not so good: pork ribs, Italian dressing and salad.
The atmosphere is very casual, but comfortable enough to eat there.
I would come back for the chicken and to try the desserts.
-the Portuguese style barbeque (pork, beef, or chicken) is excellent and reasonably priced.
– very friendly people, a very simple but welcoming environment, just a few tables, a TV, a very "neighborhood joint" kinda feel
– side items are not Portuguese , just no frills standards like rice, fries, salad
– they have their own parking lot out back
– they have Guarana in the fridge
– they deliver!! Portuguese BBQ to your door.. i could see this place does a lot of to go business.
I've dealt with the owner personally of the Pit for a large catering order. And we were taken care of very well. We got a "good" deal since we're a non-profit, but honestly I have establishments that do better for us in pricing and portions. They don't deliver for free which is unusual with all the businesses that do cater to us all the time. The food, in my opinion is okay. Nothing out of this world. But all my people LOVED it! (let's be real here, I'm the obnoxious Yelper with the high-standards). So, I do recommend the place depending on what you're looking for. It's def an A-OK 3-star place.
The title of this place is fitting. The Pit IS the pits. Overall tasteless food. Trying to get the ribs off the bones is like pulling teeth. And they give you no sauce. The salad is just sad and the fries are clearly frozen. How difficult would it be to do homemade fries? At minimum, they could add some salt to them to try and give them SOME flavor.
The menu is pretty cheap and I think the hours are pretty late so it's obvious that this restaurant's market is intended for the Bloomfield College students right across the street.
The Pit… an unfortunate name really, and unfortunately, even though the food is not that bad, it lacks finesse. They close really early (like all other restaurants in Bloomfield, I guess they don't like money), and the menu although pretty well rounded, should have better options for sides; the ones they offer really seem like an afterthought- The inclusion of fries with everything is met with disbelief when you ask for veggies and salad, or matched with rice and beans (beans- typical Portuguese kinda flavorless, rice not bad at all).
Its menu consists of good meats prepared very well, but the really nice guy owner doesn't offer a good sauce to finish them off with. I DO realize that Portuguese BBQ doesn't usually come with sauces, but the plastic packets of lousy cheap bbq sauce just really doesn't cut it. Ive been to Portuguese churrascarias before, and the meats were seasoned really deliciously well. While the chicken has really good flavor and what seems to be a garlic lemon basting, the ribs seem to be bland from lack of sauce but juicy- makes you want to reach for those hideous packets if you dont have some better quality bbq sauce in your fridge- but isnt that the point of ordering in, that the restaurant would have that covered? Also- for the longest time, they didnt have vegetables at ALL, and I suggested to him that he offer some, and eventually started serving platters with this really bland out of a frozen bag mix that really lacked any flavor at all. How hard is it to saute your own? I can make a kick ass veg mix with three or four cheap veggies that will knock your socks off- if you go through all the trouble to run an open fire rotisserie with quality meats, why fudge the rest?
One highlight is, the FLAN- its truly fantastic stuff and reasonably priced like the menu, some of the best Ive had besides this co-workers home made stuff that was a game changer for me.
So seriously- nice guy owner dude… Ive been telling you that it really sucks you close at 9 for years, and the few things it would take to make your meals fantastic are really easy to accomplish, so why not dive in to your Portuguese culinary history, and start researching good marinades, sauces and sides, and make up a few varieties of vegetables. These days people want low carb options, and your meats fall right in to the category that those of us who watch that sort of thing look for, so give us options, and ones that dont taste like wet cardboard.
I know you can do it, seriously.