Part of the difficulty of ranking DDDs, or any restaurants for that matter, if the fact that they are so different. Take Chaps Pit Beef for example. It’s a humble abode with a simple concept; charcoaled meat on bread but can it compete with likes of sausage gravy and Maryland’s own blue crab cakes?
The directions are straight forward.
1.Get on the Pulaksi highway.
2. Look for Gentleman’s Gold Club.
3. Enter parking lot. Park. Leave car.
4. Follow smell of smoky goodness to small, stand alone shack.
5. Enter.
6. Got to counter, imagine any combination of meat possible (beef, sausage, ham, turkey and corned beef). Many are named after famous people, teams etc. Put pointer finger and thumb on chin and stare blankly at the numerous choices.
7. Order.
8. Move to the other side of counter and wait.
9. When food comes proceed to condiment counter and dress accordingly.
I felt a pang of betrayal not ordering the The Guy’s Triple D, but decided on the Richwich, a corned beef, beef, turkey and sausage which pays homage to Man vs Food host Adam Richman (sorry Guy, but it had two kinds of beef!).
Having just eaten at Sip and Bite, I took it to go and drove toward Pennsylvania with a side of tiger (horseradish) and house made BBQ sauce. I had every intention of waiting until I drove a reasonable distance before digging in, but as I said on yelp, it spoke to me, asking me over and over to eat it. I really had no choice, so I finally had to succumb, pull over for safety reasons. I slathered it with the sauces and indulged. I must of looked like a cross between a rabid dog (complete with dripping tiger sauce) and a fat kid in a pie eating contest. I swear a state officer did a double take making sure I wasn’t wrestling a ruffed grouse.
Chaps is a straight forward sandwich and burger shack set up in the parking lot of a strip bar. Chaps offers a fantastic sandwich, highlighted by the tender beef, corned beef and turkey. The sausage was so-so and a bit awkward, so I would likely go with the Raven (beef, turkey, corned beef ) next time. As for the sausage, I’ll leave it for the Gentleman’s Gold Club.
Verdict: 5 Guyz
Fare..Eat..Ales 