Dinner At Firefly's

[plumtreeblossom]

Last night beowabbit took me to Firefly's BBQ in Quincy. Yum! This was a completely delicious and entertaining dining experience, and I'm so glad he discovered it.

The menu is hearty and full of Southern goodness.* It was hard to choose, but I decided on brisket, since it's my BBQ favorite, and Wabbit got a ribs and jerk chicken combo. There were a good number of BBQ sauces to choose from, and I picked a delicious North Carolina sauce. These dishes came with bountiful sides, as well as a sweet and tangy cucumber salad that made me actually like cucumbers (which I tend not to). We had tasty cracklin' bread as an appetizer, as well. We didn't have room for dessert, but I declared that next time we come here, at appetizer time I'm ordering red velvet cake, before I'm too full for it.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was the background music, which was old classic blues and zydeco. I feel that careful attention should be paid to pairing cuisine and music, and the wrong music can ruin a meal for me (I recently turned on my heel and left P.F.Changs without even sitting down because they were blaring incongruent country western music). Food and music need to match. Firefly's got it right, though. You simply can't go wrong eating hot BBQ to Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

When they give you your check, instead of mints they give you Atomic Fireballs. There was an entertaining framed poster I caught for a BBQ festival which said "MEMPHIS: 4th Fattest City In America. And We Won't Rest Until We're #1!"

It's a tiny 3-restaurant chain with other locations in Framingham and Marlborough. I hope it stays small, to retain the coolness. Chowhounds provides very mixed reviews for it, but Chowhounds is always like that. I definitely recommend giving it a try if you have car transportation and can get yourself there. Good eatin'!


_{* It is of note that I have never been to the Southern US, unless you count Austin TX, which you shouldn't. So my appraisal of Southern Goodness at any restaurant is based upon whether I liked it, not upon Southern authenticity, with which I am without an iota of experience. But this Yankee liked her meal.}

Comments

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Why not count Austin, Texas as part of the South? If nothing else, the Southern cuisine in Austin is certainly representative of what you might find in many places in Texas. Many might say it's not like the rest of the South because it's liberal, enlightened, and artsy -- but it is most certainly not the only place in the South, nor the only place in Texas, like it. Nearly every large city in the South, just like large cities in the North, votes liberal and has a thriving arts community.

That said, Austin *is* unique in Texas in the way that it is possibly unique in the whole country in its awesomeness (disclaimer, my parents retired there because of that, even though it was one of few places in Texas my father never lived) -- on my last trip I finally bought a "Keep Austin Weird" shirt -- but still, the fact that it's awesome doesn't make it not a product of, nor totally unrepresentative of, anything in the South. In fact it represents many Texan values for which Texas had always stood proud until corrupt oil barons, generally originally from the northeast, bought their way into political power and began to change things. [/huff]

Anyway, my Texan relatives have eaten at Firefly and pronounced it an absolutely wonderful representative of Southern cuisine, so you are quite right to call it that! I gotta get up there at some point...

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

*clarification* Unless you meant that Austin is not representative of the Deep South, which is quite true (though New Orleans could give it a run for its money weirdness-wise). But for years I had a number of relatives in Louisiana, and while it did not fit the typical northeastern stereotype of backwoods Louisiana, it certainly was nothing like anywhere in hill country Texas.

*desperately wants barbeque*
*and red velvet cake*

I made red velvet brownies for our party last fall but it's just not the same... My roommate found that you can get phenomenal red velvet cupcakes at the Spotted Apron, though.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I just meant that Austin (the only Southern city I've been to) felt mostly Northern to me. I did a Yankee-stupid thing; I bought a cowboy hat in the airport and wore it around Austin one day. All the pierced hipsters in the stores were like "yeeeee haw!" I totally enjoyed myself there, and would have enjoyed it even more if I hadn't been there for a publishing convention.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a slice of red velvet cake to go last night. I could be eating it right now!

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I am very in love with Austin!

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

Austin is also a half-hour from Lockhart TX, which has some very, very good Texas style barbecue.

That said, I'm really missing something with Firefly. We live near the Framingham branch and wind up there occasionally but I rarely order barbeque there; they smoke the meat offsite in a gas smoker and it all comes out pretty close to what you get at any chain restaurant, sort of dull and bland. I'd put it significantly under even Redbones for quality, and Redbones 'que isn't particularly good.

That said, they have a varied menu. They make a surprisingly tasty fried chicken, their beverages are massive, and I really like the red velvet cake. It's not a bad restaurant and I like the vibe of the place, but I'm always a little surprised when it gets held up as a good place to get barbeque.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

> Austin is also a half-hour from Lockhart TX, which has some very, very good Texas style barbecue
I'll remember that next time I go down. We went to Rudy's, a casual, red-checked plastic tablecloth long-picnic-table mostly outdoor seating place with "extra moist brisket" to DIE for.

As for Firefly, is it possibly different locations are different? plumtreeblossom was in Quincy; my family (sans me, I was in NYC) must have gone to the Marlborough branch... if different locations are different, I want to go to the right one. :)

Blue Ribbon BBQ is the other place that's often cited as good; do you know anything about it?

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

I was thinking the same thing in terms of location. I believe the meat gets smoked in Marlborough which might help a bit; they might actually do it to completion there rather than just smoking it and then finishing it in an oven at the other locations. Still, it's modern restaurant barbeque, which is very different from the stuff you get from a place that uses a wood pit. I've stumbled over a couple of those in New England over the years, but you usually have to travel; they tend to be pretty far outside the Metro Boston area.

Blue Ribbon is variable, but in terms of barbeque in this area it's your best bet. Unfortunately, neither branch is really a sit-down restaurant. They have a few tables but it's really more of a take-out place. I prefer the West Newton one to the one in Arlington, but they're both pretty good.

[minkrose]

Blue Ribbon... my parents live in West Newton and we've never tried it but on that recommendation, I may have to take the boyfriend there next time we're home. I definitely trust your food sense over my parents! (they like it, but that doesn't mean much to me.)

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

If you want to eat there, go at off hours or plan for take out. The W. Newton location only has about 10 stools around a u-shaped counter. It's kind of fun to eat that way and it suits the vibe of the place, but on weekends and a lot of evenings it may be hard to find a seat.

The Arlington one has actual tables but still doesn't seat a lot of people.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured on most of my serious foodie friends not much liking Firefly's! What we got kept me happy, though. Next time, I want to try the Chicken Bama. It looks really good, since I'm a fan of that fatty country gravy. :-)

[infinitehotel.livejournal.com]

That's my first choice when I eat there as well. Mmm...country gravy.