Hot Off the Coals

Just try their breakfast and it’s really good. Will come back to try out their lunch and dinner

On the way back home from Lewes Delaware, and stopped in at Hot Off The Coals BBQ (which is attached to a Shell gas station @ Starr Rd and Rt. 404) for some bbq. I ordered the large sliced beef brisket sandwich and my wife, the pulled bbq chicken sandwich. Both were good but not great. The beef brisket was flavorful with a authentic smokey taste and was piled with tender thickly sliced beef brisket, served on potato bread. The chicken sandwich was not as good as the beef (I prefer beef to chicken always!), but my wife said it was good. Not the best bbq by any means; however, it’s certainly worthy of the stop to eat authentic bbq while traveling to and from the beach. Rich, the owner, is a really nice fellow and serves up some decent bbq if you’ve got the craving for ‘que and in the beach mood!

Three stars for average, just average. Not much smoke in the meat. (I had the two meat combo so tried brisket and pulled pork) Counter staff were lazy teenagers that didn’t seem to care about anything. Fixing bar was a filthy mess, hadn’t been attended to in some time so I took a pass on the onions and horseradish. Baked beans seemed from a can not all that good. No cornbread on the menu. All in all better than a burger chain menu if you happen to be driving by but not worth a special trip.

Just stopped in for a quick bite on the way to the beach. First time here. Ordering was easy, they made a few adjustments and when I apologized the cook said, «it’s your food». I thought that was nice! Food was ready very quickly. Everything we had was very good.

Gas station BBQ on the way to Cape May. The restaurant isn’t anything special and is located on the side of a Shell gas station. We stopped in and got the NC pulled pork sandwiches. They had light smoke a a little heat. You get to choose between a 4oz or 6 oz sandwich on a really good roll. Service was quick and friendly.
I’d definitely stop here again.

For gas station BBQ this place is pretty good. I was starving on my recent trip to Ocean City, MD and my only stipulation was «No Subway.» So when I saw BBQ (with a real smoker outside) I decided to go for it. I had the NC style BBQ sandwich. It was surprisingly good. It was a little dry but the meat was really tender. I got the baked beans on the side — I think they make these homemade! I was impressed. Overall, I would stop here again.

Dosen’t deserve a second chance! Blaring country music greeted us as in the parking lot as we stepped out of the car, that may have been a sign… we ordered the rib and chicken combo with two sides– 22 dollars and they gigged us for another 50 cents for a cup of ice water. Really? So we picked a spot out front and when we put up the umbrella it was broken, ribs good, half chicken –the leg was a dried out knob– inedible, the flavorless slaw contained cabbage chunks the size of half dollars and the beans… well momma knocked over the sugar bowl in the pot. Oh yeah, use the bathroom before you leave home, you sure don’t want to use theirs.

So over priced. My boyfriend enjoys this place but for me and him to go there just to get a sandwich and soda, we end up having to pay $ 30! The sodas are so packed with ice that you literally get two sips from your $ 4 soda. The fries are the only good thing about this place. If you order a side (potato salad, beans) be prepared to be dissapointed because it only comes in a shot glass sized cup.

The food was extremely expensive for what it was. We paid $ 24 for 2 small servings of bbq (without a bun), grilled cheese and 2 sodas. Not really worth the stop.

This little spot was super conveniently placed on my drive to Ocean City, literally right on the highway. So I stopped in and ordered a pulled pork sandwich. It came out quickly but didn’t have much flavor. It was a sweet bbq pulled pork which I normally prefer but there was just nothing else to it. And it was 8 or 9 dollars for a relatively small sandwich. Combine that with the fact that the bathrooms were gross, gross enough that I almost didn’t want to use them even though I needed to.
It probably beats McDonalds food, maybe I just didn’t get one of the better options…

We stopped here for lunch on the way to the beach and really enjoyed the ribs and the turkey BBQ. The coleslaw was also good. Pretty standard fare but the taste was well above average compared to similar places we’ve tried.

Stopped here after visiting Adkins Arboretum. Only place around. The good: vinegar barbecue pork and baked beans. The ok: sliced turkey. The not ok: fatty brisket (not trimmed right) and flies– yuk.
The good news is you can buy gas there too.

This was our second visit to this restaurant. It’s a bit of an «adventure». It shares a building with a tiny Shell gas station. The restaurant only has about 10 tables inside. There are a few picnic tables outside. My son had the ham. I had the turkey. My husband had the beef. The meat was all thinly shaved which I have never seen at BBQ places before. I had the potato salad as a side and it was really good. My husband had the baked beans which had some heat to them. My son had fries which were hand cut and delicious.
The reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I had to wipe down our table and the bathrooms aren’t that clean. Plus we ordered platters and we all got sandwiches. Also the sides are very pricey for the amount you get. BUT their BBQ is excellent.

I’ve been here twice (June 2013) and today, and was pretty impressed both times. Prices are a bit high for the area (and for BBQ), but the Carolina-​style pulled pork is the best I’ve had outside of NC itself. The sides are pretty good (so/​so Mac-​n-​Cheese, great coleslaw), but that’s alright with me — I’m there for the pork!
For a gas station BBQ joint, I’m not sure it gets much better. The giant smoking steer iron sculpture/​statue is awesome as well.

Feasting on BBQ in the middle of no-​where is an affinity that I cannot break away from! Whether you call it an addiction or craving, I’m an easy seller to trying out BBQ joints.
This past Summer (2013), my gal and I made a pit stop here on the way to the beach. We ordered the 3 meat combo of Turkey, Pit Beef, and Pit Pork. The meats were well seasoned and tasty. The BBQ was indeed tasty and delicious! For our sides we choose BBQ baked beans and sweet potato chips. The beans were fine but the sweet potato chips had too much cinnamon. Despite ordering a 3 meat combo with 2 sides, we were still hungry! Suffice to say, the servings were small compared to what I’m used to feasting on.
I was delighted to try Hot off the Coals; however, I would probably not stop by there again given the small servings associated to their price point.

Not bad for a place next to the Shell gas station. I had the NC style pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato chips. Hubby had the beef with regular fries.
The meat was good and buns fresh. I missed not having a mustard vinegar sauce. The sweet potato chips were sweet potato strips cut lengthwise, fries and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar– nice.
Note: the «platters» are also sandwiches rather than just meat.

The good:
They have terrific pit beef and excellent sweet tea.
The bad:
The pulled pork sucks, the brisket is dry and flavorless, as others have mentioned, the serving size for many of the sides is akin to a shot glass, and the place is definitely over-​priced.

I saw signage for PIT BEEF so I had to stop by and try it. It is a little more pricey than pit beef establishments in the Baltimore area, and the meat was super dry.
I think Pioneer Pit Beef in Catonsville, MD is still the #1 spot.

As you travel along RT 404 you start to see signs like those from Burma Shave urging you to try the Pitt beef and pulled pork. Those were calling me and we stopped to eat at yet another gas station, this time a Shell. It was well worth the time because the beef was good, and brisket excellent. The buns, usually a weak point, were darn near perfect. Good, hard and perfect for holding the meat and sauce. Very much a Weck-​like roll. They have NC vinager sauce for their pork and standard stuff for the other offerings. The fries were OK – nothing special.
But those sandwiches… I’m stopping on the way home.

Being one of the more interesting car trip companions there alive, I dutifully passed out in the passenger seat after the excitement of driving over the scenic Bay Bridge on the way to Ocean City. My amazing conversational skills must have been sorely missed, because not long after, we made a stop at Hot Off the Coals for some stomach fuel.
There’s a massive wood-​burning barbecue sitting outside, right next to a number of fuel pumps. +1 for portraying the feeling that an amazing gem was about to be discovered and that I could be the next Anthony Bourdain, showing off my uncanny ability to sniff out amazing food at the most unexpected places.
Entering the joint, we were welcomed by a cluster of 8 – 10 booths and a counter at which to place our order. We weren’t terribly hungry, so we got a half rack of ribs and a brisket sandwich with a side of potato salad (not hungry, eh?). The brisket was moist due to the high fat content, but it lacked the intense smokiness that one typically looks forward to when enjoying brisket. The bread for the sandwich was an uninspired roll — soft, but nothing special. Thankfully, there’s a condiment bar with sweet and spicy BBQ sauce dispensers and thinly sliced onions to amp up the flavor. The ribs were tasty and nicely cooked, no complaints there!
The line for the restroom did get horrendously long during our eating session there. I would say that there was no less than 10 people waiting in line at any given time, often more. Nature didn’t call, so I wasn’t able to use their facilities, but really, what awesomeness can be expected from a gas station restroom?
All in all, this pit stop offered good change up of car trip food as compared to the typical McDonald’s!