A Quick Bite at Hoboken's Newest BBQ: House of 'Cue

This used to be the 3 Forty Grill.  The House of 'Cue opened last weekend with a huge party with sky trackers and fireworks.  Tonight when we drove past, there was a parking space right in front, and the place was empty.

They serve cafeteria style, with an interesting double billing system.  We sat at a table, and had a waitress.  She was responsible for drinks and you pay her only for those.  For the food, we were given a meal ticket, which might be clearer in purpose if the food line were busier.

The meal ticket.

You turn in your ticket at the start of the line and choose your sides.

The Cafeteria Line

As you proceed down the line, you order your meats, they continue to mark up your card.  Look at the great well done crispy surfaces on the brisket!

Slicing the Smoked Beef Brisket 

At the end of the line, you pay for the food portion.  Look at the nice crispy edges, the pink smoked edges on the smoked brisket.

Sliced Brisket Sandwich

The same butcher picked up a hunk of  pork and chopped it for the pulled pork sandwich, then topped with coleslaw.

Pulled Pork Sandwich with Coleslaw

At the table is the sweet Texas 2-Step and the slightly hotter 512 Sauce [it tastes a lot like Thai sweet chili sauce].  Good thing there is Tabasco so there is a source of real heat.

The Sauce choices [pickles and corn pudding]

At 5, the place was pretty empty.  As with most BBQ places, the kitchen to table time is very short, so we were in and out in less thank half an hour.

The Dining Room with the Bar at the end.

This new addition to the waterfront dining in Hoboken is a pretty good barbecue restaurant. We had a pulled pork sandwich and a BBQ brisket sandwich. Both were good. The meat was well prepared with beautiful pink smoke rings and tasty crunchy burnt ends. The variety of side dishes is extensive. They offer cafeteria style food service, while providing waitress service for beverages. This allows for you to end up with multiple checks by the end of the meal. Each trip to the cafeteria line generates a food ticket that you have to pay there. And then the check from the beverage service comes to the table. This seems a bit complicated to me as a customer. Their choice of barbecue sauce is limited . The hotter of the two choices, remind me of Thai sweet chilli sauce, just in a smoother more traditional barbecue presentation. The only option to make it hotter is to use the bottle of Tabasco to add the familiar vinegar heat. Admittedly I was not sitting at the end of the restaurant where the bar is, but I wonder if they have a selection of bar food. I did not see one. If you're sitting at the bar watching the game on their multiple sports screens, do you go to the cafeteria line each time to pick up side dishes to snack on? A nice basket of Hush Puppies would be perfect for that type of snacking, but I did not see that as a choice.