Song of the Week

Am I supposed to boo this?

After that home-run, I wanted to boo him as much as the next guy but I couldn't. All I could do was laugh. It's just Pat being Pat. As big of a dbag as he probably is, his mediocre play on the field and legendary exploits off of it make him one of the most loved Phillies of all time. Pat Burrell has never struck out - sober.

For awesome Pat Burrell Facts check out this site - http://connorisawesome.com/?page_id=33

Rosey's BBQ - The Crunchy Spicy

I usually spend half of my morning at work trying to figure out where I’m going to eat lunch that afternoon (hopefully my boss doesn’t read this). But, working a little outside Philadelphia in Jenkintown my options are pretty slim. Don’t get me wrong, I can drive down Old York Road and hit more chain restaurants that you can shake a stick at (Quiznos, Subway, Qdoba, McDonald’s, Boston Market, etc). But I only get 30 minutes outside of my cubicle every day and I need to make it count. Going off a recommendation from a co-worker, I found a small BBQ joint in a strip mall called Rosey’s BBQ.
A BBQ place – in a suburban strip mall – in Philadelphia? How good could that be? I did a little research and it turns out Jarvis, the pitmaster, is from Memphis and has worked at the world-renowned Neely’s BBQ for 15 years. OK, OK, this might be legit. I decided to go and as I drove up, the sweet, smoky smell of the pit hit me from the parking lot. My mouth watered as I walked inside. The place is relatively small, but decorated cleanly with dark colors and old license plates (almost like every other BBQ place I’ve been too – why do they do that?). I went up to the front counter and placed my order: the signature sandwich – “The Crunchy Spicy” with pulled chicken, a small 4 oz. cup of Mac-n-Cheese, and a fountain soda (which I made an Arnold Palmer). The service is extremely friendly here.
After a couple minutes, my number is called and I sit down with this enormous plate of food. OK, so if you’ve never been here you certainly don’t know what “The Crunchy Spicy” is. According their menu, the sandwich is described as: “Your choice of pulled chicken or chopped pork, piled high with slaw, our homemade potato chips and Rosey’s home-made hot BBQ sauce. Served on a kaiser roll.” This sandwich is enormous and looks amazing. I dove right into this behemoth on a roll and off the bat it fell apart. You’re going to need about 10 wet naps for this sandwich. The chicken was fall off the bone tender – but a little dry. Even the extra sauce couldn’t bring it to life. Speaking of sauce, I thought this was called The Crunchy Spicy. Maybe for the weak but there was not as much spice as there was crunch. The standout of the sandwich was the homemade chips they topped it with. These chips were awesome and held up the coleslaw and sauce and retained their crunch providing a great texture you don’t usually have with a BBQ sandwich. While the chips remained crispy, the crusty Kaiser became soggy and couldn’t support the massive meat and slaw combination. It fell apart and the bottom roll was almost nonexistent after being smashed down and covered in sauce. Major Fail. I don’t care what anyone says, but being from Philly – you know the roll is what makes a sandwich. The coleslaw was a bit redeeming providing a sweet, cool alternative to the spicy (if you can call it that) sauce. It was refreshing. However, I pretty much had to use a fork and eat all the components of the sandwich separately. On a side note, the Mac-n-Cheese was cheesy and delicious.

This sandwich had the makings of a future star but couldn’t handle the pressure. Call it the Jamarcus Russell of the Philly Sandwich game. The meat was overcooked and the roll couldn’t compete but the chips and the slaw were very tasty. This sandwich did come in 14th in “The Glen Macnow Hot Sandwich Safari.” And Glen’s analysis was spot on - The consensus of my tasting panel was that the meat itself – obviously the most-important ingredient – was a little dry and not as tasty as you might hope. The sauce and other doo-dads gave it zip, but overall, this two-hander comes up good, but a few steps short of great.”

Bottom line: You probably won’t care about “The Crunchy Spicy.” However, I do recommend trying Rosey’s BBQ. I’ve been back (to get my home-made chips fix) to have the brisket sandwich as well as the ribs – both are outstanding. You won’t find better in the area. Give it a try but avoid the signature sambo.

You can find Rosey's in the Jenkintown Square Shopping Center at 505 Old York Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046 or on their website at www.roseysbbq.com

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