Pork Barrel BBQ Restaurant And Grill

The secret is in the sauce for ex-Hill staffers Heath Hall and Brett Thompson.

After years racking up awards at barbecue events for their slightly vinegar-tart Pork Barrel BBQ sauce, the business partners decided to round out their barbecue experience with a full-service restaurant.

The result is Del Ray's new Pork Barrel BBQ, a wood-lined restaurant that cooks barbecue stalwarts in a massive smoker equipped to hold 500 pounds of locally sourced meat.

Juicy brisket forms the base for thick, smoky Texas-style sausage links ($5). The sausage is also served as a sandwich ($6.45) in a puffed roll. Quartered chickens ($7) arrive juicy under a veneer of craggly, spice-rubbed skin.

Order extra sides ($2.45), which balance the meat with their own depth of flavor. Tender, well-salted collard greens get a meaty boost from pulled ham hock. The secret to sweetly spicy baked beans is burnt brisket ends. Barbecue's classic sidekick of macaroni and cheese gets a subtle kick from whole chipotles and diced green chiles.

Finish the meal with a bottle from the trough of vintage sodas ($3.50). The icy buckets hold hard-to-find options including Big Red, Nehi, Cheerwine and Sun Drop.

Pork Barrel BBQ, 2312 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 703-822-5699 or porkbarrelbbq.com