Published July 27, 2017 on www.Post-Gazette.com
It’s sitting on the side of the road on Ardmore Boulvard, at the edge of a gravel parking lot, tucked against a tree-lined hillside in an otherwise unremarkable bunker of a building. But for years, it has had an devoted following fortified by a charming and somewhat gregarious and portly man whose name is on the business.
If you guessed Vincent’s Pizza Park … well, that’d be correct, too. But this week’s column shifts its focus about a hundred yards southeast, to a spot on the same parcel and, as best as the author can tell, the longest name for a place in the 23-year history of Munch reviews: Robbie’s Super Stuff Super-Licious BBQ.
Unless Hawaiian-born ex-Steelers fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala moves back to Pittsburgh and opens an eponymous establishment, that title should hold into perpetuity (although Fu’s Pupus could be a winning concept).
Robert Chambers Jr. first opened the joint in Homewood in the late 1980s and moved it to this roadside spot a decade ago — his father and Vince Chainese were longtime friends. Although Mr. Chambers’ name is on the place, his longtime girlfriend, Renee Proctor Fussell, runs the show.
Somewhere in the English etymology it’s become popular in the lexicon to refer to usually older and diminutive women with a sharp wit as a “pistol.” Ms. Fussell fits that description, but it’d be more accurate to call her a howitzer. During our visit, she busted our chops relentlessly and threw a hairy eyeball for the ages — at first — before giving way to a wry, warm smile and a wink.
She also showed us the pit, a tri-sectioned yellow brick roaster built by Mr. Chambers, with three sections — one for pork, one for beef and one for chicken.
Side note: If at all possible, try and time a visit around an airing of “Jeopardy!” — of which Mr. Chambers is a self-confessed addict. We went back and forth answering in the form of a question while we waited for our food.
To that end, in the category of barbecued meats: What is a super juicy, fall right off the bone half-chicken? That’d be what Robbie’s serves for $7.50. The meat was so tender, it nearly disintegrated on contact.
A half-rack of pork ribs ($12.50) did not lack for flavor from the smoke and the dry rub, although they could’ve been just a tad juicier.
Both the ribs and the chicken were served with some particularly good house sauces — one mustard-based, another a traditional mild barbecue, but the best was the hot barbecue sauce that struck a terrific balance of sweet and heat.
As for the sides — the macaroni and cheese was unremarkable, but the cornbread was moist and delicious like a piece of good birthday cake. The greens were flavorful, with a nice texture and a little crispness, rather than a mushy clump, which is often the case.
Barbecue is increasingly popular and ubiquitous on sit-down restaurant menus, but there is something charming about a roadside mom-and-pop smokehouse, particularly one with a name you won’t forget — if you can remember it all in the first place.
Robbie’s Super Stuff Super-Licious BBQ: 1000 Ardmore Blvd., Forest Hills; 412-823-4003; www.robbiesbbq.com.
Dan Gigler: dgigler@post-gazette.com; Twitter @gigs412.