The Pit Barbeque

I should have reviewed this place years ago when it first opened.
The first thing I ever tried was Garlic Shrimp! That was the start of a great relationship. Their rice is always perfect. My usual orders include: half combo chicken, rice, and beans/​half order garlic shrimp, rice, and beans, or beef empanada combo. Sometimes I’ll get veggies or fries instead which are also great. Beans are oh so very tasty and the chicken is on point. Garlic shrimp still has my heart though.
They have the most perfect tasting hot sauce that is more tangy than spicy and goes so well with anything ordered. The flan is STILL my fave flan I’ve ever ever ever had. It’s thick and creamy and flavorgasm worthy beyond simple words.
Yeah, I’ll be eating here for a while.

I told my mom’s boyfriend that I went to this BBQ place down the street called The Pit and the first thing he said was, ‘Sounds like it would be a good place’. That kind of nails it. It’s one of those places where you pass by and are allured by the smokey smells and just hop inside to check it out. Then you’re greeted by the sweetest kindest, I assume owner, who calls you ‘mam’ and ‘sir’ in his heavy yet friendly NJ manner and you just know it’s gonna be good just from the feel of it. I had the pork BBQ ribs with rice and slaw. Let me rephrase, I had the finger licking juicy ribs with perfectly plain yellow rice, and slightly over mayo-​ed slaw.

The ribs actually have a lot of meat and their food isn’t quite as salty as some of these take out bbq joints. I’d go back when I’m too lazy to cook.

I’ve had the fish sandwich, and the burger. Neither impressed me. The fish was something that was previously frozen, and it has too much batter. The burger was ok… just ok. I have no reason to go back. The cole slaw was tasty.

The place looks clean, the people are friendly and the food is good! Overall I will be coming here more often.

Extra star for the large portion. Only thing is it was a large portion of dry, not appetizing meat.

Lots of food for the money. Not great tasting to me. Won’t be going back since i don’t need a large portion of something I won’t want to eat. The wood pit is better

We order from here all the time. Good prices, portions and ribs.
The service is good if they aren’t swamped. Seating is causal and can be tight. Kitchen looks clean and plenty of parking in the back.

Good: prices, portions, service and chicken.
OK: BBQ sauce and rice.
Not so good: pork ribs, Italian dressing and salad.
The atmosphere is very casual, but comfortable enough to eat there.
I would come back for the chicken and to try the desserts.

Good food. Not a lot of seating if you want to stay, and they get the HS crowd if you’re there at lunch time. Still, good barbecue. Love their ribs. They were very generous with their ribs when I was in there. Sauce was on the side which is great for me, I don’t like a lot of sauce.
Great place to stop in and they do offer delivery.

Had the wings and cubed beef with fries and rice. Wings were pretty tasty. But the cubed beef was over done and hard. Might give it another chance.

My food is always good from here only thing is the owner doesn’t listen they know who I am I order often mostly rhe same things but I asked for iced tea n get diet yuck no biggie the cheesecake is wonderful

The chicken is delicious! Make sure to ask for extra of your fav. sauce tho. I love the dressing that comes with the salad too. However, the rice is bland and a co-​worker of mine described it as «pellet-​like.»

–the Portuguese style barbeque (pork, beef, or chicken) is excellent and reasonably priced.
— very friendly people, a very simple but welcoming environment, just a few tables, a TV, a very «neighborhood joint» kinda feel
— side items are not Portuguese, just no frills standards like rice, fries, salad
— they have their own parking lot out back
— they have Guarana in the fridge
— they deliver! Portuguese BBQ to your door. i could see this place does a lot of to go business.

I’ve dealt with the owner personally of the Pit for a large catering order. And we were taken care of very well. We got a «good» deal since we’re a non-​profit, but honestly I have establishments that do better for us in pricing and portions. They don’t deliver for free which is unusual with all the businesses that do cater to us all the time. The food, in my opinion is okay. Nothing out of this world. But all my people LOVED it! (let’s be real here, I’m the obnoxious Unilocaler with the high-​standards). So, I do recommend the place depending on what you’re looking for. It’s def an A-​OK 3-​star place.

The Pit is a wonderful, quaint Portuguese barbecue style restaurant that is extremely well managed. Both of the owners have wonderful people skills and make every customer feel at home. The cooks are very friendly and the remaining staff consists mainly of very pretty female cashiers (aside from the delivery guys).
The go-​to meal of choice has to be the beef ribs. They are amazing. Quite possibly perfect. 10 dollars at The Pit keeps you full for HOURS.

Standard pulled pork sandwich, fries and coleslaw.
Generous portion and friendly service.

One of my favorite places for beef and pork ribs. I usually get the half combo with rice and steam vegetables. If you still have room afterwards make sure to try one of the dessert cakes they have in the fridge. The owner is also really nice and accommodating.
Make sure to either go there a little before or after 12 to avoid all of the kids

The title of this place is fitting. The Pit IS the pits. Overall tasteless food. Trying to get the ribs off the bones is like pulling teeth. And they give you no sauce. The salad is just sad and the fries are clearly frozen. How difficult would it be to do homemade fries? At minimum, they could add some salt to them to try and give them SOME flavor.
The menu is pretty cheap and I think the hours are pretty late so it’s obvious that this restaurant’s market is intended for the Bloomfield College students right across the street.

I really wanted to give this place more stars. I truly did. But at the end of the day as Unilocal would say «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» I was truly let down by this BBQ place considering all the amazing reviews it has garnered. It is true that the menu is super affordable. In fact for $ 15 you can order a whole platter of beef ribs and chicken combo that comes with two sides. What a great deal indeed. But having a great deal is no reason enough to gain more stars in my book. Because first and foremost I always judge the food when it comes to restaurants. Unfortunately for my first visit to The Pit they truly fell deep in a hole that they could not come out of.
The food was not terrible. It wasn’t spectacular either. If someone told me that they’re selling Portuguese BBQ, they better do it darn well. And by well I don’t mean the meat they serve. The beef ribs I ordered were beyond tough. The texture of the meat was rubbery and hard to chew, which is a pet-​peeve of mine. BBQ places should properly cook meat to make it tender and juicy. The chicken was the better of the two meats. It had a nice flavor and was perfectly cooked. However it didn’t blow me away as it should have. For dessert I chose flan. It (almost) made up for my disappointing beef ribs.
I came to The Pit Barbeque hoping to have a great meal with all the Portuguese barbecue flavor, however I came very disappointed. Like I said the place was not terrible but I’ve certainly experienced much better indeed.