Looking for good down-south BBQ down south? Oak Hill Tavern is well worth the trip, particularly for meat-a-tarians craving a decent rack of ribs (or chicken or steak) at recession-friendly prices. I'm a BBQ fiend but hadn't ventured down Route 4 to the Oak Hill, which had been recommended by a few friends who frequent the no-frills spot for tall beers and babybacks. We checked out the Website before departure and, noting the low prices across the
| OAK HILL TAVERN | 401.294.3282 | 565 Tower Hill Rd, North Kingston | oakhilltavern.com | Daily, 11 am-9:30 pm | major credit cards | full bar | sidewalk-level accessible |
board, agreed it must have been outdated (even the font looked a bit too ol-skool). But no matter, we were ready to grub.We walked in during a suppertime Sunday and no one was working the check-in podium, so we made our way to the bar to get the scoop and check the tap selection, which included Wachusett Porter, PBR, and my beloved Sam Adams White Ale. Ten minutes went by without even a glance from the bartender, who was chatting up some apparent regulars. Meanwhile, an elderly couple were literally pounding their table and barking at the waitress for their drinks. She then politely informed us to grab any table and someone would be by shortly. Let the madness begin.
It turns out one bartender pulled a no-show, and our waitress, who took our drink order then handed us off to the other waitress, had just received the news that she needed to stick around, working the open-to-close shift. Ouch. Another 10 minutes later our Sam Adams White tallboys arrived with apologies as our waitress-for-the-moment Laura Lee took our hefty appetizer order. When a party of 18 (!) people walked in (an entire kids' basketball team and their parents) and swarmed the acoustic duo in the corner, the other waitress Elena informed us that she'd be our waitress — again. The preliminary synopsis Tom and I agreed upon was "horror show," and that was before eight rugrats started dancing and flailing about to an acoustic rendition of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" amongst tables of pissed-off patrons — classic. We hastily placed our dinner order after our appetizers had arrived. Heading off the beaten path pays dividends: peel-n-eats for a dime apiece? Sure, we'll take 20. The stuffies ($2 each) were creamy and delicious with fresh-chopped clams; the only complaint would be they needed an extra minute under the broiler to crisp up the exterior. And only $5.99 for seafood-stuffed mushrooms? They were excellent, buttery and tender with a flavorful filling, to the point where I almost considered the baked stuffed shrimp entree. The melted provolone draped atop the creminis was an afterthought. The only misstep was the crab cakes ($9.99 for two), a weekend special (along with a number of fairly priced seafood platters) that, while hand-packed and tasty, were just too greasy.
All was instantly forgiven when our platters arrived on what resembled giant, deep-dish pizza pans. My Ribs-and-Chicken Combo ($12.99) alone would be worth a return trip — a half-rack of babybacks and a picture-perfect smoked bird slathered in sauce, expertly cooked and unbelievably juicy. I traded a few of my delicious dry-rubbed ribs (the squeeze bottle of tangy and slightly sweet BBQ sauce wasn't even necessary) for a sampling of Tom's Bourbon-Glazed Ribeye ($13.99), a smoky and tender one-pounder and cooked to a perfect medium. The "glaze" didn't seem to be much more than a teriyaki marinade but didn't impede the bold ribeye flavor. Each platter included two side dishes, and Tom is a finicky dude about his slaw but gave the thumbs-up ("light on the mayo") and his onion rings were also above standards as a seriously crunchy accompaniment. My baked beans and oven-roasted potatoes were both decent, but the crispy finish on those babybacks was the undisputed star of the night. Initially my plan was to go for the Babyback vs. St. Louis-style showdown, only to have Elena inform us that Oak Hill had recently taken them off the menu because, as many BBQ places go, the babyback cut remains the star of the show. The menu also includes about a dozen grinders, burgers, and sandwiches, plus a Saturday night prime rib special for only $11.99.
The chocolate chip cookies ($1 each) are the only dessert prepared in-house, and as the sugar and-caffeine-fueled kids ran out back to toss horseshoes, the continually-hustling Elena and Laura Lee stopped by to apologize and said it was just "one of those nights," and gave us some background on Oak Hill Tavern, once a brothel for travelers in the 1890s when Post Road offered the only thruway from here to New York. Noting the spacious backyard and picnic tables, they also confirmed our assumption that this place is hopping come summertime. What began as a train wreck turned into satiated redemption, and Oak Hill Tavern will surely lure us back down south.
